Sardinia: Skip the Caribbean for these beaches

When the world was created, the creator meant it particularly well with Sardinia: He placed hundreds of small islands in front of the second largest Mediterranean island and equipped its 1848 km long coast with very different dream beaches. Surrounded her with the most beautiful colors an ocean has to offer and gave her several mountain ranges, up to 1800 meters high, as well as many forests.

Sardinia is also one of the children of the sun in terms of climate: mild winters, warm summers, an average of 300 days of sunshine per year and water temperatures of over 20 degrees until autumn. We present seven beaches – in a round trip around the island.

1. Cala Spalmatore – postcard motif in the La Maddalena archipelago

The most enchanting landscape of Sardinia is in the very north of the island and is a national park: La Maddalena Archipelago is the name of the archipelago with its 70 islets and small beaches on the emerald green water embedded between rocky hills and maquis. This is where most of the postcard photos of Sardinian beaches were shot.

One of the most popular is Cala Spalmatore, around five kilometers from the center of the town of La Maddalena. It is idyllically embedded between pink granite rock walls, green cacti, myrtle and juniper. The rocky environment protects well from wind and waves. The powdered sugar beach is divided into three sections, which means that despite its Caribbean flair it is rarely overcrowded.

• Hotel tip: Grand Hotel Resort Ma&MA La Maddalena; 7 nights in a double room with breakfast and flight from 827 euros per person.

2. Porto Pollo – in the paradise of wind and kite surfers

At the foot of the Isola Dei Gabbiani peninsula at the northern tip is the small town of Porto Pollo. It is well known among wind, kite and wing surfers – as one of the best wind spots in Europe. Especially from April to June and September to November, the mistral blows so constantly and violently that many good and experienced freeriders and racers cavort here.

Two long bays on the peninsula make the surf spot so special. There is a campsite in the middle of the rocky peninsula. This is particularly popular with surf freaks, who only have to carry their equipment a few meters into the water. In the bays there are also holiday apartments that offer a little more comfort. This includes surfing and kite schools as well as some beach bars. The beaches consist of dunes, which are fine sand and bright.

• Hotel tip: Bajaloglia Resort; 7 nights in a double room with breakfast and flight from 901 euros per person.

3. Cala Luna – walk there, return by boat

The route is just as spectacular as the destination: two routes lead to the crescent-shaped sandy bay on the east coast, more precisely in the Gulf of Orosei. If you don’t just want to lie lazily on the beach, but also want to do something for your fitness, take the hiking trail over the cliffs (start in Cala Gonone). This five-kilometer tour with breathtaking views through several gorges takes two and a half hours.

Admittedly, a few beads of sweat will flow. But for the way back you can then take the boat, with which most beach guests can be sailed to Cala Luna. What is special about the bay are its grottos and karst caves, which lead 30 meters deep into the rocks of the Supramonte massif. The 700 meter long sandy beach is framed by wooded cliffs in the south and by oleander bushes and reeds in the west.

• Hotel tip: Hotel Nuraghe Arvu in Cala Gonone. 7 nights in a double room with breakfast and flight from 872 euros per person.

4. Cala di Volpe – Celebrity on the Costa Smeralda

Prince Aga Kahn IV, Swiss by birth and very wealthy leader of the Ismailis, fell in love with the Costa Smeralda in the 1960s – when there was nothing on the north-east coast but sheep pastures and granite rocks. For pocket money, he bought the seemingly worthless land of poor farmers and shepherds and developed a magnet for the international jet set. Since then, not only stars and starlets have loved the 55 kilometer long coastline. Because nature shows its magical side here: the sea is crystal clear, shimmers in turquoise tones, gently slops onto the soft, white beach, which stretches between light grey-red granite humps.

Cala di Volpe has four different beaches: a large main beach and three small bays. The advantage of the large beach is that it slopes gently and is protected by an offshore marina, so it doesn’t get wind or waves. And it is equipped with all amenities – beach bar, toilets, loungers or water sports equipment. Ideal for families with children. The small bays, on the other hand, are less suitable for the minis, because the emerald green sea gets deep quickly, but all the more for romantics.

• Hotel tip: Hotel Petra Bianca in Porto Cervo. 7 nights in a double room with breakfast, flight and train from 1258 euros per person.

5. Pula – ancient underwater ruins

Here lies the birthplace of beach holidays in Sardinia: around 3000 years ago, the Phoenicians landed in the extreme south of Sardinia and founded a settlement called Nora. The choice of this location turned out to be strategically correct for the ancient merchant and seafaring people from the area of ​​today’s Lebanon and Syria. The light sandy coastline hugs the mountains to the west and the shimmering blue Gulf of Cagliari to the east, also known as the Gulf of Angels.

The emerald green water is so clear you can see the bottom. On windless days, you can even see old ruin reliefs under water. When walking along the ten-kilometer-long sandy beach, you will not only come across dunes, pine trees and eucalyptus, but also a well-preserved ancient amphitheater and the remains of thermal baths and temples with mosaic floors.

• Hotel tip: Hotel Lantana Resort in Pula. 7 nights in a double room with breakfast and flight from 776 euros per person.

6. Dune di Piscinas – shifting dunes, naturism and solitude

Costa Verde is the name of the coast in the southwest, where the abandoned mining town of Ingurtosu lies. From here it goes to Piscinas, in a huge sand and dune area. With dunes that can be up to 40 meters high. The beach at the foot of the shifting dunes is nine kilometers long, lonely and natural. True desert feeling!

Due to the gigantic dimensions of the beach in the uninhabited area, a stretch of almost a kilometer in length was officially declared the largest nudist beach in Europe in 2018. Nevertheless, there is not much going on: a campsite and a hotel behind the dunes, two beach cafés with lounger service and boat rentals and a few surfers riding the long, high waves.

• Hotel tip: Tarte Hotel in Guspini. 7 nights in a double room with breakfast and flight from 690 euros per person.

7. Is Arutas – Quartz beach in pastel colors

Pink, light green, white and yellow: the sand on the beach of Is Arutas in the west of the island, on the Sinis Peninsula, shimmers in these pastel colors. The small, rounded grains are made of quartz and give the beach in the small bay, which is several hundred meters long, an inviting appearance.

As flattering as the beach atmosphere is, the sea drops off just a few meters away. Expressed in tones: it changes from emerald green to dark blue. This pleases surfers, who find ideal conditions for surfing in the waves of the crystal-clear water – as in many places on the west coast. At Is Arutas there is infrastructure for tourists: parking lots, two wooden beach restaurants and a campsite. Lifeguards are only present in high season in July and August.

• Hotel tip: Aquae Sinis Albergo Diffuso in Cabras. 7 nights in a double room with breakfast and flight from 534 euros per person.