La Maddalena - Sardinia

[bellasailor]

Hi all,

We are chartering from Portisco on 16/6. Intending to work our way up to Bonifacio and back again. I've had a look at the Sardinia thread but have a more specific La Maddalena question...

We will have a La Maddalena park permit, and are aware of the regulations etc on anchoring. It appears a lot of work has taken place in the park area in the last 3-5 years to install buoys etc; we've read many a blog, CruiserWiki, JimBSail etc and got the pilot book but lots pre-date the changes.

Just wondered if anyone has any up-to-the-minute tips or hints on the area? Him indoors would prefer [park authority] buoys over anchoring but info is limited on how many/which bays in the park do or don't have them.

Would love your insights/recommendations!

[Twhitt]

The area is great, but can be very busy in the more popular central area.

With regard to anchoring, you are not allowed to stay at anchor after dark or 22.00 hours, or so I understand. There are some buoys you can pick up, but often in short supply, and again you are not allowed to overnight on these unless you have both holding tanks, and are a resident in the area!

Having said that, we anchored overnight last year in Cala Lunga, alomg with two other boats, one on the only mooring bouy laid. Being further out on the edge of La Maddalena, we were not disturbed, but do understand that the authorities do patrol and check the most popular areas.

There are however numerous anchorages a short distance away on the Sardinia mainland, or for a lively spot you can go into Cala Gavetta on Maddalena Island itself. From memory when we called in September last year, it was around 45 euro for our 12m yacht.

We will be back in 3 weeks, and likely to call into here, as it is a nice spot for restaurants and bars, to offset some of the queter marinas and anchorages we will use.

[bellasailor]

Thanks for the reply Cala Gavetta is one of our planned stops anyway

The residency rule doesn't apply for buoys according to the park brochure/zone map, only the holding tank rule (which we'll have) hence we're trying to find where there are buoys

[Fr Mo]

We anchored overnight in Porto Palma (not a port, only a bay), in the S of Caprera Island, w/o a permit, in late April. There was another sailboat there, at anchor. Isolated spot, not much to do. Scenic.

Also anchored overnight at Cala Ferrigno, Isola Spargi, in late August. We had a permit which expired at midnight, so we were subject to about an €80 fine, if I recall correctly, after zero hours. As we departed at around 8:00, we had a free stay. I do not recall that anchoring was prohibited, but maybe it was, and if so, our exposure to fines started at sunset, and not at midnight. Nice shore walk to a WW II pillbox and to a small bay.

Stayed all day and overnight on a buoy in Passo Cecca di Morto, in front of the Isola Budelli dinghy landing, in late August. Key to finding a buoy: arrive no later than mid-morning. After that, it is unlikely you'll get one. The revenuers came by not once, but three or four times during the day. They somehow remembered our boat, because they only stopped at our the first time. I have read of others whom the revenuers somehow missed completely despite going multiple times to the neighbors'. Clearly a "must" location for any cruiser: stunning, calm (after the day trippers leave), beautiful. Walk on Budelli, kayak or SUP around Razzoli or Santa Maria. Highly recommended.

I think some people make the mistake of only spending time in the Parco Nazionale. Guess what, the anchorages in the actual Sardinia "mainland", all the way from Porto Rafael to Salina (i.e., immediately N of Olbia), are all awesome and often beyond awesome and free. Cala Liscia Ruia, to mention just one example, just S of Cala di Volpe, is a stunning free anchorage that has nothing to envy the Parco Nazionale which stands across the water 1.5 miles away.