We drove to Cala Gonone, but made a mistake reading the map, so we ended up taking a longer route. No matter, it was beautiful countryside. When we finally got to the little village Cala Gonone (census puts population at 1200) we were not disappointed. What a glorious little town!! Right in the bay of Orosei, it was only accessible by sea until 1860.
We checked into the Hotel Nettuno, a quaint little bed and breakfast situated a couple of blocks from the sea. The guide book said if there is only one thing you do in Cala Gonone it must be to take a boat tour of the outlying beaches. Alright, Let's do it!
The boat driver picked us up at the Pop Hotel. There was just the three of us, plus the guide. Our first stop was to some massive caves – large enough to drive the whole boat into and turn around.
He took us to several beaches that had the sheer limestone cliffs of the Suramonte mountains backing them from the sea. The limestone gets beaten up by the wind and waves and is polished into tiny little pebbles, the size of oatmeal, that is absolutely heavenly to lay on and massage your skin with. The water is so pristine and clear you could see right to the bottom of the sea floor. I asked how deep the water was, thinking if these cliffs are an indication, it must be deep. He answered about 90 meters. Yup, it was deep!
One beach we had to swim to. One beach had a pier we could disembark at. This beach had quite a few tourists and even a small cabana selling snacks. There were lots of caves to explore.
There was a man and young boy rock climbing on a cliff about 30 meters high. They looked like a couple of spider men, not a hesitation, just like they were crawling on the floor, only it was vertical. We saw a couple of rock climbers on an extremely tall pinnacle. Crazy!
The best beach was one we had to jump out of the boat into chest deep water and wade to shore. It was a small beach, with only a handful of people. It was isolated, quiet, and absolutely beautiful. We felt like we were in our own little paradise. I am sure the other people felt the same, as everyone tended to stay in their own little part of the beach and did not want to interact with anyone else. About 2 hours later our boatman came to collect us and return us to town.
The next few days we went to another beach, Spiaggia Cartoe – featured in the Madonna film 'Swept Away”. It would take us about a half hour to get there by car. We had to cross over a mountain via numerous switch backs and barren terrain on the south side (town side) of the mountain and into lush meandering roads on the north side of the mountain.
The first trip there we wondered if we were given the wrong directions, as we literally went through a farmers pasture down a dirt trail for part of the way, where we saw perfectly square stone fences and lovely log railings to warn you of a drop off on the curve.
We came to a spot with a bunch of cars parked and figured this must be it, so we parked as well. We followed a little path through the bushes and, viola, there was the beach. A haven of fine sand, transparent sea and mountains behind you. Very secluded. There was a small van selling snacks but we would go to the supermarket every morning and stock up on snacks. Fresh home made buns, some fresh cheese, huge black olives, and some locally made prosciutto. Yummy!!
After the sun went behind the mountain, about 5:00 pm, we would drive back to town, shower, change clothes and go to the Pop Hotel for cocktails. A small outdoor patio area across the street from the hotel itself, it had relaxing chairs, soft music (Cafe del Mar) and the most excellent mojito's! The restaurants did not even open their doors until 8:00 pm. After a couple of drinks we would wander down to find a restaurant with some exquisite pasta primavera and red wine. Absolutely Paradise!!
All things must come to an end, so we headed back to Alghero (this time we took the correct road so it was much quicker) to catch our flight back to London. Even the road trip was interesting.
There were windy mountain roads with sheer drop offs.
We saw an old war bunker from WWII .
There were prickly pear cactus growing just meters away from vineyards.
There were three wheeled trucks.
There were quaint villages tucked into a valley beside the sea.
Everything was beautiful, relaxing, and perfect!
Sardinia is a place I WILL return to one day.....
