For the spring school holiday, we spent a fun week exploring beaches in southern Sardinia. We stayed on the southeast coast and rented an apartment in a beach community, which is sure to be packed in summer but completely empty while we were there. In early May, it was still off season and many services were closed. But that also meant very few tourists, so we mostly had the beaches all to ourselves, just how we like it. We only scratched the surface of the many things you can do and see in Sardinia, so this is just a teaser to get us all excited to go or go again, including me!
Where to go
This island is huge and you are spoiled for choice, since it is full of wonderful beaches and many vacation resorts geared to families. Several of my friends often vacation on the northern coast, driving to Genoa and taking the ferry across, then staying at a family-friendly resort. We prefer self-catered holidays and lots of roaming, so we did it a little differently.
We found affordable flights from Basel to Cagliari in the south. So we flew there, rented a car, and drove about 45 mins to Cala Sinzias, a little beach community on the southeast coast. We rented a little apartment a short walk from the beach. Since we were there off-season (first week of May), the neighborhood was empty and most stores closed. We had to drive to a bigger town nearby, Villasimius, to get groceries and find open restaurants.
Where we went
We spent most of our time on the beaches. In early May, it was usually warm enough to lounge in our swimsuits and take a quick dip in the cold water. On days when it was too cold to swim, we walked on the beaches and explored the headlands. One day it was really stormy, so we drove into Cagliari and walked around the old town, which was fine but not our favorite city. We were glad to get back to the beaches.
These are only a small sampling of the dozens and dozens of beaches in Sardinia. We chose these simply because they were a short drive from where were staying. Luckily, they were all pretty nice. We’d love to go back and explore more of the coastline to see even more beautiful beaches.
Here are the beaches we visited. Click through for an interactive map.
Santa Giusta beach
This was our favorite beach of the trip! We loved it so much, we went twice. It had super shallow water, which was great for the kids. The sand was fine and perfect for sand castle building. I also loved that at the far north end of the beach, there were rock formations to climb on both in and out of the water.
To access this beach, drive to Santa Giusta and follow signs to the beach parking (GPS: 39°13’56.6″N 9°34’02.8″E). There is a large parking lot set back from the beach, then an easy walk on a path to the sand. There is an even longer and wider beach just on the other side of the point, closer to some services, but we liked Santa Giusta better. In summer, there are cafes on the beach.
Capo Ferrato point
After a long day in the sun at Santa Giusta, we drove around on the nearby coastal dirt roads to see what we could see. We went up and down the Capo Ferrato point, which had very nice views of the island’s interior. I only mention it because the dirt roads were quite difficult to manage with our Doblo people mover. Much of Sardinia is accessed by dirt roads, which I didn’t realize before going. Next time we might rent a 4×4.
Ponte Molentis, aka Due Mare beach
This was the most interesting beach we saw. The beach appears and sometimes disappears in the middle of this thin peninsula. You can swim safely on one side in the bay, while the other side has big boulders and is more exposed to the elements. We loved climbing around on the rocks and looking for tide pools. It was a little chilly that day, so we didn’t swim but would love to next time.
To access this beach, you turn off the main coastal road north of Villasimius onto a dirt road (GPS 39°08’43.1″N 9°32’51.6″E, north side of the road). I don’t remember it being particularly well marked, so keep your eyes out. Follow the dirt road down toward the ocean. There is limited parking a bit above the beach, then you walk the rest of the way on a dirt path. There is a restaurant on the beach open during high summer season.
Cala Sinzias beach
We stayed in a small beach community at Cala Sinzias. The beach is long and beautiful with lots of sand. However, it got deep pretty quickly, so it wasn’t suitable for our small children to swim there. Plus sometimes it had rough waves, which would have been quite dangerous. So for swimming, we much preferred Santa Giusta below. We spent a few afternoons and evening there playing in the sand after days spent elsewhere. I love having a beach within walking distance of our apartment so we can easily go play without packing up for the whole day. I also got up to watch the sunrise on the beach, which was a special treat.
To access this beach, drive to Cala Sinzias and follow signs to beach parking GPS: 39°11’20.5″N 9°33’43.8″E. There is a restaurant on the beach open during high season.
Capo Carbonara
In the evenings, I poured over Google satellite maps, looking at every beach to see if it might be promising. So one afternoon, we drove to this lookout point near Villasimius and walked down the beach to see what we might see. The views were great, but that day, the beach was narrow and covered in stinky seaweed. Not great. I suspect it is very nice at other times as there was a large dirt parking lot and lots of helpful signs.
Simius
The biggest town in this southeast corner of Sardinia is Villasimius, thus most shops were open there. A five minute drive takes you to the Simius beach, which is long and wide with shallow surf but not particularly beautiful. Since it’s so close to town and there are lots of homes and resorts surrounding this beach, so I can only assume it gets quite full in summer. But that also means lots of services and cafes. It would not be my top pick, but it has its advantages.
To access this beach, drive to Simius and park in the dirt parking lot next to the beach (GPS 39°07’42.9″N 9°31’47.2″E)
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capitol of Sardinia and you can learn more about this city here. We didn’t find it particularly charming, but we didn’t try that hard either. If I went back, I would definitely take a walking tour to learn about its history and culture. We only went because it was too stormy to be on the beach. With two little kids, we just wanted to eat some yummy food and soak in some atmosphere, both of which were average.
