Stintino

The beach of Stintino and Island of Asinara in Sardinia

I was walking though sugary white sands—several dozen yards offshore, yet only calf-deep in luminously transparent turquoise waters—when suddenly a small ball whistled over my head.

"Mi dispiace!" ("Sorry!") called an Italian man holding an oversized Ping Pong paddle. I had walked into the middle of his volley with a bikini-clad woman wading nearby. She smiled and waved at me. I waved back sheepishly and hustled out of their way, back toward the busy beach of La Pelosa.

This broad curve of sand, crowded with sunbathers and serried ranks of beach chairs near the very tip of the peninsula jutting north from Sardegna's northeast corner, is the beach that put the neighboring fishing town Stintino on the map—and that tourism officials like to use as the drool-inducing image of a Sardegnan beach in brochures.

It could easily be mistaken for somewhere in the Caribbean or South Pacific if not for the sun-baked 16th-century watchtower perched on an islet just offshore.

For those beach lovers who prefer to share their slice of paradise with like-minded sun-worshippers (and would be bored with a private strip of sand on Costa Verde or put out by the effort of exploring the Gulf of Orosei), Stintino is perfect.

As the sun started sliding to the west, the beach's sun-crisped Italians began packing their towels to head for a lively evening in the pizzerie and bars around town. Before joining them, I strolled out the far end of the beach and onto one of the trails that loop around the Capo del Falcone, the headland at the peninsula's utter end. My reward was a gorgeous view of the sunset over the crystalline waters of the Mediterranean.

Beyond the beach

Asinara National Park - The town of Stintino is actually brand-new—in Italian terms—built in 1885 when the Italian government turned the long, sinuous offshore island of Asinara into a penal colony and relocated its 45 families of fishermen to this nearby peninsula. Now a national park, Asinara has become the top daytrip destination for Stintino sunbathers... » more

Alghero - The gateway to Stintino is the airport outside Alghero, a fishing port about an hour's drive south. Alghero is well worth a visit for its lovely medieval center and quirky status as a cultural outpost of the Spanish region of Catalunya... » more

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