La Maddalena boat tour from Santa Teresa Gallura: the direct trips and the alternatives

A La Maddalena boat tour from Santa Teresa Gallura is the most realistic alternative to Palau: you board in the town’s own harbour, with no driving involved, and reach the archipelago by crossing the Bocche di Bonifacio (the Strait of Bonifacio). The flip side is that same crossing, longer and far more exposed to wind than the two miles between Palau and the island of La Maddalena.

On this page you will find the direct trips published on GetYourGuide, how the day unfolds, what to expect from the sea, and a table to help you decide whether to sail from here or drive the 25 km to Palau.

Santa Teresa Gallura in two sentences

Santa Teresa Gallura is the town at the northern tip of Sardinia, facing the strait, with the granite headland of Capo Testa a few kilometres from the centre. It is also the ferry port for Bonifacio in Corsica, about 50 minutes away with Moby or Ichnusa Lines.

Compared with Palau, the main harbour for archipelago trips, Santa Teresa sits some 25 km further west along the coast. In July and August the morning traffic towards Palau slows to a crawl, so if you do decide to drive, allow a generous margin.

The direct trips from Santa Teresa

GetYourGuide currently shows five departures from Santa Teresa Gallura in four different formats. The price for the day is on each listing.

A few notes on how to read that table:

• The full-day motor ship is the most booked: away at 9 am, lunch on board, back around 5 pm. The listing specifies that at check-in you pay €5 per person in cash as a contribution for the municipality of La Maddalena, which is not part of the online price.
• The budget motor ship is the one to pick if price comes first. Its scores run lower: it is a big vessel, and in August there are a lot of people on it.
• The catamaran is our favourite format out of this harbour: fewer passengers, lunch and wine included, and a stop at the natural pools between Budelli, Razzoli and Santa Maria known as Porto della Madonna.
• The sailing trip has the best score but very few berths. For July and August, book one or two weeks ahead.
• The RIB tour still has only a handful of reviews. It is fast, wet and best suited to people who never feel the sea. With small children it would not be our first choice.

What the crossing of the Bocche di Bonifacio is like

The Bocche di Bonifacio are the strait between Sardinia and Corsica in which the whole archipelago sits. From Santa Teresa the boat runs east along the coast, then enters the western islands of the park: Razzoli, Budelli, Santa Maria, Spargi. The route is longer than the one from Palau and, on the first leg, more exposed.

In settled weather the crossing is a pleasure, with Corsica off to port and the white cliffs of Bonifacio clearly visible on a clear day. In a mistral, the north-westerly, the picture changes: the swell arrives on the beam and the ship rolls. The mistral is most common in spring and autumn, but it can blow on any summer day.

Two practical consequences:

• if you are prone to sea-sickness, take a tablet before you board, then sit amidships, in the open air, with your eyes on the horizon;
• in strong wind the operator cancels the trip. GetYourGuide gives you a refund or a new date, so it pays to book the outing for the first days of your holiday and keep a spare day in reserve.

Insider tip: if the water off the harbour is already ruffled by wind first thing in the morning, expect a lively crossing. On days like that the catamaran handles the swell better than the motor ship, but no boat performs miracles. Anyone who really suffers is better off driving to Palau, where the first leg is sheltered.

Logistics: harbour, meeting point, parking

The boats leave from the harbour at Santa Teresa, which is below the town and not at the central square. The exact meeting point and check-in time are on your voucher: arrive at least 20 to 30 minutes early, because registration and the cash payment create a queue.

If you drive, the spaces near the harbour go early in July and August, so build in a margin. Staying in town is easier: walk down, and walk back up in the evening, when parking is no longer the problem but the traffic is.

Pack cash for the landing fee, sunscreen, a hat, water shoes for the granite and the sea urchins, mask and snorkel (not always provided), a towel, a light sweater for the return leg and motion-sickness tablets if you use them.

Direct trip from Santa Teresa, or drive to Palau?

Who should choose what

Sail from Santa Teresa if you are staying in town or out at Capo Testa, if you have no car, if you want a sailing boat or a catamaran with few places, or if you are coming over from Corsica for the day.

Drive to Palau if you are travelling with small children, if you get seasick, if you want the widest range of boats and times, or if you are after the cheapest trip of all. The boat trips from Palau also leave at 10 or 11 am, which buys you an extra hour in bed. If a small boat matters more, our guide to catamaran and sailing trips compares the options from both harbours.

Practical advice for the day

• Book through GetYourGuide with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead and the “reserve now, pay later” option: if the weather turns, you have room to move.
• Keep the cash for the fee in a separate pocket so you are not holding up the queue at check-in.
• On the motor ships the upper deck has the best views and the least shade: sunscreen every two hours.
• Spiaggia Rosa (the Pink Beach) on Budelli is seen from the water only. According to the Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago di La Maddalena, landing has been banned since 1994. The detail is on our page about Spiaggia Rosa on Budelli.
• You do land at Santa Maria and Spargi, but taking away sand or shells is forbidden and fined.

Insider tip: on the Santa Teresa motor ships lunch is served on board, often while the boat is moving between stops. If you want to stay in the water until the last minute at Cala Corsara, ask the crew when the meal is due and plan around it.

Ferries to Corsica: can you combine the two?

Santa Teresa is the port for Bonifacio, about 50 minutes with Moby or Ichnusa Lines. Plenty of Corsican visitors come over for the day to do the archipelago trip, but the timing is tight: the full-day trip leaves at 9 am, so you need a very early ferry, and you go home on the last sailing of the evening. Check the current timetables on the operators’ sites and do not put the boat trip and the ferry on the same day without a buffer. One night in Santa Teresa makes the problem disappear.

Booking your trip from Santa Teresa

For a first visit to the archipelago, the full-day La Maddalena boat tour from Santa Teresa Gallura covers the main islands with lunch on board; if you want more room and fewer people, take the catamaran. The islands you will see are described in our guide to the archipelago islands, and the landing rules on the page about the national park. To weigh up every departure in the area, our overview of trips from the other towns puts Palau, Cannigione, Olbia and Santa Teresa side by side.