There are two lists: the older, and more closely followed, is the one prepared by the Environment League, based mostly on ecological factors. A ship sails around the Mediterranean, analyzing Italian waters and the acts of local administrations. Awards are then made, and a total of five "boats" means the best beaches.

Five boats were awarded to four Sardinian beaches this year: Alghero, Tortoĺ, la Maddalena, and Bosa. The same is true for Marciana on the island of Elba, which is also the best beach in Italy, with 96 points out of 100, to Otranto at the southern tip of Apulia, and Riomaggiore, jewel of the Cinque Terre in Liguria. Other winners were Ustica, which has the best marine reserve in Italy, Tropea, with its extremely well-preserved Norman remains, and Sirolo, in the Marches, which is the port of a fine regional nature reserve.

The other list also looks at ecological factors, but in addition it gives awards for amenities offered. It's the blue flag award, which was originally launched by the European Community.

This year the blue flag was awarded to 136 localities, many more than in 1998, and this is taken as recognition of the fact that Italy has begun to understand the importance of having properly run town centers, clean beaches, and traffic-free roads.