Sardinia NE · Italy
Gateway to La Maddalena and the clearest water in the Mediterranean.
01
Olbia is the airport gateway; the reason to be here is the La Maddalena archipelago and the Costa Smeralda. The Aga Khan IV bought the empty coast in 1962 and built Porto Cervo; the marina is now the most expensive in the Mediterranean. The basilica of San Simplicio in Olbia town is Romanesque 11th-century, built from Roman blocks.
02
Gallura Restaurant in Olbia for the suckling pig (porceddu) and the Vermentino. Su Gologone in the inland village of Oliena for the cordula (lamb intestine, grilled — better than it sounds), a 90-minute drive. Carlofortino tuna tartare on Sant'Antioco, when in season. The Sardinian pecorinos — fresco, semi-stagionato, stagionato — improve in that order.
03
The Phoenicians traded here. The Romans built the Olbia they renamed. The Pisans had it briefly. The Aragonese-Spanish had it for four centuries (1297–1720). The Piedmontese got it as part of the deal that created Italy. The island is in some ways still its own thing: the Sardinian language survives, the bandits stopped only after WWII, the inland Barbagia region was never fully colonised by anyone.
04
La Pelosa near Stintino, four hours west, has the famous shallow water; pre-book the entry permit. Cala Brandinchi (the "Little Tahiti"), 30 minutes by car. By boat: La Maddalena (15nm) — Spargi's Cala Corsara is the most beautiful beach in the park, arrive early; Bonifacio (25nm) on Corsica, a Genoese fortress on a 60m cliff; Costa Smeralda anchorages (20nm) for the free swims next to the paid marinas.
05
Skip Porto Cervo unless you want to look at superyachts; the village is fake, deliberately, designed in the 60s. The interior of Sardinia is the surprise — Su Nuraxi at Barumini (UNESCO Bronze Age tower complex, 1500 BC), Orgosolo's political murals, the cork forests near Calangianus. The Bonifacio strait is rough; cross before noon.
Nearby
National park · Islands
Seven islands and dozens of unnamed rocks in a protected national park. Spargi, Budelli, Razzoli. The water changes colour in layers from white to turquoise to blue over 50m.
Anchor at Cala Corsara (Spargi) — the most beautiful beach in the park. Arrive early. No anchoring on Budelli (the Pink Beach is protected).
Town · Cliffs · France
A Genoese fortress town on a cliff 60m above the sea. The approach from the south — through the limestone walls of the straits — is one of the great sailing arrivals.
Enter the Bonifacio fjord carefully — the chart is accurate but the currents run hard. The old town citadel is Genoese medieval, perfectly intact.
Coast · Anchorages
The Aga Khan's development — Porto Cervo at its centre — is the most expensive marina in the Mediterranean. But the bays on either side are free.
Cala di Volpe: anchor east of the hotel causeway. The water is shallow, so dinghy in.
Wind & seasons
The Mistral can arrive from the NW with little warning in spring — powerful and cold. Summer (Jun–Sep) is reliable. The Bonifacio strait between Sardinia and Corsica is notoriously rough; cross in the morning window.
