SARDINIA · ITALY
An emerald sea, a wild island, all of it open by boat.
Boat days across the Costa Smeralda. The Maddalena pink-granite archipelago. The Orosei cliff coast. Cagliari, Alghero, Asinara, and the inland mountains the rest of Italy forgot.
Only in Sardinia
Three things you can’t do anywhere else.
Mediterranean boat days and snorkelling exist in plenty of places. These three don’t. The pink-granite archipelago, the highest sea cliffs in Italy, three protected marine reserves on one island. Plan the rest of the trip around them.
Pink granite, emerald straits
The Maddalena Archipelago
Sixty-odd islands of pink granite between Sardinia and Corsica, set in water so clear the boats look as though they’re floating on glass. Spargi, Budelli, Razzoli, Santa Maria — uninhabited, protected, reachable only by boat. The Spiaggia Rosa on Budelli is literally pink. Nothing else in the Mediterranean looks like this stretch.
- 1 From Sardinia: La Maddalena Archipelago Full-Day Boat Tour
- 2 1-Catamaran tour to the Maddalena Archipelago from Cannigione
- 3 Sailboat tour from PALAU to the Maddalena Archipelago.
Italy’s highest sea cliffs
The Cliffs of Orosei
Forty kilometres of soaring limestone where the Supramonte mountains meet the sea — the most dramatic stretch of coast in the country, full stop. The white-pebble coves are reachable only by boat or a long hike: Cala Mariolu, Cala Goloritzè, Cala Luna. No road in, no buildings, no easy way to get there. That’s why a day-boat is the way.
- 1 One day tour in rubber dinghy in the Gulf of Orosei with Skipper
- 2 Guided hike to Cala Luna, the pearl of the Gulf of Orosei
- 3 Jeep tour Between Land & Sea – Orosei & Capo comino
Three marine parks, one island
Sardinia’s Marine Reserves
Asinara, Tavolara and La Maddalena are three of Italy’s largest protected marine areas — all on the same island, all reachable as a day trip. Asinara was a high-security prison until 1997, which is why its reefs are pristine. Tavolara has the clearest water of the lot. Three different sea floors, three different fish.
- 1 Tavolara Boat Tour and Snorkeling
- 2 Dolphin Watching Tour with Snorkeling from Olbia
- 3 Cagliari Gulf Boat tour : 5 stops, snorkeling & local aperitif
The boat day everyone books
If you only do one day on the water.
The day-boat that fills up first across every Sardinian operator. The water is the colour the brochures show. Worth booking ahead in July and August.
The classics
Sardinia’s Most Popular Tours
La Maddalena, Costa Smeralda, Cala Mariolu, Cagliari. The day trips and sailing tours that fill up first.
By coast
Four corners of Sardinia.
The island is symmetric enough that the trip starts with the coast. North for the granite islands and the Costa Smeralda. East for the cliff coves and the Supramonte. South for the capital and the flamingos. West for Catalan Alghero and the Asinara reserve.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Catamaran if you want a long day under sail. Snorkelling for the marine reserves. RIB for the speed and the spray. Hiking, Jeep tours, wine tastings, cooking classes, and the ancient stone towers nowhere else has.
Under sail
Days out on the Costa Smeralda.
Catamarans and luxury sailing tours out of Palau, Porto Cervo and Cannigione, threading the Maddalena straits at the speed the islands were meant to be seen. Three we’d board first.
Older than Rome
Ancient Sardinia.
Seven thousand stone towers called Nuraghi rise out of the island’s interior — Bronze Age fortresses found nowhere else on earth. Add the Phoenician city at Nora and the murals at Orgosolo. The shortlist for a day off the beach.
Cannonau, pecorino, pane carasau
The Sardinian table.
Sardinia is one of the world’s five Blue Zones and most of the credit goes to what people eat here. Cannonau wine tastings in the highlands, pasta classes in Cagliari, oil and pecorino on the farm. The three we’d book first.
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