John Calvin Commentary Acts 27:3

"And the next day we touched at Sidon: and Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to go unto his friends and refresh himself." — Acts 27:3 (ASV)

He suffered him to go to. Paul could have hidden himself in a large city, which was adjacent to the sea; but he was bound by the divine revelation, so that he could not withdraw himself from the calling of God. Again, because the centurion had treated him so courteously, allowing him to go to his friends so that they might care for and refresh him (whom he could have left in the foul-smelling ship), Paul neither ought to, nor could he, secure his own life at the other man's peril, without vile treachery.

Nor must we, under any circumstances, allow those who have treated us courteously to be deceived by their courtesy through our own fault. Let readers seek the details of the voyage of which Luke speaks from those writings that describe places and countries. I will only say this much: all that is said tends to this end, so that we may know that their sailing was dangerous and tempestuous after they had once left the harbor of Sidon, until they came near Melita; and that afterward, the mariners struggled for a long time against contrary winds, until a cruel storm arose, whose end was shipwreck, as we shall see.