40.233° N, 14.940° E
Complete guide
Spiaggia di Ogliastro Marina: beach guide
What the beach is like
The Spiaggia di Ogliastro Marina lies in the municipality of Castellabate, in the province of Salerno, in Campania, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Ogliastro Marina is a hamlet of Castellabate on the Tyrrhenian coast, immediately south of the Golfo di Salerno, overlooked by the Torricella hill. Ogliastro Marina is also the only seaside hamlet of Castellabate that does not lie within the gulf of the same name.
The Rio dell'Arena stream marks the boundary with the municipality of Montecorice, at the hamlet of Case del Conte, with which Ogliastro shares a long beach. The sandy beaches of the hamlet are that of the Arena bay and that of the punta di Ogliastro, as well as numerous natural coves where the trees of the pine woods look out over the water. The settlement is divided into two parts, the Arena bay and the punta di Ogliastro, with a coastal park in the middle. According to QualeSpiaggia data, the beach is sandy. The bathing water profile of the Regione Campania instead describes the beach as sandy and rocky, along a rocky coast with a jagged and sandy shoreline.
The hamlet is surrounded by Mediterranean scrub, with extensive pine woods that reach down to the sea, and it is also home to some non-native species, such as the succulent Carpobrotus. In 2026 the stretch named Ogliastro bay appears in the list of Blue Flag (Bandiera Blu) beaches, compiled by the FEE, for the municipality of Castellabate.
Getting there
The settlement extends for about 3 km along via Arena, the provincial road that crosses the hamlet, from the punta di Ogliastro, where the Licosa area begins, to the junction with the state road 267 of the Cilento. The main road link is the former state road 267, downgraded to a regional road. Castellabate lies 5.2 km as the crow flies north of the beach and Montecorice 3.8 km to the east.
Connections between the hamlets of Castellabate are provided by buses of the SMEC company. Ogliastro Marina is served by a CSTP bus line on the Salerno-Acciaroli route, with some services starting from Napoli in summer.
When to go
The area has a Mediterranean climate, with hot summers and mild winters, and rainfall is very scarce in the summer months. In July and August average temperatures range from 18 °C to 29 °C. The feast of Santa Maria delle Grazie, patron saint of the hamlet, takes place every year on 2 July, with a procession and, at midnight, fireworks on the seashore.
The beach faces south. With the sirocco (scirocco), the southerly (ostro) and the south-westerly (libeccio), the wind blows in from the sea and the beach is exposed to waves and rough water. With the north wind (tramontana), the north-easterly (grecale) and the mistral (maestrale), the wind blows from the land and the beach is sheltered, with calmer water close to shore. The easterly (levante) and the westerly (ponente) blow across the shoreline instead. These are indications derived from the orientation of the coast, not weather forecasts.
Seabed and sea
The coast of Ogliastro Marina is characterised by the Cilento flysch, a rock made of alternating layers of sandstone, clay or marl, and limestone. These rocks slope gently from the pine wood into the sea and extend for more than five miles. On the seabed their structure, full of cavities and cracks, provides shelter for various animal and plant organisms. Extensive Posidonia meadows stretch in front of the beaches of Pozzillo, Ogliastro and Lago. The red mullet known as Rossa di Licosa is typical of the sea of Ogliastro Marina and Punta Licosa.
The regional profile, updated in 2026, classifies the water quality of the Ogliastro Marina stretch as excellent for the years 2022 to 2025. The European Environment Agency also rated the bathing water quality as excellent in the 2025 season. The profile names the mouth of the Vallone Arena as a study point monitored within the bathing area.
Rules and protected areas
The territory of the hamlet lies within the national park of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni. The Santa Maria di Castellabate marine protected area extends at sea from the punta di Ogliastro to the bay of Saùco.
In July 2006, on the beach near the Rio dell'Arena, a loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) laid eggs for the first time. To protect the eggs, the local equipped beach was partly fenced off and watched over by Legambiente staff. In the summer of 2012 the event happened again and about eighty hatchlings emerged from the eggs. If there are fenced-off areas on the sand, it is advisable to stay outside them.
Nearby
The Torre di Ogliastro, or torre Ogliarola, is a lookout post built in 1569 near the punta di Ogliastro. The torre dell'Arena, also called torre delle Ripe Rosse, is a watchtower built at the end of 1592 by the beach of Case del Conte, on the boundary with the municipality of Montecorice. The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which faces the sea of the bay, dates from 1896.
The territory of the hamlet offers walks along the seafronts, such as the one called delle Tartarughe, and nature trails also laid out as botanical routes. The main routes are the one linking Ogliastro Marina and the Pozzillo, 8.6 km long, and the Antica Oliarola trail in the pine wood. The beach of Case del Conte lies 1.5 km as the crow flies to the east, while the Spiaggia Pozzillo San Marco is 5.1 km to the north. Acciaroli lies 9.4 km as the crow flies to the south-east.
Sources
- QualeSpiaggia — open data spiagge (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikipedia (it) — Ogliastro Marina
- Wikipedia (en) — Ogliastro Marina
- portale.arpacampania.it — S_IT015065031012.pdf
- FEE Italia — Bandiera Blu 2026, elenco spiagge
- Discover Campania - L’Area Marina Protetta di Santa Maria di Castellabate
- EEA — Bathing water quality 2025 (IT015065031012)