38.056° N, 12.842° E
Complete guide
Guidaloca beach: beach guide
What the beach is like
Guidaloca beach lies in the bay of the same name, a natural inlet on the north-western coast of Sicily, in the municipality of Castellammare del Golfo. The bay opens onto the Gulf of Castellammare (golfo di Castellammare) and is washed by the Tyrrhenian Sea. Along the coast the bay is preceded by Cala Rossa and Cala Bianca and then continues towards the faraglioni di Scopello sea stacks.
The beach is characterised by small white pebbles. On the west side of the bay stands the old watchtower that bears the same name. The tower is one of the ancient Saracen watchtowers in the territory of Castellammare del Golfo, in the Scopello area.
The bay has been the set of commercials and of films such as Tini - La nuova vita di Violetta, from 2016, and Màkari, from 2021. The former Papiro, a property confiscated from the Mafia on Guidaloca beach, was transferred to the municipality in 2004.
Getting there
The website of the Riserva naturale orientata dello Zingaro describes a car route that passes right through Guidaloca. Coming from the A29 motorway, which links Palermo to Mazara del Vallo, take the Castellammare del Golfo exit and continue on the SS 187 state road towards Trapani. After about 4 km, follow the signs for Scopello down to the coast, where you reach the locality of Guidaloca. From here the signs continue towards the tonnara di Scopello (tuna fishery) and, after a few kilometres, to the car park at the reserve's southern entrance.
The centre of Castellammare del Golfo is 5.7 km south-east of the beach as the crow flies. According to the municipality's website, Castellammare del Golfo can be reached by the local train from Palermo to Trapani, getting off at the town's railway station. The station is about 3 km from the centre. Among bus connections, the municipality lists Autoservizi Russo on the Palermo – Castellammare del Golfo – Scopello route.
When to go
According to QualeSpiaggia data, the beach faces north-east. With the tramontana, the north-easterly (grecale) and the easterly (levante), the wind blows from the sea and the beach is exposed to waves. With the southerly (ostro), the south-westerly (libeccio) and the westerly (ponente), the wind blows from land and the bay is sheltered. The scirocco and the mistral (maestrale) hit it from the side. This is an indication based on the orientation of the coast, not a forecast.
For the 2025 bathing season, the municipality planned a lifeguard service on the free beaches from 1 July to 31 August. Outside the supervised period, it is wise to check before swimming and to judge sea conditions with caution.
Seabed and sea
In the 2025 season the European Environment Agency rated the bathing water quality of this stretch as excellent. For the free beaches, the municipality's 2025 tender specifications required the safe-water limit for less confident swimmers, set at 1.60 m, to be marked with white floats. The same document provided for red buoys to mark out the sea area reserved for swimming and closed to navigation, extending 300 m from the shoreline. On pebbles, water shoes make it easier to get in and out of the water.
Facilities and free beach
In 2025 the municipality began looking for operators to run the lifeguard and supervision service on the free beaches, with one fixed station at the Plaia beach and one at Guidaloca beach. According to the notice, the stations were to have access walkways, to make the beach more comfortable and safer for bathers and for people with disabilities, and to make rescues easier. In 2025 the service was planned every day in two shifts, from 9 to 14 and from 14 to 19, with two lifeguards per station on each shift. Each station was to have a lookout tower and three flags: red for unsafe bathing, yellow for strong wind and white for safe bathing. Where the service was not provided, the notice called for signs in several languages warning that bathing was unsafe.
The municipality announced the installation of a wooden walkway at Guidaloca, giving access to the beach for people with reduced mobility. In the same press release, Guidaloca appears among the town beaches cleaned by the workers of the «clean beaches» (spiagge pulite) project. In the town guide on the municipality's tourism website, the Bora Bora Bay, in the Guidaloca bay, appears among the listed businesses.
Rules and protected areas
In another press release, the municipality announced a Ferragosto ordinance that banned carrying firewood onto the beach, including at cala Guidaloca, on 14 and 15 August, to prevent bonfires. The press release points out that lighting fires on the beach was already prohibited by the rules of the harbour office (capitaneria di porto) and of the regional department for Territory and Environment (assessorato regionale Territorio ed Ambiente). Bonfires are a hazard also because embers that are still hot, covered by sand, can cause serious burns to anyone who walks over them. Rubbish and food scraps should be taken away.
Nearby
The municipal territory of Castellammare del Golfo also includes the faraglioni di Scopello, the Terme Segestane and the easternmost part of the Riserva naturale orientata dello Zingaro. The reserve's territory runs from Cala Mazzo di Sciacca to the Tonnarella dell'Uzzo and lies mostly in the municipality of San Vito Lo Capo. The reserve has a southern entrance, on the Scopello side, and a northern one, on the San Vito Lo Capo side. In 2026 the reserve's website gives opening hours of 8 to 16 every day.
Among nearby beaches, the Calamazzo beach (spiaggia Calamazzo) is 3.6 km to the north-west as the crow flies. Cala Capreria is 4.8 km away as the crow flies, also to the north-west. Cala dell'Uzzo is 7.6 km to the north-west as the crow flies. In the opposite direction, the beach of Castellammare del Golfo is 4.8 km to the south-east as the crow flies. The Playa beach (spiaggia Playa) is 6.3 km to the south-east as the crow flies.
Balata di Baida is 5.7 km south-west of the beach as the crow flies. On 24 January 1846 Inici, Balata di Baida and Scopello were separated from the territory of Monte San Giuliano and assigned to Castellammare del Golfo.
Sources
- Wikipedia (it) — Baia di Guidaloca
- Wikipedia (it) — Castellammare del Golfo
- Wikivoyage (it) — Castellammare del Golfo
- Wikivoyage (en) — Castellammare del Golfo
- OpenStreetMap
- EEA — Bathing water quality 2025 (IT019081005003)
- QualeSpiaggia — open data spiagge (CC BY 4.0)
- Indagine Preliminare Esplorativa Per L’individuazione Di Operatori Economici – Comune di Castellammare del Golfo
- Progetto “Spiagge pulite”: fino a settembre la pulizia, affidata a 44 cittadini disoccupati, sarà anche pomeridiana. Montate 3 passerelle alla spiaggi
- Ferragosto: divieto di trasporto legna sulle spiagge per evitare l’accensione di falò | Città di Castellammare del Golfo
- COME RAGGIUNGERCI - Riserva Naturale Orientata Zingaro
- HOME - Riserva Naturale Orientata Zingaro
- Come arrivare | Città di Castellammare del Golfo
- Info Città | Città di Castellammare del Golfo
- Assegnato il “Papiro” bene confiscato alla mafia sulla spiaggia di Guidaloca. Il sindaco: “Lieti di essere riusciti a concedere l’immobile al terzo av