Maddalena islands: what to see on each one and how to reach them

The Maddalena islands number seven, plus some fifty islets and rocks, scattered across the Bocche di Bonifacio (the Strait of Bonifacio) between Gallura and Corsica. Two of them can be toured by car, using the ferry from Palau. The other five are reachable only by sea, and that single fact changes how you plan the whole day.

What follows is each island in short: what there is to see, which tours call there, and a link to the page that covers it in depth. At the end, two tables: one comparing access, beaches and rules, one showing which islands each tour actually visits.

La Maddalena, the main island

Roughly 20 km², a town of just over ten thousand people, and the ferry harbour served by Delcomar and Maddalena Lines from Palau, a crossing of about 15 to 20 minutes. The centre turns around Piazza Garibaldi with the town hall, and Via Garibaldi, the shopping street. The Museo Archeologico Navale “Nino Lamboglia” holds the cargo of the Roman ship that went down off Spargi around 120 BC.

The rest of the island is a loop of about 20 km on the strada panoramica, the panoramic ring road: Bassa Trinita, Monti d’Arena, Cala Lunga, Spalmatore, Cala Francese, Punta Tegge, Nido d’Aquila and Testa di Polpo. From Monte Guardia Vecchia (about 156 m), crowned by Forte San Vittorio, the whole archipelago lies below you.

Plenty of boat trips leave from here as well as from Palau, and the vintage motorboat tour builds in free time in town. Ferries, parking and the old centre are covered on our page about La Maddalena and in the guide to the panoramic ring road.

Caprera: Garibaldi and Cala Coticcio

The second largest island at about 15.7 km², joined to La Maddalena by the roughly 600 m bridge at Passo della Moneta, which you cross by car, by bike or on the bus. Giuseppe Garibaldi settled here in 1856 and died here on 2 June 1882. His house is now the Compendio Garibaldino, with his rooms, his tomb and the garden, while the Memoriale Giuseppe Garibaldi has occupied Forte Arbuticci since 2012.

The rest is pine wood, paths climbing to Monte Tejalone (about 212 m) and beaches: Cala Coticcio, Cala Napoletana, Cala Brigantina, Spiaggia del Relitto with the timbers of an old wooden ship lying on the sand, Due Mari, Cala Portese, Cala Andreani. The Centro Velico Caprera is the island’s long-standing sailing school.

Among the tours, Caprera appears on the four-island tour from Cannigione and on the seven-island circuit. Otherwise it is an island you experience on land: read our pages on Caprera and on La Maddalena Cala Coticcio, which since 2021 can be reached on foot only with an authorised guide.

Spargi, the sculpted granite

About 4.2 km², uninhabited, with rocks the wind has eroded into shapes that every skipper names differently. Cala Corsara on the south side is the most frequented stop in the archipelago: four small beaches in a row, a pale seabed and easy snorkelling along the rocks. Further north lie Cala Granara and Cala Connari.

Practically every trip out of Palau and La Maddalena calls at Spargi: the vintage motorboat, the four-stop trip, the national park tour, the seven-island circuit and the boats from Cannigione. On most routes it is the first swim stop of the day. Our page on Spargi covers the stop in detail.

Budelli and the Pink Beach

About 1.6 km², and the most famous beach in the western Mediterranean, coloured by fragments of the foraminifer Miniacina miniacea. Since 1994 landing, walking and swimming have all been banned and the cove sits in Zone A of the park. You see it from the boat, or from the fenced viewpoint reached on foot from Cala di Roto or Spiaggia del Cavaliere, where landing is allowed.

Between Budelli, Razzoli and Santa Maria lie the natural pools of Porto della Madonna, the archipelago’s best-loved swim stop. Every tour passes this way; only some put you ashore at Cavaliere. We have a full guide to Spiaggia Rosa on Budelli, with the rules, the light for photographs and what the beach really looks like.

Santa Maria and its long beach

About 2 km², a handful of private houses, and Cala Santa Maria, a long white beach closing the Porto della Madonna basin to the east. On the north-eastern tip stands the lighthouse at Punta Filetto. This is where tours take their most relaxed pause: shallow water, fine sand, room to sit.

The national park tour, the four-stop trip and the four-island day from Cannigione stop here, as do the motor ships from Santa Teresa. The full write-up is on our Santa Maria page.

