12 of the Best Beaches in Sardinia - A Local Guide to Sea & Sand
Sardinia has over 1,000 miles of coastline and hundreds of beaches, almost all of which would rank in the top spot for any other destination.
And while all the beaches are stunning, they vary pretty significantly depending on where you go on the island. From the small coves and pink colored sand of the Costa Smeralda to the golden dunes and windswept beaches of the southwest’s Costa Verde, there’s a beach here for every taste.
If you plot the beaches on a map, you’ll notice that the lion’s share are in the Northeast and Southwest. Not everyone will agree with us, but we think these two areas have the best beaches. Realistically, we’re just splitting hairs; there are no bad beaches in Sardinia.
Narrowing down a list to include just 12 of our favorites was an agonizing task and the process led to heated discussion and more than a few angrily incredulous exclamations of “are you kidding me?!”. But, in the end, we’re mostly in agreement with the final result.
Please note that the list below is not ranked in order; even attempting to do so would have been too dangerous a task. If you’re a Sardinian beach enthusiast and think we made any unforgivable mistakes, let us know in the comments!
More Sardinia info
Table of contents
Which beaches we’ve chosen and why
Best beaches to visit by season
Our 13 favorite beaches in Sardinia
Tuerredda
Cala Sisine
Cala Petra Ruja
La Pelosa/Stintino
Rena Majori
Spiaggia di Porto Palma
Porto Zafferano
Cala Coticcio
Cala Mariolu
Spiaggia di Cea
Portixeddu
Cala Domestica
Which beaches we’ve chosen and why
For us, the best beaches in Sardinia are in the Northeast and the South/southwest.
In the southwest we like the towering sand dunes, strikingly blue waters, and unimpeded nature.
In the northeast, the gentle coves with turquoise water, pink sands, and rose-colored granite contrast brilliantly with the bright green scrub. La Maddalena archipelago alone could probably fill the list, but to be fair to the whole island, we’ve tried to include a mix of spots all around Sardinia.
We’re fans of wilder beaches and prefer those with few crowds, no amenities at them, and uninterrupted nature. But we know that that’s not everyone’s style and some of us want a beach lounger and the ability to grab a cocktail and a bite to eat without having to walk or get back in the car. So we’ve included a bit of everything.
Also, some of our favorite beaches are right next to each other, and the best thing to do is visit multiple in the same day, so it’d be almost redundant to list them all as separate beaches. In those cases, in the section profiling our favorite area beaches, we’ve also included a mention of other good nearby ones.
You may notice that we haven’t included any beaches around San Teodoro, La Posada, and Budoni and have only included one in the Costa Smeralda even though these beaches almost always feature on best lists.
This is just a matter of personal preference. That corner of Sardinia, from the town of Orosei up to Palau, is the most developed on the island and, while the beaches are lovely, the surrounding resorts, hotels, and towns are a bit tacky and over-tourism is a serious problem.
Porto Cervo and Porto Rotondo are also places where the ultra-rich engage in ostentatious displays of obscene wealth and the restaurants, bars, and services are set up to cater to that niche. While San Teodoro and Budoni are not bastions of wealth, they’re simply too busy for our taste. That said, both areas are lovely to visit in shoulder season. We just don’t recommend them during the summer.
Best beaches to visit by season
Sardinia is no longer the secret that it once was and more and more visitors arrive every year.
While in previous decades it was really only the beaches of the Costa Smeralda and those near to Cagliari and Alghero that would become very crowded, this is now the case almost everywhere. In the summertime, and especially in July and August, most of Sardinia’s coast will be teeming with both local and foreign beach goers.
There are areas that we avoid at all costs during the high season and a few that we highly recommend to avoid the crowds.
In summer, the beaches of the Costa Smeralda, La Maddalena, the Gulf of Orosei, the Alghero coast, Villasimius, and Chia/Pula can border on overrun. During these months, we recommend heading for the southeast, the southwest, and a few parts of the Gallura coast.
Many of these beaches are further from large towns and cities, require short “hikes”, and don’t have kiosks or services on the beach. The combination of these factors means that even in the peak of high season around Ferragosto, you can find stretches of sand with barely another soul.
If you come in shoulder season (May, early June, or late September/October), you don’t have to worry about these considerations as the crowds are fine.
The 12 Best Beaches in Sardinia
Below, you’ll find our list of the 12 best beaches in Sardinia. To help you figure out where they are and determine how you can fit them into your visit to Sardinia, we’ve included an interactive map with each beach highlighted on it.
Enjoy!
1. Tuerredda
One of our favorite beaches on the entire island, Tuerredda is a triangular beach whose two sides face Tuerredda island. It’s about an hour west of Cagliari and just 10 minutes from Chia and Pula.
The colors here are extraordinary and perfectly stratified. In our opinion, it’s one of the most striking beaches anywhere in Sardinia. We’d recommend only visiting in the spring or fall as it can become overrun in high season.
