Tao
Beach Club

Tao presents itself without much modesty as one of the most exclusive corners of Taormina, and for once the claim is easy to picture. The club holds a private sandy cove on the Spisone shore below the hill town, with three sea facing terraces named for the Nereid sea nymphs, Galatea, Actea and Gauce, and two small beaches of its own called Galene and Nerea laid with cabanas and beds spaced for privacy. The emerald Ionian sits in front, the cone of Etna rises across the bay, and the whole thing is built to feel like a living room that happens to open onto the sea.

For a couple that is a genuinely romantic setting, but the club keeps a second gear worth naming up front. Tao is also one of the loud hearts of Taormina nightlife, with international DJ sets and events that turn the terraces into a party after dark. Both are real, and which one you get depends entirely on the date you choose, so it pays to know the difference before you reserve on the honest scale of the Sicily club directory.

The romance at Tao is a daytime affair and it is best claimed early. Because the cove faces east, the light people come for is the sunrise, the sea and Etna catching the first gold while the beds are still empty, and a couple who arrives in the morning gets the quiet, exclusive version of the club before the day fills. Settle into a cabana, take the towel service and the offered massage, and the small sandy beach delivers the private, unhurried feeling that the bigger public lidos along this coast cannot.

The terraces are the middle act. Named for sea nymphs and designed as open air lounges, they are made for a long aperitif over the water, and this is where Tao is at its most photogenic and its most social. The kitchen runs from a light beach lunch at the bar to proper evening dining in the restaurant, with a Sicilian slant, so a couple can drift from a swim to a slow lunch to a sundowner without leaving the club.

Then the night changes the room. Tao is a fixture of Taormina nightlife, and on event evenings the international DJs and the crowd turn the same terraces into a party, which is a fine plan if that is your night and a jarring one if you booked for calm. Add premium pricing that the club does not publish, and the honest read is clear. Come for an exclusive romantic day and reserve ahead, but check the events calendar so the evening you get is the one you wanted.

Tao sits on the Spisone stretch of shore below Taormina, the run of coast just north of the celebrated cove at Isola Bella where the little islet ties to the mainland by a thread of pebbles. This is the eastern, Ionian edge of Sicily, a coast of small coves and clear deep water backed by the hill town and, beyond it, the smoking mass of Etna. The club is a sandy pocket in a coastline that is otherwise mostly pebble, which is part of why it can charge for the comfort. Our Isola Bella beach guide covers the neighbouring cove and the swimming along this shore.

Taormina sits high on its hill, and the beach clubs lie on the coast below, so reaching Tao means a drop to sea level by the coast road, a taxi, or the cable car down toward Mazzaro followed by a short transfer along the shore. It is the sort of access that rewards a plan rather than a wander, especially in high summer when parking near the water is scarce, so settle the arrangement when you reserve. A calm morning arrival is both the prettiest and the easiest time to come.

Booking runs through the club, which advises reserving ahead because the beds and cabanas are limited. For a couple aiming at a particular date, or anyone who wants to know whether an evening carries a DJ event, that confirmation matters. Send your date and group size below and we will put the request to Tao, coming back with what is available, what a bed or cabana costs and whether your evening is a quiet one or a party, at no charge to you.