Tavolara Island Boat Tour with Snorkelling from Olbia Sardinia

Olbia and the departure into the bay

Olbia is the main gateway to north-east Sardinia, with its airport, ferry port and a lively old centre around the Basilica of San Simplicio. The tour starts in town, where you meet your captain and guide and receive your snorkelling gear, then the boat heads south-east out of the Gulf of Olbia into open water. Within a short time the huge silhouette of Tavolara fills the horizon.

If you are looking for a short boat trip from Olbia that still feels like a real adventure, this half-day route is ideal: there is little time spent transferring, and most of the morning is spent at sea. It is also one of the most popular things to do in Olbia for travellers who arrive by ferry or plane and have only a few days on the island.

Tavolara Island

Tavolara is a massive block of limestone about five kilometres long that rises steeply from the sea to around 565 metres at its highest point. Seen from the coast it looks like a giant table, which is how it got its name. Its cliffs shelter nesting seabirds and rare plants, and a small population of wild goats lives on its slopes. Only the low sandy point at its western end, Spalmatore di Terra, is inhabited, with a tiny beach settlement.

On this Tavolara boat tour you sail close to the vertical walls on the sheltered side of the island and enter the famous cave carved into the cliffs, where the light turns the water bright blue. Your guide tells the curious history of the island, its shepherd families and the creation of the marine reserve that now protects it.

The Tavolara and Molara Marine Protected Area

Created in the late 1990s, the Tavolara and Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area covers the islands of Tavolara and Molara and the coast opposite them. Fishing and anchoring are regulated, and the sea floor is covered with meadows of Posidonia seagrass, which keep the water exceptionally clear. This is why the coves here are among the best places for snorkelling in Sardinia.

During the swim stops you can expect to see sea bream, wrasse, starfish, sea urchins and sometimes octopus or small groupers among the rocks. The captain chooses the coves according to the wind, so every trip is slightly different. Tavolara island snorkelling is easy for beginners because many spots are shallow and calm, and the guide gives a short briefing before everyone enters the water.

Molara Island and its natural pools

South of Tavolara lies Molara, a rounded granite island covered with Mediterranean scrub and wild olive trees, with the ruins of a medieval church and a small fortified tower. It is privately owned and protected, so visitors admire it from the sea. Between Molara and the tiny islet of Molarotto, the sea floor rises to form shallow turquoise lagoons often called the natural pools of Molara.

From the boat you see the contrast between the pale limestone of Tavolara and the pink granite of Molara, one of the most striking views of the whole coastline. The best time to visit Tavolara and Molara is from late May to early October, when the water is warm enough for long swims and the sea is usually calm in the morning hours.