Parking is easy with a couple of paid lots behind the beach. Over the summer, parking fills up quickly, so you have to arrive early. There’s a bar/restaurant in the sand for refreshments and lunch and beach lounger rentals in front of it. During the summer, you also have water sport rentals.
Region of Sardinia: Southwest
Nearest city: Cagliari
Closest town: Chia
2. Cala Sisine
Cala Sisine is one of the 5 beaches in the Gulf of Orosei that you can visit on a boat trip from Arbatax or Cala Gonone in Sardinia’s northeast.
With imposing limestone cliffs surrounding the small beach, there is nowhere similar in Sardinia. The beach is made up of tiny soft pebbles and the water turns different brilliant shades of turquoise and emerald because of the karst stone on the seabed. The incredibly clear water is ideal for snorkeling.
Directly behind the beach there’s a small lagoon and a trail that leads up into the mountains.
Another positive about Cala Sisine is that, unlike Cala Luna and Cala Mariolu, it has nowhere for larger boats to dock, which means that the big boats carrying 50 and more people aren’t able to access it. While it will still get pretty packed in summer, its always one of the quieter beaches.
Region of Sardinia: Northeast
Nearest city: Nuoro
Closest town: Cala Gonone/Arbatax
3. Cala Petra Ruja
Located in the heart of Sardinia’s famed Costa Smeralda in the northeast, Cala Petra Ruja is one of our favorites because it doesn’t attract nearly the same level of crowds as nearby beaches. It’s every bit as beautiful, so their loss is our gain!
The Costa Smeralda is jet-set territory, and since the 1990’s it’s been a favorite for celebrities, sheiks, foreign oligarchs, and all manner of the world’s elite. It’s also one of the only places in Sardinia where, for a brief period, private development was allowed directly on the waterfront. Although long since banned by the forward-thinking regional government, this is the only place in Sardinia where you’ll spot permanent mansions and restaurants from your spot on the beach.
Although the development was unfortunate, they chose this section of Sardinia with good reason; the beaches are stunning. Rose-colored rocks line the shore and provide a gorgeous contrast with the emerald waters, white and pink sands, and bright green Mediterranean scrub. The land here is winding and every few hundred meters you come across another mindbogglingly beautiful cove.
We particularly like Petra Ruja because it has no services on the beach, a few rocky patches, and just a narrow strip of sand. All of this means that most other beach goers, preferring the convenience and ease of access of nearby beaches, don’t come here.
Region of Sardinia: Northeast
Nearest city: Olbia
Closest town: Arzachena/Porto Cervo
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4. La Pelosa/Stintino
La Pelosa is one of Sardinia’s most iconic beaches. In the island’s northwest, it’s located in the town of Stintino about 45 kms north of Alghero.
La Pelosa is a stretch of pearl-white sand with a sea that swirls with three hues of stunning blue. The entire beach is watched over by a solitary Aragonese watch tower on an opposite bank. It’s one of Sardinia’s most evocative beaches.
Its international fame means that it’s an absolute madhouse in the summertime. With limited parking and limited sand on the beach, if coming in summer you should either arrive very early or at the end of the day when the crowds have started to depart.
Region of Sardinia: Northwest
Nearest city: Alghero/Sassari
Closest town: Stintino
5. Rena Majori
Rena Majori is one of northern Sardinia’s prettiest beaches. The long stretch of white sand, separated from the road by a small pine forest, gently curves around the bay and cuts out the wind that buffets other nearby beaches.
The seabed slopes gently and rocks crop out of the water all around, making it a favorite for children and snorkelers. Only about 10 minutes by car from the town of Santa Teresa di Gallura, it’s also quite easy to access. There are no facilities on the beach, so be sure to pack whatever you’ll need for the day.
Region of Sardinia: Northeast
Nearest city: Olbia
Closest town: Santa Teresa di Gallura
6. Spiaggia di Porto Palma
This is one of two beaches we’ve included from the archipelago of La Maddalena in the far north of Sardinia. The truth is, the beaches here are probably the best in Sardinia and we could make our list of the island’s best by just picking them at random from here. About 6 miles from one of the other, you could easily spend a day or two beach hopping from one to another here.
The beaches in La Maddalena have pinkish sands with ludicrously calm, emerald waters. Red-hued rocks tumble into the sea and along the coast and contrast fabulously with the bright green Mediterranean shrubs. The waters are shallow and terrific for wading and paddling around in.
La Maddalena is reachable by ferry from the town ofd Palau. Public transportation once there is pretty nonexistent, so if you want to explore the beaches, you need to have a car. The separate islands of Caprera is also a lovely place to visit and was where Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification, chose to spend his final years.
