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Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Sardinia

Olbia round-trip.

Sail 7 days from Olbia through Tavolara, Golfo Aranci, Porto Rotondo, Portisco, Porto Cervo and the Maddalena park. Anchorages, moorings and honest tips.

The route

Day-by-day route

Click any pin on the map or any day in the route summary below to see that day's stop, story and photos.

Porto San Paolo
Day 1

Olbia → Porto San Paolo

A gentle twelve-mile run south to shake down the boat, ending at a fishing village that sits square opposite the Tavolara wall.

Distance

7 NM

Sailing

~1.4h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

May – mid-October (peak Jun – Sep)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Olbia

Sailing area

Sardinia

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7
Porto San Paolo
1
Day 1

Olbia → Porto San Paolo

Most crews use the first leg to find the boat rather than push it, and twelve miles down from Olbia gives you exactly that. The wind here is usually the Mistral off the northwest, ten to twenty-five knots that funnels harder as it squeezes through the Bonifacio Strait; the good news is that these southern coves sit in its lee. Porto San Paolo itself is a working fishing village, low-key and unpolished, staring straight across at the limestone hulk of Tavolara. We tend to drop the hook in Cala Girgolu, four to six metres over clean sand, and swim before dinner. Ashore, the local bottarga is worth seeking out. Grilled octopus off a quayside grill and a cold Vermentino makes a fair reward for a travel day.

Things to do

Anchor and snorkel the Cala Girgolu seagrass

Track down real Sardinian bottarga ashore

Walk up to Capo Coda Cavallo

Grilled octopus at a quayside trattoria

Mooring tip

Porto San Paolo's small marina takes you stern-to for roughly €60-90 a night and shelters you from the north. If you'd rather swing on the hook, Cala Girgolu holds well on sand in four to six metres.

Tavolara
2
Day 2

Porto San Paolo → Tavolara Island

Tavolara is a genuine oddity. The rock climbs more than five hundred metres straight out of the water, and for a stretch of the nineteenth century a shepherd family here ran what history remembers as the world's smallest kingdom. Their little cemetery still sits ashore, headstones and all. The eastern end is a military zone, so keep your visit to the western spit. We anchor off Spalmatore di Terra, sand at four to six metres, protected from the north, and treat it as a lunch stop rather than a bed for the night. The beach is pale and shallow; the free-diving under the limestone overhangs is the real draw. Da Tonino, the taverna that has fed sailors here for decades, is worth booking ahead if you want a table.

Things to do

Swim off Spiaggia Spalmatore's pale sand

Find the old royal cemetery ashore

Free-dive the limestone overhangs

Book a table at Da Tonino

Mooring tip

There's no marina here, so it's anchor-only on sand at four to six metres off Spalmatore di Terra. Keep it a daytime stop and move on before nightfall if the Mistral is forecast above about eighteen knots.

Golfo Aranci
3
Day 3

Tavolara → Golfo Aranci

Golfo Aranci earns its place on the itinerary less for the town than for what sits under the water just outside it. This is the northeast corner of Sardinia, a modest port where mainland ferries come and go, and the marina gives you a proper night's sleep behind full shelter. A mile east lies the Secca di Capo Figari, an underwater peak that rises toward the surface and pulls in grouper, barracuda and, if you're lucky with the light, plenty of colour. Bring a mask. Onshore, the Capo Figari headland has a walking track up to an old lighthouse with the whole gulf laid out below. Provisioning is easy here, which makes it a sensible stop before the prices climb further up the Costa Smeralda.

Things to do

Dive the Secca di Capo Figari

Hike to the Capo Figari lighthouse

Swim off the white sand at Spiaggia Bianca

Restock before Costa Smeralda prices climb

Mooring tip

Marina di Golfo Aranci puts you stern-to on lazy lines, around €100-150 in high season, and it's fully protected. In August book ahead; the berths fill early.

