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Surroundings

The sea is 300m away with a breathtaking view

Staying in one of our rooms you will be a few steps away from the Island of Tavolara. You can take the opportunity to make a trip in the protected marine area.

You will also be able to enrich your holiday of magical places by visiting the Costa Smeralda or pushing up to the Maddalena Archipelago. We also offer you the opportunity to spend a whole day in the Barbagia.

Tavolara Marine Protected Area

(in front of Porto San Paolo)

The Island of Tavolara gives its name to the protected marine area that extends up to Point Coda Cavallo and embraces fifteen thousand hectares of sea and a coastal area of 40km. Spread along the coast are innumerable caves of great splendour, some sandy and others with Mediterranean scrub that reaches almost to the sea. It is about 500m high, its walls sink to the bottom which is a true paradise for lovers of diving and those who practice snorkelling.

In addition to Tavolara the Marine Protected area is made up of other islands: Molara, Molarotto, Isola Piana, Isola dei Cavalli. Tavolara rises majestically with its limestone mass while the remaining islands are formed of softer shapes and are of a granitic nature. This archipelago preserves unique naturalistic values and can easily be reached by boats that service Tavolara and with the boats that organize tourist trips of the archipelago.

Tavolara has a beautiful beach and two famous restaurants. In addition, on the island there is a small and picturesque cemetery of great simplicity and fascination.

Tavolara Marine Protected Area Esmeralda's Rooms

The Costa Smeralda

(30 minutes by car from Porto San Paolo)

Over the years the Costa Smeralda has acquired an exclusive place in the international imagination. Its extraordinary natural beauty, its sea and its beaches are the marvellous setting for the jet set that since its creation has chosen it for its holiday destination.

Its name comes from the colour of its sea and the fame that is tied to its designer and creator, Prince Karim Aga Khan, who in the early years of the 1950s decided to buy these territories to establish the Costa Smeralda Consortium.

Its towns, true paradises of luxury, were designed by great architects and constructed with architecture that appeared in those years and was foreign to Sardinia but which over time became the model and reference for all the tourist development of Gallura. Over time the Costa Smeralda had been frequented by movie stars, entrepreneurs, sovereigns and by anybody who has been famous and rich. Some of these are Greta Garbo, Princess Margaret of England, Gianni Agnelli, Jacqueline Kennedy, Juan Carlos, Harrison Ford, Sting, rich Arab Emirs and more recently by Russian magnates and oligarchs.

A trip to the Costa Smeralda is the chance to see an international Sardinia, certainly less identifiable and for some even “foreign” compared to the culture of the land that hosts it, but also because of those very qualities it is a destination to visit during a stay, considering the closeness to Porto San Paolo.

Archipelago of La Maddalena

(40 minutes by car from Porto San Paolo)

The Archipelago of La Maddalena is considered one of the most beautiful and suggestive countryside of the Mediterranean. It overlooks that highest part of the Gallura towards the Bocche di Bonifacio and overlooks Corsica. The protected natural park is made up of islands and islets surrounded by a sea of spectacular colours.

The National Park of the Archipelago of La Maddalena covers 20 thousand hectares with 180 kms of coast. It has 60 islands of various sizes, the most important of which is the Island of La Maddalena. Some of the most famous are Budelli with its pink beach, Caprera, Razzoli, Spargi, Spargiotto, Santa Maria and Santo Stefano.
There are endless landings and inlets and all full of charm and great beauty.

Budelli’s Pink beach takes its name from the sediments of a small organism that adheres to the algae, corals and shells.
At Caprera you can visit the house museum of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Hero of Two Worlds, as well as admire the splendid countryside and enjoy the innumerable caves.

Archipelago of La Maddalena Esmeralda's Rooms

Barbagia

(organized day trip)

For those who want to get to know Sardinia “beyond the sea” and to dive into its deepest identity, a day dedicated to visiting its interior territory is a decidedly good idea.

The Barbagia is the central area of Sardinia and owes its name to the Romans who called it Barbagia because it could not be conquered. This is a large territory set in central Sardinia, one of the greenest and most uncontaminated of the island, rich in mountains, hills, and valleys where Sardinia’s nature emerges in all its uncontaminated beauty.

The Barbagia contains many towns that include Desulo, Dorgali, Fonni, Gavoi, Mamoiada, Nuoro, Oliena, Orgosolo, Ottana and Sorgono which are its main localities.
In the background of the Barbagia stands the bare top of the island’s highest mountain, the 1,823 metres high Gennargentu.