Maddalena islands boat tour: how to choose the right trip

A Maddalena islands boat tour is the most-booked day out in northern Sardinia: one day covers Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria and, on many boats, the town of La Maddalena as well, with three or four stops for a swim. Almost every departure is from Palau, two nautical miles from the main island, or from the harbour at La Maddalena itself.

The hard part is not finding a trip but choosing one. Along the quay in Palau there are hundred-seat motor ships, twelve-passenger catamarans and private RIBs, at prices running from a few dozen euros a head to several hundred per boat. This guide compares the formats, walks through the route stop by stop and says where the savings really are.

The island circuit in brief: price, duration, departures

The prices here are the ones visible on GetYourGuide as we write. They move with the season and with the boat, so check the listing before you book.

Motor ship, catamaran or private boat

Every boat trip to the Maddalena islands follows more or less the same route. What changes is how many people are aboard, how long you spend in the water and how much you pay.

The shared motor ship: the classic

This is the format of the classic tour on a vintage motorboat (four swim stops, eight hours, €76 and a rating of 4.5 from 215 reviews according to GetYourGuide) and of the four-stop tour from Palau, a large modern boat which, again according to GetYourGuide, holds 4.5 from more than 2,300 reviews and is the most-booked of the lot. The strengths are the price and the meal on board; the weakness is that in August you go into the water alongside another hundred people.

The small motor group

The national park tour makes seven stops in seven hours with a reduced group, at €120 according to its GetYourGuide listing, where at the time of writing it shows 5.0 from 157 reviews. It costs nearly twice the motor ship but reaches coves the big boats cannot enter.

Catamaran and private boat

We cover both in detail on our pages about catamaran and sailing tours and private boat tours and rentals. In short: the catamaran earns its price once you count the lunch and aperitivo included and the calmer anchorages, and a private boat makes sense from six passengers up, because the cost is per boat rather than per person.

Insider tip: if there are two of you and you want the motor ship, pick a departure from La Maddalena rather than Palau where the tour allows it. Same boat, but sleeping on the island spares you the dawn ferry and the hunt for a parking space in Palau.

When to do the island circuit

The month

The season runs from April to the end of October, with daily departures from June to September. June and September are the best compromise: sea at 20–21 °C in June and 22–23 °C in late September, boats half full, longer stops. July and August have the warmest water at 25–26 °C, but between 15 July and 31 August the cheaper trips sell out days ahead.

The departure time

Motor ships generally leave between 10 and 11 am. The earlier ones find Cala Corsara on Spargi almost empty; the later ones come home in better light for photographs. With small children, a 10 am start and a 5:30 pm return is easier to handle than a 6 pm one.

The mistral

The north-westerly is the real adversary here: when it blows hard the operator cancels the day and either refunds you or moves the booking. It happens more often in spring and autumn, but it can happen any day. Book the trip early in your holiday so a second date is still possible.

Insider tip: check the wind forecast the evening before. If a strong mistral is coming, do not wait for the operator to ring: ask to move the date yourself, because the good days of the week fill quickly.

The classic route, stop by stop

The order varies from boat to boat and with the wind, but the circuit almost always follows the same shape: out of Palau heading north, along Santo Stefano, first swim at Spargi, on to Budelli and Santa Maria, then home past the town of La Maddalena.

Santo Stefano

The island between Palau and La Maddalena, about 3 km², served as a US Navy submarine support base from 1972 to 2008. Some boats leaving Palau make their first swim stop here, at Cala Villamarina or off the old granite quarry; others simply pass along the coast. The detail is on our page about Santo Stefano.

Spargi and Cala Corsara

Spargi is uninhabited, about 4.2 km² of granite carved by the wind. Cala Corsara, on the south side, is the most frequent stop of all: four small pale-sand beaches divided by rock, with shallow sandy water near the shore that suits children. The Roman wreck found off Spargi, a cargo ship from around 120 BC, is displayed at the Museo Archeologico Navale “Nino Lamboglia” in La Maddalena. More on our page about Spargi.

Budelli: the natural pools and the Pink Beach from the water

Between Budelli, Razzoli and Santa Maria lies Porto della Madonna, the stretch of shallow water also called the piscine naturali, or natural pools. It is the most photographed swim stop of the day, the water shading from white to turquoise over a sandy bottom.