Porto Rotondo
4
Day 4

Golfo Aranci → Porto Rotondo

Porto Rotondo is a designed place, laid out from scratch in the early 1960s by a Venetian family with an eye for theatre. The result is all pale stone piazzas, stepped amphitheatre seating and villas half-buried in flowers. It photographs beautifully and charges accordingly; a marina berth in August runs among the steepest on the whole Mediterranean coast. If the numbers make you wince, anchor outside in the bay on sand at six to eight metres and tender in for a look. The pink-granite cove at Spiaggia Ira, just around the point, is a fine morning swim before the day-boats arrive. Come evening the crowd dresses up for aperitivo on the marble; you don't have to join in, but it's a show worth watching once.

Things to do

Morning swim at Spiaggia Ira's pink granite

Aperitivo on the Piazzetta San Marco marble

Visit the modernist San Lorenzo church

Sit in the open-air amphitheatre at dusk

Mooring tip

Marina di Porto Rotondo is premium and priced like it, roughly €200-400 a night at peak. To dodge that, anchor out in the bay on sand at six to eight metres and use the tender; there's no shore power out there, so plan your batteries.

Portisco
5
Day 5

Porto Rotondo → Portisco

Portisco is where a lot of these charters actually begin and end, and it shows in the setup: a big, well-run quay with lazy lines, fuel, water and someone who answers the radio. It isn't pretty in the resort sense, but it's practical, and that has its own value mid-week. The reason to stop is next door. Cala di Volpe, a mile east, is the bay the Aga Khan's set made famous in the sixties, and the water still lives up to the reputation. For something quieter, Cupaccia is reachable only by boat and tends to stay calm. Eat well here: culurgiones, the mint-and-potato parcels pinched shut by hand, are a Sardinian staple worth ordering. If you fancy a late one, the cliff-top beach clubs nearby run their sunsets hard.

Things to do

Swim in the celebrated Cala di Volpe

Tender to boat-only Cupaccia for quiet

Order handmade culurgiones at a local trattoria

Catch a cliff-top sunset at a beach club

Mooring tip

Marina di Portisco takes you stern-to on lazy lines with full services, around €120-200 at peak. It's the busiest base on this coast, so radio ahead in August and expect to queue for fuel late afternoon.

Porto Cervo
6
Day 6

Portisco → Porto Cervo

Porto Cervo is the reason a lot of people point a bow at this coast in the first place. Founded by the Aga Khan in 1962 as the flagship of the whole Costa Smeralda project, it has spent sixty years being the most expensive marina in the Mediterranean, and August rates hold that title without much competition. My advice is to earn the visit before you pay for it. Cala Granu, just short of the harbour, is boat-only and holds nicely on sand in five to seven metres; swim there first. Then decide whether the berth is worth it or whether you'd rather anchor and tender in for the evening. The old Piazzetta, with its curved marble and stepped alleys, is genuinely good architecture. The boutiques speak for themselves.

Things to do

Anchor and swim in boat-only Cala Granu

Walk the curved marble of the Piazzetta

Watch the superyachts in the Old Port

Window-shop the boutique alleys

Mooring tip

Marina di Porto Cervo is the priciest slot on this route, roughly €300-600 a night in August, full premium service. For a fraction of that, anchor in Cala Granu on sand at five to seven metres; there's no shore power, so top up your batteries first.

Caprera
7
Day 7

Porto Cervo → Olbia

The final day is the longest, so we usually slip the lines early and take the scenic way south through the Maddalena archipelago. Caprera is the target. Cala Coticcio, on its eastern side, carries the nickname "Tahiti of the Med," and for once the marketing undersells it: pale sand, water in improbable greens, and a headland that keeps the northerly out. Access is tightly controlled now, so sort your park permit before you arrive. Caprera also gave Garibaldi his final home, and his house is open as a museum if the timing works. From there it's a steady run back down to Olbia. Leave enough in the tank to top up at the fuel berth, give the boat a rinse, and you'll hand her back clean.

Things to do

Anchor at Cala Coticcio, the 'Tahiti of the Med'

Swim at Cala Corsara on Spargi

Tour Garibaldi's house museum on Caprera

Refuel at Olbia's fuel berth before handover

Mooring tip

Back at Olbia Marina it's stern-to on lazy lines, about €100-150 at peak, with a fuel berth by the entrance for the pre-handover top-up. One catch: Cala Coticcio now needs a park permit booked online for July and August, and numbers are capped, so arrange it well ahead.

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