Sicily
A watch came off in a game of beach volleyball at Mondello
Mondello's long beach runs from Valdesi to the old fishing village, which is today the centre of Mondello.
A watch dropped during a game on Mondello's sand can be searched for, because the game happened in one place and you can go back to it. The beach is long, so what counts is where along it you played, and whether anyone went into the sea afterwards.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Taormina, Giardini Naxos, Cefalù or Mondello with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Before the players go their separate ways
If you are still on the beach, ask everyone who played to check pockets, shoes and bags. Then go back to where the court was, drop a pin there, and take a photo from that spot with Monte Pellegrino or the old village in the background.
Next, describe the watch: the make, the strap (metal, leather or rubber) and how it fastens. If you took it off before playing, tell us where you put it down.
If you have already left the beach, write the rest of the day down in order while it is fresh: where you ate, any stretch of Viale Regina Elena you walked, and how you got back. A loss away from the sand is searched from that list.
Places we cover in Sicily
- Mondello, Palermo
- Mondello beach
- Valdesi, Mondello
- Viale Regina Elena, Mondello
- Piazza Mondello and the small harbour, Mondello
- Capo Gallo, Mondello
- Cefalù
- The beach on Lungomare Giuseppe Giardina, Cefalù
- The old harbour beach, Cefalù
- Corso Ruggero and Piazza Duomo, Cefalù
- Giardini Naxos
- The town seafront beaches, Giardini Naxos
- San Giovanni beach, Giardini Naxos
- Lungomare Regina Margherita, Giardini Naxos
- Porticciolo Saja, Giardini Naxos
- Corso Umberto, Giardini Naxos
- Taormina
- Corso Umberto, Taormina
- Mazzarò beach, Taormina
- Isola Bella and its beach, Taormina
- Spisone, Taormina
- Mazzeo, Taormina
- Villagonia, Taormina
Mondello and Cefalù, then Giardini Naxos and Taormina
Valdesi belongs to Mondello, which belongs to Palermo. Mazzarò, Spisone and Mazzeo are on the Taormina coast.
Mondello beach and Valdesi
Mondello's long beach is fine white sand, lined with palm trees and Art Nouveau villas. Valdesi, part of Mondello, lies at the far end from the old village, with Viale Regina Elena running behind the sand.
The old village and its small harbour, Mondello
The old fishing village grew up around a tuna fishery, and today it is the centre of Mondello. Colourful fishing boats sit in its small harbour, and the village, where Piazza Mondello is, has many places to eat. Past the village the bay closes at Capo Gallo, the rocky headland between the gulfs of Mondello and Sferracavallo.
The beach on the Lungomare, Cefalù
Cefalù's town beach is sand, along Lungomare Giuseppe Giardina, and its free stretch reaches the beach at the old harbour. The old town lies in the shadow of the Rocca, a great limestone crag.
The old harbour and Corso Ruggero, Cefalù
In the fishermen's quarter, people have dinner on the pier facing the cliffs, which are lit up at night, and visitors stop at Porta Pescara for a photo. Corso Ruggero leads through the old town to Piazza Duomo.
The seafront and the Porticciolo Saja, Giardini Naxos
Giardini Naxos lies on a bay sheltered by hills, with views of Etna, and its beaches are fine sand. At San Giovanni a large church of the old centre stands out behind the beach. On Lungomare Regina Margherita, the Porticciolo Saja is a run of small bays in lava rock that rises out of the water. In the evening, people gather along the bay and on Corso Umberto.
Corso Umberto, Taormina
Taormina is a hillside town. Corso Umberto enters through the stone arch of Porta Messina and ends at Piazza XXV Aprile, towards Porta Catania, a viewpoint over Etna. Near Porta Messina, on Via Pirandello, is the top station of the cable car down to Mazzarò.
Mazzarò beach, below Taormina
Mazzarò is a small bay on the coast below the town, and its beach is pebbles, with clear water close in. The cable car from Taormina ends at a lower station on the road just behind the beach, so that station is the easiest mark to use. Facing the next beach along, Isola Bella is a small green island joined to the shore by a thin strip of sand.
Spisone and Mazzeo, Taormina
Spisone is on Taormina's stretch of coast, with a series of rocky islets standing out of the water in front of the beach. Mazzeo, also part of Taormina, carries on from Spisone towards Letojanni and has free beach. If you stayed in Mazzeo, say whether you were on the free beach or elsewhere along the shore.
