Corsica & Sardinia

[jcwads]

I will be travelling to Corsica and Sardinia this summer to hop over to Tunisia for VAT purposes.

The plan is to get to the southern part of Sardinia in a fairly short window with a couple of stops, and once Tunisia is sorted (already all organised via an agent) we will have an extended cruise back north along the East Coasts of Sardinia and Corsica for holidays.

Having never explored these cruising grounds, and being pretty excited to do so, has anyone got any recommendations of must see areas / bays / marinas etc.

 

[tico]

Think that MapisM and JFM are your go-to guys for this region.

 

[Clancy Moped]

The western side of Corsica is far more scenic than the East. Get your self sorted for August 15 well in advance, if you can get into Calvi it's quite a night.

 

[Seastoke]

J Rudge is moving his base to Sardinia , he must know the area.

 

[jfm]

Will be interested to hear the Tunisia story and how well the agent delivered. Might have to do the same.

Suggest on your north bound trip you do south then E not W coast of Sardinia - Mapism and BartW are experts.

Suggest as mentioned above that you do W coast of Corsica not east. Far nicer. From South to North you should stop at (Madellenas and Lavezzi (both Italy), Sperone, Bonifacio, Propriano, Cala d'Orzu, Ajaccio Tino Rossi, Girolata and the caves at Porto, Calvi, Saleccia beach, Loto beach, St Florent then back to Antibes. That would be an amazing trip. I'll be doing all of that first 2 weeks August starting Carloforte/Cagliari.

Here are a couple of my old videos of Corse and if you need me to name any of the places just ask

 

[jcwads]

Will be interested to hear the Tunisia story and how well the agent delivered. Might have to do the same.

Suggest on your north bound trip you do south then E not W coast of Sardinia - Mapism and BartW are experts.

Suggest as mentioned above that you do W coast of Corsica not east. Far nicer. From South to North you should stop at (Madellenas and Lavezzi (both Italy), Sperone, Bonifacio, Propriano, Cala d'Orzu, Ajaccio Tino Rossi, Girolata and the caves at Porto, Calvi, Saleccia beach, Loto beach, St Florent then back to Antibes. That would be an amazing trip. I'll be doing all of that first 2 weeks August starting Carloforte/Cagliari.

Here are a couple of my old videos of Corse and if you need me to name any of the places just ask

Thanks for all the tips. I’ll be sure to add it to my planning. So helpful to know which coasts are better etc. A lot to now look into and investigate.

The agent I’m using was recommended by JRudge on a previous post. They seem really professional and it’s a decent price.

 

[Clancy Moped]

Things may have changed but I doubt it, if you can avoid picking up fule in Calvi do so, the station used have quite a lot of of sea water ingress.

 

[DavidJ]

We had the boat in Alghero for nearly a year (in the early days of £10 Ryanair flights from Brum) we really enjoyed the town. Need to get close to town because the swells in the outer harbour are a bit extreme. I remember wetting myself getting into Porto (Corsica) below, in a west wind. Very sheltered once you’re in.


@jfm videos brought back a lot of memories.

ps Just seen the size of your boat. Give Porto a miss.

 

[Clancy Moped]

We had the boat in Alghero for nearly a year (in the early days of £10 Ryanair flights from Brum) we really enjoyed the town. Need to get close to town because the swells in the outer harbour are a bit extreme. I remember wetting myself getting into Porto (Corsica) in a west wind. Very sheltered once you’re in.
@jfm videos brought back a lot of memories.

I liked Alghero, we always stayed at Club Aquatica, great staff and spot.

 

[AllWinds]

My personal feeling is that the La Maddalena Archipelago while quite nice is overrated. We've been there off-season and the bays were still full in Maddalena. We moved out of the protected area and immediately had less people around and a nicer experience. The east coast of Corsica does not have very much between Solanzera and Bastia in terms of harbours or anchorages. The West Coast has a lot more as long as the Mistral doesn't blow.

We liked Calvi and Maccinagio as harbour towns, but also some nice little anchorages along the way.

Bonifacio I'd leave for the off-season. But Elba and Capraia are also just a stones through away from Cap Corse even if you go up the west side.

We love this area and will hopefully have our own boat based somewhere close by in the next couple of years.

 

[simon]

I will be travelling to Corsica and Sardinia this summer to hop over to Tunisia for VAT purposes.

The plan is to get to the southern part of Sardinia in a fairly short window with a couple of stops, and once Tunisia is sorted (already all organised via an agent) we will have an extended cruise back north along the East Coasts of Sardinia and Corsica for holidays.

Having never explored these cruising grounds, and being pretty excited to do so, has anyone got any recommendations of must see areas / bays / marinas etc.

