East Coast of Sardinia
span class=“day”>Day 1:Guests arrive at Olbia airport, Sardinia and are driven to SALU, which is moored in Porto Cervo. Porto Cervo is one of the towns built by the Aga Kahn on the Costa Smeralda. It is a hive of summer entertainment for oligarchs and Arab royalty. The villas and hotels blend into the rocky hillsides and the area surrounding the marina contains many bars and clubs. Separating these are jewellery and haute couture fashion shops. We stay overnight in the port allowing guests the chance to explore the small town in the evening.
Day 2: SALU departs from Porto Cervo mid-morning and cruises one-hour south to the bay of Cala de Volpe. Here we anchor in the bay for the day. Lunch in the famous Cala de Volpe hotel is an option or guests may choose to dine onboard. We return to Porto Cervo mid-afternoon and moor in port overnight.
Day 3: After breakfast we depart Porto Cervo and cruise ninety minutes to an anchorage in the charming bay of Golfo Marinella, which is overlooked by the palatial Sardinian residence of the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. After a day spent at anchor with guests swimming, sun bathing and relaxing and lunch onboard, we cruise the short distance to moor overnight in Porto Rotunda. This town was a summer holiday destination for many of the last century’s most famous icons and still retains its attraction to those with a political, financial and film background, not to mention members of Europe’s royalty. The town has lost a little allure since her glory days of the sixties and seventies, however for a few short weeks during summer, the hills surrounding the port are still full of villas housing some of Europe’s most elite.
Day 4: After a choice of breakfast on board or in the port, a mid-morning departure and ninety minute cruise takes us the spectacle, which is Iola Tavolara. This unique mass of limestone rises directly from the sea and it is beneath its southwestern tip that we find the bay of Salvatore de Terra with its beautiful beach and small local restaurant. Tavolara is very popular with divers who come to view the coral, sponges, sea anemones, bottlenose dolphins and even a few specimens of Pinna nobilis, the rare giant clam whose byssus fibres were formerly used in the manufacture of sea silk for royal garments. Guests can choose between lunch onboard or ashore. SALU makes a late afternoon departure and cruises forty-five minutes south to Cala Brandinchi, where we anchor overnight.
Day 5:Guests awake to breakfast at anchor and weather permitting, we cruise for five hours to our next stop in the Golfo di Orosei, halfway down the Sardinian east coast. Arriving just after midday, SALU anchors for lunch in the crystal clear bay in front of the summer holiday township of Cala Conone. We spend the afternoon at anchor and then cruise a further three hours south along the mountainous coastline and drop anchor for the night off the beach of Porto Frailis.
Day 6: AAn early morning five-hour cruise brings us to the southernmost tip of the eastern Sardinian coastline. SALU arrives early afternoon just off the coast of the popular resort town of Villasimius and anchors in the bay of Porto Ciunco. This beach, a mile and a half long, stretches out to the southeastern most tip of Sardinia. We are now only one hundred and twenty miles from North Africa. Behind the beach is a large salt-water lake and we may be fortunate enough to see Flamingos, which frequent these waters in search of food. We remain at anchor for the afternoon and perhaps also overnight although a possibility exists of entering port for the night, which can only be confirmed on the day we arrive. The port is forty-five minutes cruise away. If we are confirmed a place in the port, SALU leaves the anchorage at around 6pm to make her way around the headland and moors side-to the quay overnight.
Day 7: We depart port or the anchorage for a short cruise west along the south coast of Sardinia to the many beaches in the Golfo di Cagliari. The small bay of Torre delle Stelle is just one of many quiet bays along the south coast. We remain at anchor, allowing a day of uninterrupted sun, sea, cocktails and cuisine. A late afternoon cruise of one hour brings us to the city of Cagliari, capital of Sardinia. We enter port and moor overnight in the marina. This allows time to explore the city in the evening.