Il Castello (Castel Sonnino)

Il Castello sits on a SW-facing rocky point below the Castel Sonnino promontory on the Tyrrhenian coast south of Livorno. There is no true ocean swell here — waves are wind-sea built over Mediterranean fetch — and the dominant exposure is to the Libeccio from the SW and the open sea to the W, which have a long clear fetch and are the sectors that make the site untenable in a blow. The mainland and the castle promontory shield the whole eastern half of the compass (NE through SE), while the Antignano and Livorno headlands to the NW partially damp the NW-N Mistral/Tramontana, leaving only glancing exposure from that quarter. Being very shallow, the site feels surge and chop readily, so a moderate SW-W wind is enough to call it off even though the water is protected from anything out of the north and east.