From a WhatsApp message to a detectorist in Sicily
The game, as you tell it
The detectorist starts from your account of the game, down to which end of the court you stood at and when you last saw the watch on your wrist.
Holiday snaps count
A picture from earlier in the trip can show the watch or ring and the beach behind it. Send any you have from Mondello, Cefalù or the Ionian coast.
Losses in town as well
Not everything goes on a beach. A chain lost on Corso Umberto or an earring on the pier in Cefalù is set up from the route you walked and the places you stopped.
Costs, set out at the start
We explain the costs before any search is booked, and they stay in the chat for you to come back to.
Sand in the towns, lava rock at Saja
Mondello, Cefalù and Giardini Naxos are sandy, and Mazzarò is pebbles. The rock is at Saja and off Spisone.
Sand, and pebbles at Mazzarò
Mondello's beach is fine white sand, with a sandy bottom out in the gulf. The town beach in Cefalù and the beaches of Giardini Naxos, San Giovanni among them, are sand as well. At Mazzarò the beach is pebbles, and a ring can slip down between them.
Lava rock and islets
At the Porticciolo Saja small bays are cut into lava rock that rises out of the sea, and at Spisone rocky islets stand out of the water in front of the beach. A photo from the shore with the nearest rock in it places you quickly.
Questions about Mondello, Cefalù, Giardini Naxos and Taormina
We played beach volleyball at Mondello, and at the end of the game the watch was not on my wrist.
Start by placing the court between Valdesi and the old village. Send a pin, the nearest street off Viale Regina Elena if you know it, and a photo from where you played. If anyone went into the sea after the game, say so, and how deep they went.
Where do we start for an engagement ring lost on a sunset walk along the beach in Cefalù?
The free beach on the Lungomare runs right up to the beach at the old harbour, so a walk from one to the other stays on the same shore. Tell us where you came down onto the sand and where you left it, and whether you kept to the water's edge. Any photo from the walk with the Rocca in it helps place you. Not far from the centre, a lit path along the cliffs is another place people go for the sunset, so say if you carried on there.
We had dinner on the pier in Cefalù's fishermen's quarter, and afterwards I had only one earring.
Ask the place where you ate to check under the tables first. Next comes the route: the pier, the old harbour beach if you went down to it, and any photo stop at Porta Pescara. A picture of the matching earring shows the detectorist, and the staff, what to look for.
Could car keys dropped on San Giovanni beach in Giardini Naxos still be found?
San Giovanni is fine sand, with a large church of the old centre standing out behind the beach. That church makes a good marker, so take a photo from your spot with it in the frame. Tell us what else was near you, and describe the keys and anything attached to the ring.
A bracelet went in the water at the Porticciolo Saja, among the lava rocks.
Saja is a string of small bays cut into lava rock that rises out of the water, so the bay you swam in comes first. Say how deep the water was and whether you were holding on to a rock when you noticed. If it dropped into a deep gap between rocks, that is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
The islets at Spisone are all I remember clearly from the day my wedding band came off.
They are a good place to begin. Rocky islets stand out of the water in front of the beach at Spisone, so a photo from your spot with one of them in it fixes where you were. Tell us whether the band went on the beach or in the sea, and whether it was a snug fit.
An Oura ring went missing on the free beach at Mazzeo.
Mazzeo is part of Taormina, on the coast between Spisone and Letojanni, so it is covered here. Tell us where you spread your towel, what you were doing when you noticed, and whether you had been in the sea.
I took my signet ring off for a swim at Mazzarò and could not find it among the pebbles afterwards.
Start from where your towel was in relation to the cable car station on the road behind the beach, and take a photo from that spot looking back at it. Say whether the ring went into a bag or onto the stones, and whether you rode the cable car back up to Taormina, since it may have dropped on the way and the station can be asked.
Somewhere between Porta Messina and the view of Etna, my chain was no longer round my neck.
That is the length of Corso Umberto, from the stone arch at one end to Piazza XXV Aprile at the other, where the view opens over Etna. Write down each shop, café and stop along the way and ask in each one, then mark on a map where you last felt the chain. A photo of a similar chain helps whoever looks.
Sicily
Your first message can be one line
Mondello, Cefalù, Giardini Naxos or Taormina.
The item and the town are enough to open the chat. Say too whether it went on sand, in the water or on a street. We ask for pins and photos after that, one step at a time.