Region of Sardinia: Northeast
Nearest city: Olbia
Closest town: La Maddalena
7. Porto Zafferano
Porto Zafferano is a tiny cove on the coast of southern Sardinia near the town of Teulada. This section of Sardinia is an inconspicuous place and it rarely pops up on lists of the island’s best beaches. But… if you know, you know. The nearby coast was off limits for many years because it was used by the Italian navy and NATO for naval exercises, drills, and even to practice shelling.
The naval base is now closed, but its presence means that the surrounding coastline is entirely undeveloped with untouched beaches and pristine waters.
Now, many of these little pieces of paradise can be reached by boat trip from Teulada’s marina. There are very few operators though and tourism is still in its infancy here. So much so that many locals don’t even know that there are boat trips. With no land access and limited boat accessibility, you have the beaches entirely to yourselves even in the summer.
The Zebra-striped waters of Porto Zafferano are a particularly arresting sight.
Region of Sardinia: Southwest
Nearest city: Cagliari
Closest town: Teulada
8. Cala Coticcio
A tiny cove on La Maddalena archipelago in the north of Sardinia, we had to include Cala Coticcio. The beach is located on Caprera island, the one-time home of Giuseppe Garibaldi, and is accessible either by boat or a short walk a partially paved trail.
There’s little point in trying to explain the beach in words. A photo says more than we ever could. Nicknamed “Tahiti”, the beach consists of a minuscule strip of white sand surrounded by rose-colored rocks. The shallow water shimmers with a color of turquoise that defies belief.
Consistently ranked as one of Sardinia’s most stunning beaches and also one of its smallest, expect for there to always be a crowd. Even the most ardent “I don’t do crowds” beach goers will be hard-pressed to find a negative thing to say about this slice of heaven on earth.
Region of Sardinia: Northeast
Nearest city: Olbia
Closest town: La Maddalena
9. Cala Mariolu
When we said that we wouldn’t list two beaches in the same area, I guess we blatantly lied. Cala Mariolu is another beach in the Gulf of Orosei and is just a few kms away from Cala Sisine. It’s much more famous and much more crowded, but dear god is it magnificent!
Reachable by boat or a steep hiking trail from near the town of Baunei, the water of Cala Mariolu wouldn’t be out of place in the Caribbean. Unlike Cala Sisine, large boats are able to disembark here and it gets unpleasantly crowded in the summer. Come in shoulder season so that you can enjoy it properly.
Region of Sardinia: Northeast/Barbagia
Nearest city: Nuoro
Closest town: Cala Gonone/Arbatax
10. Spiaggia di Cea
Spiaggia di Cea is a Blue Flag-designated beach south of the town of Arbatax. It’s a long strip of white sand with some very neat red rock formations jutting out of the water. The beach is shallow and calm, making it great for kids.
There are a couple of kiosks in the sand and ample parking lots behind the beach that are separated from it by a low dune. Right nearby you have another excellent beach at Lido di Orrí. The nearby town of Bari Sardo has a good town beach called “Torre di Bari” that is quiet even in the heigh of the summer.
Region of Sardinia: Southeast
Nearest city: Cagliari
Closest town: Bari Sardo/Arbatax
11. Portixeddu
Located on the entirely undeveloped Costa Verde, Portixeddu is a huge beach surrounded by mountains on both sides. The sand here is soft and more golden than white and due to the wide open space unprotected from the wind, the waters can be rougher.
Located in an area with barely any towns around and no cities, tourists rarely make it here and the beach is quiet even in the heights of summer. The beach is nothing like others in Sardinia and looks more like something out of Hawaii or the South Pacific. If here at lunch time, be sure to stop for a meal at the excellent Ristorante L’Ancora which affords fabulous views over the beach.
Nearby, you have other excellent beaches at Buggeru and Masua.
Region of Sardinia: Southwest
Nearest city: Cagliari/Oristano
Closest town: Fluminimaggiore/Iglesias
12. Cala Domestica
Cala Domestica is a lovely beach in Sardinia’s southwest. It’s about 15 minutes by car from the town of Iglesias, which is a pleasant place for a wander and a meal. The beach is located next to a now-abandoned mining site and ships used to dock right here to load up with minerals. There are even a few old mining tunnels accessible from the beach.
Framed by towering cliffs on both sides, Cala Domestica is almost fjord-like. A lone Aragonese watchtower stands proudly on the point of one cliff, serving as a lovely reminder of Sardinia’s Spanish past. Aside from offering an impressive setting for a beach, the high cliffs also have a useful practical function; Sardinia’s eastern beaches are the windiest on the island, and the cliffs serve as a natural wind-breaker that keep the little bay calm even on windy days.
A favorite among locals, the beach can get crowded in summer. But even on the busiest days, those looking for quiet can take a little trail that runs along the rocks on the northern end of the beach and brings you to a more secluded beach, La Caletta.
Region of Sardinia: Southwest
Nearest city: Cagliari
Closest town: Iglesias
