Sardinia / South Corsica

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

Our next place to explore after the wonderful tips from here will be the Sardinia / South Corsica area.

I'm starting to gather info on these but if anyone has any must do places around this area I'd love to hear them.

All the best,
Simon

[robert sailor]

Hi Simon, these are notes that my wife sent to other cruising friends heading to Sardinia...hope it helps.



We arrived into the large bay just outside the marina at Villasimius...very large bay/anchorage, good sand holding, pretty spot, marina has good self service laundry, can dock the dingy at the marina, the town is 4km away but I think there is a shuttle bus in high season. We took the public bus from town over to Calgalari...the old town was neat. The bay on the other side of the land spit, is also very large/good holding/pretty....just depends on the winds...we were in both.
Arbatax: think this is the worst town we’ve seen so far...very boring. The small bay/anchor spot, just on the back side of the town, to the south...is nice, not big, good holding, surrounded by development. We also stayed in marina, due to windless troubles. We took the Little Green Train from here up into the mountains. Get the schedule...we did not to the entire route, as it’s long...we got off and hung around a small town...internal Sardinia is a very different feel than the coast. I really liked the train trip, Robert wasn’t thrilled with it.
La Calleta: not many places to anchor here. We ended up in marina, this time due to a bilge full of fresh water...thankfully was an easy fix. Town ok, nothing special.
Porto Brandicnchi: big, good anchorage, pretty undeveloped beach
Olbia: like the guide book says commercial port. We anchored just off the old town quay...not a large area, maybe hold 8ish boats...also saw boats alongside the old town quay, but some were asked to leave to accommodate an incoming super yacht. Easy to take dingy ashore. Good supermarket just beyond the bridge (on the north side)....you’ll want to stock up on groceries here!
Cugnana Verde: Huge/good anchorage. Surroundings nothing special, but quiet. We dingy ashore and walked to Porto Rotondo...a long walk for a gelato! We dignyed over to Cala di Volpe...anchorage is much bigger than it looks on charts...would have been a better choice (prettier) than Cugnana Verde...but CV is a lot bigger.
Gulfo Pevero: this is the bay with the dozen or so moorings for the super yachts, so you need to anchor up towards the beach...good holding, fair size...lots of boats during the day that clear out after dinner. You’ll see pretty amazing boats here. We dignyed around over to see Porto Cervo from here.
Gulfo Saline: another huge/good anchorage...quiet surroundings, not close to much though.
Rada Di Mezzo Schifo: we anchored here for the day, fair size, but weed and some small sand patches...and dignyed into town...OK town, nothing special. Can take ferry across to Maddalana town from here...we didn’t, but Maddalana is the much nicer town to see.
Cala Santa Maria in Maddalana reserve: fair size/good anchorage, very pretty....fills up in day, but a lot leave after dinner...concrete jetty (small) that you can take dingy too...not much ashore, but nice to walk around. We tried to anchor at Dead Man Passage...was bad holding for us...I snorkeled three times and watched our anchor drag each time, so we went to CS Maria. We were glad we didn’t buy a two week pass for the reserve...it’s pretty, but two weeks would have been too much for us.
Santa Teresa: we got fuel here and ended up staying as it was only 21E for us...pretty spot, town ok.