Ischia is a volcanic island off the coast of Naples and somewhere we’ve been holidaying for many years – it’s one of our favourite islands! As a volcanic island, it has natural hot springs and volcanic mud. There are plenty of spa hotels all over the island as well as thermal water parks where you can spend the day, for a fee.
If you want to experience Ischia’s thermal waters for free, head to the hot springs of Sorgeto in Panza where there are different pools of differing temperatures. Some are so hot that people bring food to cook in them!
Which to choose?
There are so many thermal parks, which should you choose? We decided to ask a local! We were told that Poseidon and Negombo are the best thermal parks on the island. Since Poseidon was closed (due to Covid-19), it was an easy choice.
Negombo is situated in the beautiful bay of San Montano, which is close to the little town of Lacco Ameno.
What does it cost?
For a full day it was €80 for the two of us, which is pretty reasonable considering you can pay around €25 per person at a private beach club . This gave you access to all the different thermal pools, the bar and restaurant on site as well as a sun lounger and umbrella. We opted to have a sun lounger on the beach. By the way, the beach is gorgeous and is completely free to visit.

What to expect
Negombo has 14 different thermal pools of varying sizes and temperatures. Due to Covid there was a wait to use some of them, although the wait was never very long.
The smallest one, pictured below, was also the coldest!

My favourite was the showers, which were definitely warmer at 30 degrees Celsius! I really liked the design of them and the water pouring down gave a good massage.

The park itself is really well designed. It’s quite fun walking around and discovering all the different pools. You get given a map too so you can make sure you see everything as some are a bit hidden amongst the trees.
The most fun one is called the Maya, “Kneipp” pool. It’s two pools side by side. One is 38 degrees Celsius and the other is only 18. After soaking in the hot pool for a few minutes I braved hopping on over to the cold one. It was freezing!

I liked how some pools were outside whilst some were in caves. There are also two big swimming pools, where you can chill out or swim around.

Due to Covid, the park was probably much quieter than usual. However there were still quite a lot of people. I’d be interested to see how crowded it is in a ‘normal’ season.

There were clear signs stating how many people were allowed in each pool and most pools had someone physically monitoring the numbers. There was also a one-way system in place so it felt very safe.
We really wanted to try the Turkish Bath but unfortunately that was closed due to Covid. They also have a wellness centre where you can book massages and spa treatments, such as facials, for an additional fee.
For something a bit different to do in Ischia, which is also apparently good for you, give a thermal park a try. We’ll definitely do it again the next time we visit Ischia!
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