Advanced Trips
A little more ambitious will be a trip to Corsica being another option from Palau passing the islands of Lavezzi and Cavallo on the way. For your lunch break make for Bonifaccio which is easy to find. Head for the white cliffs that look something like the White Cliffs of Dover and can be spotted from afar. Although it is only 12kms make sure the weather is good and you leave very early as the wind tends to pick up after lunch at about 3.30/4.00 p.m. You need to be back to the group of small islands to avoid the wind (the famous Bocche di Bonifaccio).
Capo Figaro offers an adventurous trip around a big headland. It can kick up quite rough with wind and is fairly committing, but it is short. Access is straight forward from Golfo Aranci where you can also grab a lunch break on your way back.
Isola Tavolara is the most adventurous trip in the area. Access is from the harbour or beach of Porto S. Paolo. On the way you can visit the wreckage of an old sunken Japanese freighter before paddling out towards the island. In the summer period there is a café and a restaurant open on the island to take a break. When you set off again please remember there are no easy landing places but your rewards are the great views of Capo Figaro, as you come around the Northern tip and of course the crystal clear water due to the fact that all the island is limestone as opposed to granite in the rest of this region. The island is 650m high and about 3kms long.
South of Olbia in the Golfo di Orosei, a protected national maritime park, we start at Cala Gonone and paddle towards Arbatax passing the Blue Marino Grottoes, Cala Luna, Cala Sassini and Cala Goloritze over 2-3 days. This is some of the best paddling in the Med with spectacular scenery, valleys, canyons and caves. Fantastic beaches combined with the wildest coast line left in the Mediterranean provide an exciting and memorable trip with abundant marine life. Wild boar, mufflons and mountain goats can be spotted on the shore and keep a look out for eagles, ospreys and other birds. The white limestone cliffs offer fabulous scrambling while for those with climbing qualifications there are almost endless bolted routes.
Trips to Corsica can also be arranged to suit your requirements.
