La Playa is the long sand beach that runs south from Catania port for nearly twenty kilometres, all the way to the mouth of the Simeto river. The northern stretches are heavily organised — rows of paid lidos with umbrellas and showers — and quickly become more relaxed the further south you walk.
Buses run from the city centre along the back of the beach in summer. The water shelves gently, the sand is dark from the lava behind it, and the views back to Mount Etna are the main bonus over Sicily's other beaches.