Razzoli, the wild one

About 1.5 km² at the far north-west, facing Corsica, with a lighthouse on the cliffs and Cala Lunga as the only practical anchorage. Strong currents, parts of it closed inside Zone A, and the first place where the mistral makes itself felt: many tours show it only from the sea, and on windy days they skip it altogether.

The seven-island circuit passes close in, and so do the boats from Santa Teresa Gallura as they cross the strait. More on our Razzoli page.

Santo Stefano, the first island out of Palau

About 3 km², sitting between Palau and La Maddalena. From 1972 to 2008 it hosted a US Navy submarine support base; today you can see the granite quarry, Cala Villamarina and Spiaggia del Pesce. It is often the first or last swim stop on trips from Palau, simply because it is minutes from the harbour.

The vintage motorboat and the four-stop trip call here depending on the day’s route, as does the seven-island circuit. See our Santo Stefano page.

Cala Coticcio, a case of its own

Not an island but the most sought-after cove on Caprera, nicknamed Tahiti. Since 2021 the park has regulated access on foot: authorised guide only, a daily quota and advance booking, along a path of about 3 km over rock. Boats may still stop in the bay under park rules, and some tours swim there; the private RIB trip puts it on the itinerary. Everything is on our Cala Coticcio page.

The islands compared at a glance

Landing rules and zoning are set by the Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago di La Maddalena and can change: our summary sits on the national park page, and the authority’s own site is lamaddalenapark.it.

Which islands each tour visits

Itineraries as stated on the GetYourGuide listings at the time of writing (September 2026). Weather can knock out a stop; the skipper decides on the morning.

The seven-stop circuit is the only one promising all seven, by speedboat and in a small group: the GetYourGuide listing shows 4.7 out of 5 from 187 reviews, with the price on the page. The MJ Tours day remains our benchmark for value against content: 8 hours, from €76, 4.5 out of 5 from 215 reviews. Out of Cannigione and Baia Sardinia, the four-island tour is the best rated at 4.9 out of 5 from 499 reviews and one of the few to include Caprera; we cover it on the page about boat trips from Cannigione.

Insider tip: if landing on as many islands as possible matters to you, choose the small boat. Motor ships carrying a hundred passengers or more anchor offshore and ferry people in by tender, or simply stay at anchor: you swim off the ladder, but you never set foot on the island.

How to pick the right island for you

• Want to walk and see a museum? Caprera, with the Compendio Garibaldino and its paths, and you drive there.
• Want the classic day at sea? A tour taking in Spargi, Budelli and Santa Maria: three swim stops and the Pink Beach from the water.
• Want to see everything in one day? The seven-island circuit, knowing that seven stops in seven hours means short swims.
• Travelling with small children? Santa Maria and Porto della Madonna are shallow. Razzoli and Cala Coticcio are not.
• Bringing your own boat or a hire RIB? You need the park permit, buoys are laid in the main coves, and you cannot anchor over Posidonia.

Insider tip: the order of the stops shifts with the wind. In a mistral, skippers reverse the route and stay on the sheltered side of the islands, usually the south-east: if a tour still runs on a windy day, expect Spargi and Santo Stefano rather than Razzoli.

When to visit the islands

The tour season runs roughly from April to the end of October, with daily departures between June and September. The peak falls between 15 July and 31 August, when the cheaper boats sell out one to two weeks ahead and the coves are packed from 11 am to 1 pm. June and September strike the best balance: water around 20–23 °C, fewer people, long daylight. The mistral can cancel departures in any season; the GetYourGuide listings cited here offer free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, plus a refund or a new date if weather stops the boat.

Insider tip: on the smaller islands there is no shade beyond the boat’s own awning. Go ashore with a hat, water and sunscreen, and be back on board before the time you were given. Skippers wait only briefly, because the rest of the route depends on the minutes they save.

The short version

The Maddalena islands split into two worlds: La Maddalena and Caprera, which reward slow exploring by car or bike, and the five smaller islands, which you only ever see from a boat. For those five, the one trip that covers them all in a day is the seven-island speedboat circuit. Check availability and prices for the 7 islands, 7 stops tour on GetYourGuide, or compare the classic formats in our guide to the archipelago tour and to the beaches of La Maddalena.