The sea, on the surface of the water

The sea, on the surface of the water

In Sardinia, snorkelling is altogether a different thing, without going too far or too deep

transparent waters, warm until autumn

As well as extraordinary biological vitality, you will see Sardinia’s ancient history written on its seabed by the tides that once washed, discovered and again submerged the coastline during the geological eras. The rocks and the monoliths, canyons and little caves, once shaped by the rain and wind, are now submerged and covered by an extravagant marine texture, where octopuses and cuttlefish play hide and seek with divers. The same fate befell the beach rocks, the paving of the fossil beaches, which can be found at shallow depths and are fantastic to swim over wearing your mask. They too have been in and out of the sea, trapping the signs of marine and terrestrial life in their comings and goings. Now they look like ancient Roman roads where Mediterranean fish chase each other.

A wreckage open to all, in the heart of the Seu oasis

Seductive, as befits a wreckage, this is a tugboat that sank in the late 20th century, a hundred metres from the beach. You can reach it by swimming. One after another, you will see the pieces, the deepest at three metres, then the stern emerging from the water. The European shag, half bird, half fish, stands here. The visit doesn’t end below sea level. On the rocks, you will see a boiler, an engine, a rudder and a propeller, while what remains of the cabin is still on the beach.

Oasis of Seu

This former game reserve has conserved its environmental heritage in full. It is dominated by a tower overlooking the sea of the Sinis peninsula,...

Sciola, art on the surface of the water

The sculptor of the talking stones entrusts his ‘Madonna del naufrago’ (Madonna of the shipwrecked) to the sea, touching the souls of visitors. Divers go to see her in the shallow waters in front of the lighthouse of the Island of Cavoli, a dive that has an almost mystical flavour. Take part in the celebration in her honour, during the third weekend in July: processions of boats, prayers and songs, celebratory sirens and garlands of flowers on the sea. Dive in and you will find that “almost” is an idea that disappears.

Isola dei Cavoli

A small granitic island in the far south-eastern tip of Sardinia, less than one kilometre away from Capo Carbonara, a frontier land with...

Asylum for the refugees, of course

Once again, there’s not much we can do... when it comes to snorkelling, Villasimius is the master. This time the reason is a tribe of friendly tropical fish that somehow arrived here and ‘set up home’ in the shallow waters in front of the Simius beach. They settled in and are not planning to leave the warm, transparent waters and so many friends arriving by canoe, surf, paddleboard and kayak to swim and play together.

Simius

It is the main beach that gives (half of) its name to Villasimius, the coastal pearl of the south-east of Sardinia, 45 minutes from Cagliari, and...

From the Islands to the islets, with the surface marker buoy

From Capo Figari to Capo Coda Cavallo, there are ravines that provide shelter for molluscs and cetaceans, walls coloured by sea fans, beach rocks covered with algae and multicoloured flowers where big fish graze and pinnacles and islets emerge from the waters where snorkelling is irresistible. Gallura is not the younger brother of diving, but a place where masks and flippers play on equal terms with cylinders and BCDs.

Capo Coda Cavallo

Around a promontory in Gallura, in the north-eastern part of the island, lies one of the most spectacular areas of the coast: extraordinarily white...

Well said, De Andrè!

“Forests, countryside and coastlines surrounded by a marvellous sea are exactly the Heaven I would advise the good Lord to give us”, which doesn’t end on Earth. To get there you need a mask and flippers and two islets like Spargiotello and Mortoriotto. While diving along their descents to the sea, a certain desire takes shape and next time you will find yourself diving to depths of over five metres. All you need is an open water diving course.