Portisco – La Maddalena – Bonifacio – Porto Vecchio

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

Portisco via La Maddalena & Bonifacio.

A week-long sail from Portisco across the strait to Corsica and back, taking in Porto Cervo, La Maddalena, Bonifacio and Porto Vecchio.

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.

Day 1

Portisco → Porto Cervo

A short six-mile hop north to warm up the crew, ending at the Costa Smeralda's glossiest marina and a sandy swim at Cala Granu.

Distance

8 NM

Sailing

~1.6h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

May – mid-October (peak Jun – Sep)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Portisco

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

Day 1

Portisco → Porto Cervo

Only six miles separate Portisco from Porto Cervo, so there's no rush. We usually slip the lines mid-morning, motor-sail up the coast and drop the hook in Cala Granu before lunch. The cove takes sand at five to seven metres and sits well out of any northerly, so it's a calm spot to check the anchor windlass and let the crew shake off travel legs. Porto Cervo itself was drawn up from scratch in 1962 under the Aga Khan, and it shows in the curved stonework of the Piazzetta. The marina charges like the wounded bull in August, so many crews swim, then anchor for the night and save the berth fee. Ashore, the boutique lanes and the aperitivo crowd at Phi Beach are worth an hour before the sun drops behind the granite.

Things to do

Swim off the sand at Cala Granu

Wander the Piazzetta's curved stonework

Sunset aperitivo at Phi Beach

Browse the boutique lanes after dark

Mooring tip

Berths at Marina di Porto Cervo run €300-600 a night at the August peak, so book well ahead or skip it. Anchoring in Cala Granu on sand at five to seven metres is the budget alternative, though there's no shore power.

Day 2

Porto Cervo → La Maddalena

The run north into the Maddalena archipelago is where the trip starts to feel like Sardinia proper. Twelve miles of open water, then the islands close in and the colour changes underfoot. Porto Massimo, on the north side of La Maddalena, sits in a rough half-circle of pink rock that catches the light late in the day. We tend to anchor there for the swim and move on. Cala Francese, a little further round, is the better snorkel: the bottom shelves in bands of jade and deep blue, and the visibility on a settled day is genuinely good. One thing to sort before you arrive — the park requires mooring buoys to be booked online in July and August, and the good ones go early. Provision a plate of fregola with clams at a harbour osteria before the evening.

Things to do

Snorkel the jade shallows at Cala Francese

Anchor swim in Porto Massimo's pink coves

Kayak between the granite outcrops

Fregola with clams at a harbour osteria

Mooring tip

Park mooring buoys at Porto Massimo and Cala Francese run €40-80 a night in peak season and must be reserved online through the Parco di La Maddalena. Book before you leave the dock, as the sheltered fields fill fast in August.

Day 3

La Maddalena → Santa Teresa Gallura

Santa Teresa Gallura marks the top of the island, tucked into a natural inlet that shrugs off wind from any quarter. That makes it a reliable overnight even when the forecast looks messy for tomorrow's strait crossing. Rena Bianca, the town beach, is a short walk from the quay and shelves gently over pale sand, so it's an easy family swim. Climb the Longonsardo tower above the village at dusk. From the sixteenth-century Aragonese walls you look straight across the water to the white cliffs of Bonifacio, which is where you're headed next. Save an hour for the square, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, and a small glass of mirto, the local myrtle liqueur that most bars pour cold. If there's wind for it, the granite chaos at Capo Testa is worth a lunch stop on the way in.

Things to do

Swim off Rena Bianca in town

Climb the Longonsardo tower at dusk

Mirto tasting on Piazza Vittorio Emanuele

Lunch stop among Capo Testa's granite

Mooring tip

The marina at Santa Teresa Gallura takes you stern-to at €60-100 a night and stays calm in any wind thanks to the headland. If it's full, anchor off Rena Bianca on sand at four to six metres.