We are doing the same in Sept/Oct this year, although holiday cruise on the way down, Tunisia then back to mainland Italy after (destination undecided). I would appreciate agent details and pricing if possible and look forward to hearing how your trip goes.

 

[jfm]

Yes you will definitely not get a Targa 48 inside Porto harbour (which is 1/3rd the way down on w coast on Corsica). You would get into Girolata 1 mile north, and that's worth a one night stop over. It's the opening shots of the 2016 video above. No gensets allowed overnight there. You can also tie up at the beach jetties in Girolata - 2:10-2:13 of the 2016 video above, max 28-30m boat if you're brave.

I agree not to try to buy fuel in Calvi - it's too busy and the "queuing" is carnage.

St Florent is great for fuel, as is Propriano. Bonifacio is carnage queuing, though a truck will deliver to your transom if you need plenty. Ajaccio tino rossi is ok but not my first choice because the queuing space is a bit awkward.

FWIW, I would strongly recommend a night in Bonifacio in high season. Very busy, party atmosphere, people-watching place with lots of quayside restaurants. There are plenty of quiet places in Corse so I would recommend going large in Bonifacio Calvi the same. St florent is also nice for a busy evening.

 

[Clancy Moped]

Book a table for dinner at Luxury 5-star hotel in Calvi Corsica in Calvi, spectacular views and food

 

[jfm]

Beautiful pictures of Calvi on that website CM Of course most of the west coast of Corse is beautiful. I stayed at that hotel about 10 years ago, and have guests on the boat this summer who spent their honeymoon there so we are all going up there for dinner mid August this year

 

[Clancy Moped]

A nice lunch spot just out of Calvi is Restaurant-Calvi-Lumio-Balagne-Poissons-Crustacés - Le Pain de Sucre

 

[DavidJ]

My personal feeling is that the La Maddalena Archipelago while quite nice is overrated. We've been there off-season and the bays were still full in Maddalena. We moved out of the protected area and immediately had less people around and a nicer experience. The east coast of Corsica does not have very much between Solanzera and Bastia in terms of harbours or anchorages. The West Coast has a lot more as long as the Mistral doesn't blow.

We liked Calvi and Maccinagio as harbour towns, but also some nice little anchorages along the way.

Bonifacio I'd leave for the off-season. But Elba and Capraia are also just a stones through away from Cap Corse even if you go up the west side.

We love this area and will hopefully have our own boat based somewhere close by in the next couple of years.

Agree we dropped anchor in the crystal clear waters of La Maddalena Archipelago and got bored quite quickly. It’s interesting how what would seem to be the perfect location actually isn’t

 

[Star-Lord]

I will be travelling to Corsica and Sardinia this summer to hop over to Tunisia for VAT purposes.

The plan is to get to the southern part of Sardinia in a fairly short window with a couple of stops, and once Tunisia is sorted (already all organised via an agent) we will have an extended cruise back north along the East Coasts of Sardinia and Corsica for holidays.

Having never explored these cruising grounds, and being pretty excited to do so, has anyone got any recommendations of must see areas / bays / marinas etc.

I spent a couple of years in Sardinia and lockdown in Cagliari. I also sailed to Bizerte, Tunisia, and stayed there for 3 months - doing a Brexit run before I got my Irish passport. I have been to most of Sardinia. Didn’t reach Corsica. How big is your motor boat?

 

[jfm]

Agree we dropped anchor in the crystal clear waters of La Maddalena Archipelago and got bored quite quickly. It’s interesting how what would seem to be the perfect location actually isn’t

Can't believe I'm reading these comments!
In my book there are zillions of gorgeous anchorages there and in Corsica/Sardinia generally

 

[jointventureII]

The Maddalena archipelago is stunning but it just gets overrun - my wife's family has a house on one of the more remote islands (no electricity, water is collected from the heavens) and even we avoid it in August. It reminds me of a bigger Ecrehous / Minquiers.

If you're heading to Bizerte to stamp out, the new marina has made it a very pleasant experience (although admittedly I've been there 10+ times and never ventured out of the marina, due to time constraints). A far cry from the old fishing port we used to have to go to.

Watch out for a shallow bottom with loads of dead posidonia in Macchinaggio / St Florent - it'll end up in the sea strainers (blocking them) once kicked up off the bottom.

 

[petem]

I will be travelling to Corsica and Sardinia this summer to hop over to Tunisia for VAT purposes.

The plan is to get to the southern part of Sardinia in a fairly short window with a couple of stops, and once Tunisia is sorted (already all organised via an agent) we will have an extended cruise back north along the East Coasts of Sardinia and Corsica for holidays.

Having never explored these cruising grounds, and being pretty excited to do so, has anyone got any recommendations of must see areas / bays / marinas etc.

Sorry if this is obvious but don't forget to check your insurance covers Tunisia (some policies don't).