Maratea Climate Patterns

Maratea has a mild Tyrrhenian climate, and the contrast with the rest of Basilicata is sharp.

Summer

July and August are warm rather than fierce, with highs usually between 28 and 31°C. The sea and the mountain together keep the extremes down, and there is almost always air moving off the water. Compared with Matera, 150 kilometres inland, summer here is several degrees cooler and much more humid.

Winter

Winters are mild and wet. January highs sit around 13°C and frost is rare at sea level, though the mountain behind can be white while the coast is green. This stretch of coast is one of the warmer places to spend a southern Italian winter.

Rain

Noticeably wetter than the rest of the region — the mountains catch weather coming off the Tyrrhenian, and autumn and winter bring real rain, sometimes heavy. That is why the slopes are as green as they are.

The sea

Swimmable from June into October, clear and deep close inshore because the land drops away so steeply.

Spring

April and May are the best-kept part of the year here: the slopes are green and flowering, the air is warm before the water is, and the town is empty. The Pollino behind may still be holding snow.

Wind

The gulf is fairly sheltered, but the libeccio from the south-west can build a real swell against a coast with almost no harbours of refuge, and boat trips are cancelled accordingly.

When it works

May, June, September and early October are the best of it: warm water, warm air and a town that has room in it.