For a cheap, quiet day go to Fornillo. For the postcard, Spiaggia Grande early. For the afternoon sun, take the boat to Arienzo or Laurito.
All four are pebble, and all four have a small free strip beside the paid clubs. The difference is price, calm and how you get there.
You can swim in Positano for nothing. You just need to know what “free” actually gets you — and what it does not.
By Italian law each beach keeps a public stretch, the “spiaggia libera”, where you lay your towel for nothing. In Positano these strips are modest and first-come: arrive by 9–10am in summer or they fill. Everything with a sunbed and umbrella is a paid club.
All four beaches are pebbles and shingle, not the sand photos sometimes suggest. On the free strip you lie straight on the stones, so a mat and water shoes change the day. The clubs exist partly because the pebbles are hard to love barefoot.
So the real question is not “is it free?” but how early can you get there, and whether a €15 lounger at Fornillo is worth more to you than bare stones. Prices and shuttle times shift each season — we give ranges and tell you to confirm, not numbers we cannot stand behind.
Arrive early — the free strips fill by mid-morning in summer — and remember it is pebbles, so bring water shoes and a mat. The walk back up from any Positano beach is a climb; the little internal orange bus loops the one-way road if your legs are finished.
The free strips have no sunbeds, no shade and often no kiosk within reach — carry what you need.
Out of season the beaches are free and empty, but the clubs are shut and the shuttle boats do not run.
Yes. Every beach keeps a public strip, the “spiaggia libera”, that costs nothing — but they are small and first-come. Fornillo usually has the largest and calmest free area; Spiaggia Grande’s is central but tight. Arrive by 9–10am in summer.
Fornillo. Its loungers start around €15 and its free area is bigger than the main beach’s. It is a 10–15 minute walk west of Spiaggia Grande.
Yes — a signed cliff footpath runs west from the far end of Spiaggia Grande along Via Positanesi d’America, about 10–15 minutes with some steps. There is no road or parking; the only other way is a short boat shuttle.
Easiest by boat shuttle from the Spiaggia Grande pier. Arienzo can also be reached down about 300 steps from the coast road; Laurito by steps from the square near Hotel San Pietro. Both have small free strips beside the clubs.
Pebbles and shingle, like most of the Amalfi Coast — not sand. Water shoes and a mat make a real difference, especially on the free strip where you lie straight on the stones.
Roughly €15 a lounger at Fornillo, from about €25 at Spiaggia Grande’s mid-range clubs, and up to €550+ for two at the premium La Scogliera. Prices change each season — confirm with the club.
By 9–10am in high season for any chance at the free strip, and for the easiest lounger booking. The light on Spiaggia Grande is also better early, before the day boats arrive.
Lounger prices, free-area sizes and boat-shuttle times change every season and sometimes week to week. We give ranges from recent 2026 guides and say where to confirm — we do not publish a fare or a timetable we have not stood behind. Always check the beach club directly before you go.
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