Exploring the Coast of Southern Sardinia by Sailboat

Sailing from Torre delle Stelle to Villasimius reveals the coast in a different way than from the shore. From the headland where Cann’e Sisa and Genn’e Mari open like two pale crescents on the eastern side of the Golfo degli Angeli, the boat slips out slowly and the shoreline begins to change. Near the shore, the sea is as clear as glass. A little farther out it turns blue, then green, then suddenly darker as a deep sapphire. The air is scented with salt and hints of lentisk, juniper, and myrtle.

This stretch of coast is best understood as a sequence. Solanas comes up broad and open, a long arc of golden sand between Capo Boi and a rocky point covered in Mediterranean green. Capo Boi moves into the sea like a threshold, its historic tower still holding its place above the water after centuries of watching over this border.

Beyond the cape, before Villasimius shows its better-known beaches, the coast reserves one of its quieter gestures for those arriving from the sea. Cala Pisanu appears almost at the last moment as a narrow inlet enclosed by sheer rock, with pale stones at its edge and water that immediately moves from green into cobalt. Also known as Cala Sirena and, locally, as Cala Macchinetta, it feels like it belongs more to the sea than to the land. Boats pause here in silence. Swimmers revel in the clear depths.

Then the coastline opens again. Porto Sa Ruxi is recognisable even offshore with its three small sandy coves divided by granite outcrops, framed by dunes, ancient junipers, and pale stone. A little farther along is the longer and more open Campus, where reeds and Mediterranean scrub almost reach the waterline. Campulongu continues the sequence with its white shore and transparent sea.

Closer to Villasimius, everything becomes more intimate. Cala Caterina appears among the rocks like a pause. The small and self-contained Is Traias gathers shades of emerald and blue beneath the distant presence of Serpentara. Then Simius opens in a wider curve, sheltered and bright, its seabed descending gently and its colour shifting with the light.

And finally, Porto Giunco.

To arrive from the sea is to enter a place of dreams: pale sand, the Notteri pond behind it, the promontory with its tower, and those astonishing transparencies that divide the water into separate fields of light. Here the journey slows on its own.

This southern coast is not easily forgotten. Seen from the water, it becomes a progression of forms, and surprising colours. From Torre delle Stelle to Villasimius, sailing connects one place to another and reveals a coastline, one cove at a time.