La Maddalena Archipelago Dinghy Tour from Cannigione Sardinia

Cannigione and the La Maddalena National Park

Cannigione is a relaxed harbour village in the municipality of Arzachena, on a sheltered inlet just west of the Costa Smeralda. It is a convenient base for a La Maddalena boat tour because the archipelago lies only a short ride to the north, and the departure jetty has free parking.

The archipelago is a national park made up of seven main islands and dozens of islets of pink and grey granite, scattered in the strait between Sardinia and Corsica. Its water is famous for its transparency and colours, from pale turquoise over the sand to deep blue in the channels, and the park ticket that protects this environment is included in your tour.

Caprera, Cala Brigantino and Cala Coticcio

Caprera is the wildest of the large islands, covered with pine woods and Mediterranean scrub and linked to La Maddalena by a short causeway. The first swim of the day is at Cala Brigantino, a quiet unspoilt cove where the dinghy anchors in clear shallow water, often with no other boats around.

The tour then moves to Cala Coticcio, nicknamed little Tahiti for its white sand and turquoise water framed by smooth granite boulders. Access by land requires a long hike and is limited, so arriving by sea is the easiest way to enjoy it. Afterwards the skipper follows the northern coast of Caprera, past its ravines and rock formations, on the way to Budelli.

Budelli, the natural pools and the Pink Beach

Between Budelli, Razzoli and Santa Maria lie the so-called natural pools, shallow channels of incredibly clear water over white sand. The dinghy anchors in front of Cavaliere beach on Budelli, and you can swim and snorkel among small fish in water that looks almost unreal, while the skipper offers a snack of typical Sardinian products.

Budelli also holds the Spiaggia Rosa, the Pink Beach, whose colour comes from fragments of a tiny red marine organism mixed with the sand. To protect it, landing and swimming there have been forbidden for decades, so you see it from the boat during a short slow pass, the only way visitors can admire it today.

Santa Maria island

Santa Maria is a small low island next to Budelli, and its main beach, Cala Santa Maria, is a long arc of fine pale sand with shallow, calm water ideal for swimming and for children. This is the longest stop of the day, about an hour and a half, planned around lunchtime. The island has no roads and only a few scattered stone buildings, so the atmosphere stays wild and peaceful.

There is no shop or restaurant service you can count on, so bring your own packed lunch and plenty of water. After lunch you can walk along the shore, relax in the shade of the juniper bushes or swim again before the boat continues to Spargi.

Spargi, Santo Stefano and the way back

Spargi is a round granite island with some of the most beautiful beaches in the archipelago. You stop for a swim near Cala Granara and Cala Soraya, a few metres from the shore, then land at Cala Corsara, a wide beach of fine sand between sculpted rocks, for time on the beach and a short walk.

On the return to Cannigione the dinghy passes the western coast of La Maddalena island and the island of Santo Stefano, and you can see the Bear Rock at Palau, a granite boulder shaped by the wind that has become the symbol of the town. The tour ends back at the jetty in the late afternoon.