Have been, but not on boat... From memory the north bit was the best bit. Theres a well know marina (the only decent sized one) up on the north east side. Had a V nice lunch and watched all the boaty's come and go. Overall whole place V nice
Scenery is fantastic, facilities a bit less so. Best bit is North (Cap Corse) - wild and rugged - and NE coast. However, IMO the Cote D'Azur has similar scenery and better facilities. So unless you want to feel almost completely cut off from the world in your boat I'd go (stay???) in the Riviera.
Spent much time cruising Corsica. Forget Cap Corse right at the north end - it blows like **%^ and is quite grey and forbidding (but interesting to look at if the weather is nice, which it isn't very often). First stop is Calvi at northwestern end. Nice place, quite busy tourist spot but still pleasant town.
Cruising down west coast, make sure you stop in Girolata for a couple of days. A huge bay with mountain backdrop, like a giant fjord, gives excellent opportunities to get away from it all. The northern bay has a little anchorage at its head with a restaurant, but it is always full to overflowing in the season. Head out along the bay's northen craggy shore, and drop the hook close in to the red rocks, taking a couple of lines ashore and tying to the cliffs. Very deep water very quickly, sometimes a gentle swell coming in, a few wasps around, but you won't get 'away from it all' like this anywhere in the Med. Beautiful water, and no annoying grockels shore side as it is one giant nature reserve with no road access. Southern side of the bay there are a couple of anchorages off small sandy coves.
Further down is the large bay of Ajaccio - with a modern town at its head. One or two nice beaches to anchor off along the way in. Town itself is large but nothing special, but there are mooring opportunities and you can get some boat parts here if you need to. Lots of light clutter in the dark making approach kinda tricky after dusk, and a couple of big ferries piddle about in here so beware.
Round corner onto southern coast, you HAVE to go into Bonifacio - surely one of the most spectacular spots in the Med. If you want a berth along the quay or on one of the pontoons with easy access to the town, you have to be in by 1400... Town built on cliffs overhanging the Straits, nice old part, and cliff walks out to the lighthouse, with great views. Several good bars, lots of boaty people, especially yotties, and many Sunsail types, but it's still a good spot.
From here, head across to Sardinia for a couple of days, and explore the Maddelana (ooops! forgotten spelling) islands, which are always popular but are truly excellent for swimming. Only accessible by boat or tripper thing, but still nice.
Island of Cavallo off south eastern tip of Corsica is well worth stopping in - reasonable mooring marina thing, private island and quite undeveloped, exclusive, and good for riding out a mistral. Slightly further up east coast is Porto Veccio (oops! forgotten spelling again) which is a popular stopover for boaters. North of this I haven't been, partly coz I don't think there's anything up there.
Interior of Corsica is pretty special, especially if you fancy hiking up Alpinesque mountain things.
There are several other stopping off points along the way, with pink sand and crystal water, but you'll have to explore a little more to find them...
If you want any other info, give me a call in the MBY office.
Tim Thomas
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by kimhollamby on Wed Jan 30 21:58:23 2002 (server time).</FONT></P>