Day 4

Santa Teresa → Bonifacio

Short in miles, long in respect. The Bocche di Bonifacio funnels the Mistral between the two islands and can add five to eight knots to whatever the open sea is doing, which makes this the windiest stretch of the western Med. We only cross in daylight and only with a forecast under twenty-five knots; if it's blowing harder, we wait, and Santa Teresa is a fine place to wait. Get an early start, because the wind tends to build through the afternoon. Bonifacio pays you back on arrival. The harbour is a slot cut into a seventy-metre limestone cliff, and the marina sits deep inside the fjord where nothing can touch you. Ashore, the citadel walls, the King of Aragon's staircase down the rock face, and a bowl of wild-boar stew at U Castille fill an evening.

Things to do

Walk the upper-town citadel walls

Descend the King of Aragon's staircase

Tender into the Sdragonato sea cave

Wild-boar stew at U Castille

Mooring tip

Marina de Bonifacio takes you stern-to at €100-180 a night in peak, fully sheltered deep in the fjord. Only attempt the strait in daylight with the Mistral forecast below twenty-five knots, and start early before the afternoon build.

Day 5

Bonifacio → Porto Vecchio

The longest leg of the week, and the prettiest run of coast. Twenty miles northeast from Bonifacio brings you along a shoreline of umbrella pines and red granite, with Palombaggia the obvious stop before you reach port. Anchor off the beach on sand at four to six metres and go ashore for the powder underfoot; it earns its reputation on a calm morning. If the crew wants fish rather than sand, the Cerbicale islands sit a few miles offshore as a marine reserve, and the snorkelling over the reef edges is worth the detour. Porto Vecchio has been a working port since the Genoese built the citadel above the old salt pans in the sixteenth century. The upper town is a good evening wander, and a chestnut-flour beer from a Corsican brewery is the proper way to end the day.

Things to do

Anchor swim off Palombaggia beach

Snorkel the Cerbicale marine reserve

Walk the Genoese citadel's upper town

Chestnut-flour Corsican beer at day's end

Mooring tip

Marina de Porto Vecchio takes you stern-to at €100-150 a night in peak and shelters well from the north. For a day stop, anchor off Palombaggia on sand at four to six metres, keeping clear of the swimming lines.

Day 6

Porto Vecchio → Cala Santa Maria

Back across the Bocche you go, this time southbound, timing the crossing for the calmer morning hours as before. Fifteen miles later you're back under the Italian courtesy flag and dropping into Cala Santa Maria, one of those coves in the La Maddalena park you can only reach on the water. Pines come right down to the sand, the bottom is clean at four to six metres, and the whole bay sits out of the northerlies. It's a snorkelling cove more than a walking one: parrotfish work the rocks at the edges, and there's usually an anemone or two if you look. We like to lay up here for the afternoon, swim, and eat a slice of fiadone, the Corsican lemon cheesecake, on deck. Remember the park buoys still need booking, even this late in the loop.

Things to do

Anchor swim in boat-only Cala Santa Maria

Snorkel the rock edges for parrotfish

Slice of fiadone on deck

Laze the afternoon in the pines

Mooring tip

Cala Santa Maria's mooring buoys run €40-60 a night in peak and, like the rest of the park, must be pre-booked online. Aim to arrive by early afternoon, as the boat-only coves draw a crowd once the day-trip fleet moves in.

Day 7

Cala Santa Maria → Portisco

The last day is built around swims rather than miles. Fifteen easy miles carry you south from the archipelago back toward Portisco, and there's no reason to hurry any of it. Capriccioli is the first stop, its beach broken up by rounded granite boulders that stand like sentinels off the sand. Then Cala di Volpe, the bay the Aga Khan set put on the map in the sixties and still full of superyacht hardware in season. Take a last long swim there. Liscia Ruja, just south, has warm shallow water and a beach lunch if the crew isn't ready to hand the boat back. When you are, top up at the fuel berth by the Portisco entrance before you tie up, and confirm your handover slot the day before so the morning goes smoothly.

Things to do

Anchor swim among Capriccioli's granite boulders

Final dip in celebrity Cala di Volpe

Beach lunch at warm-water Liscia Ruja

Refuel at the Portisco entrance berth

Mooring tip

Marina di Portisco berths you stern-to on lazy lines at €120-200 a night in peak. Refuel at the fuel berth just inside the entrance, and lock in your handover time twenty-four hours ahead to avoid a queue at the pontoon.