Scilla's main beach is a 700-metre arc of grey volcanic sand that runs from the foot of the castle northwards. It is wide enough to swallow the summer crowds, with mixed free and equipped sections; the water shelves quickly and stays clean. From the sand you look directly across the Strait of Messina to Sicily — a view that is somewhere between scenic and surreal when a ferry slides past in the foreground.
Marina Grande is also the spot for the Fata Morgana mirage: on rare days of perfect stillness and atmospheric layering, the city of Messina appears to be reflected, upright, in the sea. It has been recorded in literature since antiquity, but you will need luck to see it.