Spiaggia Rosa, on the east side of Budelli, is viewed from the boat: according to the Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago di La Maddalena it lies in Zone A, an integral reserve, and landing, walking and swimming have been banned since 1994 after decades of sand theft. The colour comes from fragments of the foraminifer Miniacina miniacea mixed with coral and shell debris. Some boats land instead at Cala di Roto or Spiaggia del Cavaliere, from where a marked path leads to a fenced viewpoint above the beach. The full picture is on our page about Spiaggia Rosa, the Pink Beach of Budelli.

Santa Maria

About 2 km², a handful of private houses and Cala Santa Maria, a long white beach with a gently shelving bottom. This is the stop where you spend longest in the water: many boats anchor here for lunch or for the long afternoon pause. The lighthouse stands on the headland at Punta Filetto. Full details on our page about Santa Maria.

La Maddalena town

On some boats, the four-stop trip from Palau and the full-day motor ship among them according to their GetYourGuide listings, the circuit includes free time in the town of La Maddalena: an hour or so for Piazza Garibaldi, the shops along Via Garibaldi and a coffee by the harbour. On others, particularly the small groups that prefer seven stops at sea, the town is seen only from the water. If it matters to you, check the route on the listing before booking and read what to see in La Maddalena in a day.

Insider tip: after Spargi, take the port side of the boat. The approach to Budelli and the Pink Beach is almost always on that side, and the best photographs are taken there without leaning across other people.

How to save on the archipelago tour

• Child fares. Many listings carry a reduced fare for children of roughly 3 to 12 and go free for infants: check the price section, because the age bracket varies from boat to boat.
• Shoulder season. The same boats cost less in April, May and October; the trade-off is a higher chance of mistral and colder water.
• Book early. The cheapest boats are the first to sell out between 15 July and 31 August. With “reserve now, pay later” and free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, booking early on GetYourGuide costs you nothing.
• Kiosks on the Palau seafront. They sell for the following morning or the evening before, sometimes with a cash discount, but with no guaranteed free cancellation and no multilingual support. If the weather looks doubtful, the platform protects you better.
• Hotels and campsites. Convenient, but the commission is already inside the price.
• What is not included. Several boats ask for a landing or park contribution in cash at check-in, a few euros a head; snorkelling gear is not always supplied; parking in Palau is paid. Read the “Not included” section.

Getting to the departure port

Palau by car

Palau is about 40 km and 45 minutes from Olbia Costa Smeralda airport, which has summer flights from several UK airports. Boats leave from the marina, where the piers are numbered and the listing tells you which one. The car parks near the harbour and the multi-storey are paid; free spaces are taken by 9:30 am in August. Allow 20 minutes between the car and the pier.

Palau by bus

ARST buses link Olbia to Palau in about 1 h 15 to 1 h 30. For a 10 am departure you need an early service, so check the timetable on the ARST site. All the detail on piers and parking is on our page about boat trips from Palau.

Leaving from La Maddalena

If you are sleeping on the island, some trips (the vintage motorboat and the full-day motor ship) board directly at the harbour in La Maddalena. If you are staying in Palau and the boat leaves from the island, the Delcomar or Maddalena Lines ferry takes 15–20 minutes with frequent sailings; timetables on the companies’ sites (Delcomar, Maddalena Lines).

From other towns

Anyone based in Santa Teresa Gallura, Cannigione, Baja Sardinia or Porto Cervo will find boats leaving from there too, on similar routes but with longer runs at sea. We compare them on our page about boat trips from other towns.

What to bring on board: the checklist

• Water-resistant, reef-safe sunscreen: there is not enough shade on deck for everyone.
• A hat and a light shirt for the middle of the day.
• A towel and dry clothes for the way back.
• Water shoes: the granite is slippery and there are sea urchins.
• Mask and snorkel, since not every boat provides them.
• A dry bag for phone and documents.
• Cash for any landing contribution and for a coffee in town.
• A light sweatshirt: on the run home, with the boat moving, the wind bites.
• Motion-sickness tablets if you are prone to it, though the water between Palau and the islands is usually calm.
• Water. There is often some on board, but a spare bottle weighs nothing.

Remember the park rules: taking sand, shells or pebbles away is banned and fined, and drones need authorisation from the park authority. The full set is on our page about the Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago di La Maddalena.

Booking your Maddalena islands boat tour

If what you want is the classic Maddalena islands boat tour, with four swim stops and a price under €80, the classic tour on a vintage motorboat is the starting point we recommend: check availability and prices for the archipelago tour. For the most-booked large boat out of Palau, look at the four-stop trip; for fewer people and more coves, the small-group national park trip. The islands and beaches along the route are described one by one in our guide to the islands of the archipelago.