Sardinia for the summer??

[pcatterall]

Thanks for many good pointers on this forum recently it has helped us focus a little.
We now want to book into a marina to use as a base for the whole summer at least and possibly overwinter there.
Alghero or Cagliari look like candidates in terms of marina and airports. I am trying to get prices from these locations but there seem to be different marinas within each port. I understand that marina del sole in Cagliari is basic and that the other marina is more expensive. There seem to be several marinas at Alghero.
We are a 10m sailing yacht and want to be able to just potter out for the odd day or so and possibly just do one 'round the island trip'.
We considered overwintering in Sicily but it may make economic sense just to stay in Sardinia.
What would you experienced guys advise and has anyone a handle on the various marinas and the prices for a long term stay.
many thanks

 

[Tintin]

I was recently at Carloforte. Ok, it was october so not as busy as it could be, but a gem none the less. Far far nicer than Cagliari imho.

Evryone very helpful and friendly. About 1.8m at the fuel berth in the fishermans harbour was the only downside.

 

[vertford]

Afraid I can only offer this as I went for 2 weeks on a kayaking holiday in early May. We are based out of Santa Maria Navarrese on a daily basis and the marina looked decent and met some Ukranians who were exploring the coast up Cala Gonone. Our flat was in Arbatax which had a big marina port, but more industrial feel to it when we walked around the yard.
Villasimius was modern and gets quite busy in the summer as the Golfo di Carbonara is a hot spot.

We didn't take to Cagilara much. The marina in the centre struck me as rather insecure. It fronted onto the "park" and it was dirty and poorly lit and the traffic was a bit grim.
Lovely island and everyone very friendly.

 

[Wife of Lofticus]

I was recently at Carloforte. Ok, it was october so not as busy as it could be, but a gem none the less. Far far nicer than Cagliari

Agree with thoughts on Carloforte but not sure of travel links. Overwintering in Sicily is very reasonably priced in both Licata Marina and Marina Di Ragusa. Would recommend getting quotes before dismissing. Also travel links to UK very good.

 

[jimbaerselman]

The north and south ends of Sardinia offer a reasonable diversity for day cruising, with plenty of free anchorages. In peak season this means serious crowds (and serious marina prices), especially in the north. The west and east coasts are more coasts of transit, rather than cruising grounds, especially the east coast. But this means the marinas are much cheaper places for leaving your boat, if rather out of the way!

I've just brought http://www.jimbsail.info/mediterranean/west-med/sardinia up to date, with links to marina sites where available to make price checking easy.

 

[TonyMS]

The NE coast offers the best cruising, but the marinas are expensive. You could try Sarda Nautica in Porto Pozzo - Mario rented me a buoy for 15 a night, and may also have space on his pontoons.(saudanautica@portopozzo.it, 338 954 2094)

 

[pcatterall]

Many thanks guys. Jim B great info as usual.
I guess I would like to target Cagliari. I would prefer to have it booked in advance but I read that I should not expect any reply to trying to do this by email. We really struggled last year in France to find a base and would like to avoid this next year.
Is it really Ok to head over there in May and be confident of booking in for the year??

 

[TonyMS]

Marina di Sole answer emails within a few days

 

[Tintin]

.....
I guess I would like to target Cagliari. ......

I would make sure you are happy with the place before committing for a year - there are much nicer places in Sardinia and Sicily.

With Sicily you also have a lot of flights reasonably priced to Palermo.

 

[ccscott49]

Dunno about summer, but in winter Alghero suffers with harbour surge, sometimes horrendous and winds. The town also dies in October. There are a few places open and we managed quite well, but very little is open. I would use Cagliari, carloforte is also nice, but again is very limited come winter.

 

[tri39]

I spent ten days in marina del sole this July. Cagliari is a great city, lots of life. A bike is good to cover the mile from marina to town centre.
However this marina is rather basic with loose planks, inadequate showers/loos, and large sleeping dogs, one of which bit a visitor this summer, when a loose plank woke it up suddenly. Despite this I rather liked the place!! However I was warned that a southerly gale produces a lot of movement in the outer pontoons so try and get in as far as poss. There's also a lot of shellfish fouling. The big boatyard is a plus altho very dusty as they often are.

 

[syfuga]

Hi

Sardinia is a great place, well worth exploring, and the people are generally friendly, especially in the south..

Have a look at our web site, and under places there is a bit about Sardinia specifically, as well as within the blog.

We wintered Fuga three winters in Marina del Sole, Cagliari, which as someone said is a great city to spend time around. Despite its crankiness, M de S is a friendly sort of place.

Easyjet and others fly also into Olbia on the east coast, and Olbia itself and nearby are other options to leave the boat.

 

[Ariadne]

You could get some good deals in Carloforte over winter when we there, Cagliari airport was about 4 hours by ferry and taxi and not cheap. The place is great, small and not a huge ammount to do there, travelling around Sardinia is going to hard work.

Marina Del Sole - plenty already said on here about it, I'd have no problems going back there, in the water or out. The owners can be a bit odd and functionalist, but it never affected the quality of the care they took of the boats in their care. The marina is 'rustic' and has basic facilities, a marina car or two, but it's cheap if you go long term and get a good deal otherwise high season is the same as everywhere in Italy!

The other marinas in Cagliari were twice the price and not really with any better facilities.

Cagilari, is a decent sized city with some great history; loads going on, cheap shops, designer shops, some great out of town shopping and easy to get around by foot, bus or car.

 

[pcatterall]

"The other marinas in Cagliari were twice the price and not really with any better facilities."
The 'other' marina quoted £1600 for the year (10m yacht) which I thought was v cheap, not heard from Marina Del Sol yet ( even though I used my Italian translator for my query)

 

[syfuga]

What 'other marina'? There are several possibilities: the yard in the north west of the harbour, the newly fitted out pontoons off the Via Roma in place of the old transit quay, (possibly operated by the port authority), Marina St Elmo next to M de S? £1600 does seem very cheap for an annual berth.

If you want an answer from Max at M de S you are probably best telephoning him, or turn up and negotiate from there. Cash works.

 

[pcatterall]

It was Marina St Elmo. I guess I will have to try to phone 'Max' as I really want to have a confirmed booking to plan other stuff around.
Thanks

 

[Muggeo]

I want to go over there to play