You can admire it as an authentic masterpiece of nature from the nearby beaches spiaggia del Cavaliere and Cala di Roto, accompanied by the guides of the Maddalena Archipelago National Park. Its view offers unforgettable emotions. The Pink beach on Budelli Island, one of the world’s most beautiful beaches, owes its name to the colour of its sand, rich with tiny fragments of coral, granite and shells. Its spectacular colour is derived from a pink microorganism that inhabits the posidonia meadows and lives inside the shells. When it does, the shells are washed ashore and ground by water and wind.
In the 20th century, anchoring boats and the irregular agitation of the sea slowed down posidonia growth and modified the composition of the sand. In 1998, new regulations were introduced to protect the beach, which was then closed to disembarking (to avoid looting as well), bathing and boat anchoring, allowing the beach to recover its original colour. You will find yourself facing clear waters that lap against reddish foreshore and, to your back, the Mediterranean vegetation displays the colours and scents of a paradise on earth, made famous by the genius of Michelangelo Antonioni, who shot part of his movie “Red Desert” here in 1964.
Budelli, an oasis of wild nature, has been a private property since before the national park was created, to which it was assigned in May 2016, after an unsuccessful purchase attempt by a tycoon from New Zealand. It is located slightly to the south of Razzoli and Santa Maria, the two islands of the archipelago closest to the Bocche di Bonifacio. It covers 12 kilometres of coast and an uncontaminated territory of 25 hectares, inhabited by a single person: its guardian. From Monte Budello (87 metres high) the view is decidedly breath-taking: granitic rocks that hide little coves of fine sand and deep blue sea. The entire archipelago offers dreamlike places to visit: Cala Coticcio at Caprera, forts Santo Stefano, Cala Corsara at Spargi, the fine golden sand beaches of the Maddalena, to mention a few.
The area is a sanctuary for cetaceous, and is the home of dolphins, sperm whales and other whales, and are diving paradises. In particular, the Washington shallows are located between Budelli and Spargi, made up of granite blocks coloured by red soft corals.
