La Maddalena Sailing Cabin Charter from Portisco: A 7-Night Cruise Through the Costa Smeralda, Spargi, Budelli and Caprera

The cruise departs from Marina Cala dei Sardi in Portisco, on the north-east coast of Sardinia and about thirty minutes from Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport. It follows a circular route north along the Costa Smeralda and into the La Maddalena Archipelago, returning to the same marina at the end of the week.

Most days leave time for a long lunch and swim stop at anchor, and the plan moves with the weather: the Strait of Bonifacio can blow, so the route is adapted each day to wind and sea state.

The archipelago is a protected national park of granite islands, pine and turquoise shallows at the north-east corner of Sardinia. Spargi, with the pale sand and clear water of Cala Corsara, Budelli and Santa Maria around the shallow lagoon of Porto della Madonna, and Caprera with the cove of Cala Coticcio form the heart of the week. The pink beach of Budelli is admired from the water, as landing is not permitted, and nights are spent on park moorings or in quiet bays.

Along the Costa Smeralda the route calls at Cala di Volpe, Liscia Ruja and the harbour of Porto Cervo, before turning into the park. La Maddalena town offers a walk through its old harbour quarter, and Caprera is the island where Garibaldi spent his last years. Weather permitting, the route can cross the Strait of Bonifacio to the citadel of southern Corsica, with its white cliffs and narrow, fjord-like entrance. Tavolara and Porto Rotondo are possible stops on the way back to Portisco, where the last evening is spent in the marina.

Days settle into an easy rhythm: a morning swim, a short sail, a lunch at anchor in clear water and an evening in a village harbour or a quiet bay, with dinner ashore in family-run restaurants and harbour trattorias.