Punta delle Cannelle

Punta delle Cannelle sits on Elba's exposed east coast at the Capo d'Arco point, opening ENE onto the open Tyrrhenian channel toward the Italian mainland. There is no true ocean swell here — this is a wind-sea regime — but the eastern window is fully open: Levante (E) and Grecale (NE) winds have unobstructed fetch straight onto the point, and Scirocco (SE) has long open fetch down the coast, making these the directions that shut the site down. The bulk of Elba to the west blocks the entire W-SW-S sector (Mistral/Libeccio), and the coast curving north around Rio Marina plus the Capoliveri peninsula to the south give partial shelter from the N and S. In practice it dives beautifully in the prevailing westerly-quadrant weather and gets rough only under an easterly or scirocco blow.