TREMITI ISLANDS Underwater wonders

This southern five-island archipelago offers a Robinson Crusoe-style escape

WHY GO

Part of the Gargano National Park, the selling point of the Tremiti Islands is splendid isolation. Marooned off the coast of Puglia, the main island of San Domino is best outfitted for visitors.

Its little brother San Nicola is the historical centre, with a fortress-like town. Cretaccio and Capraia welcome snorkellers only, while Pianosa sits further afield, shipwrecked halfway to Croatia.

WHAT TO SEE

At the sole village on San Domino, join locals for a round-the-island stroll. Below the path, coves are ripe for sunbathing: aside from the main sandy swoosh of

Cala delle Arene, beaches here host no bars or shops — and often, nobody at all.

In times gone by, locals would swim 655 feet across to San Nicola. Today, a local fishing boat will swish you across to the 13th-century Castello dei Badiali, a lookout point for all five islands. There’s also a former monastery, which is 1,000 years old and hosts spellbinding mosaics.

WHAT TO DO

The Tremiti’s kaleidoscope of sea life is scattered across 30 significant dive sites, all part of a protected matrine zone. Start with a glass-bottomed boat excursion. Pianosa is too far out, but most tours take in uninhabited Cretaccio and Capraia; keep an eye out for the submerged statue of saint Padre Pio.

With a local scuba operator, divers can navigate armies of lobsters and shoals of scorpionfish. Sea life is particularly apparent along the southern coast of

San Domino and the exposed north coast of Capraia. Deeper, below forests of gorgonia fans, expert divers can find a forest of the even rarer antipathes subpinnata, or black coral — one of the largest in the Mediterranean.