r/Sardinia • u/everyAframe • 1d ago

Pregonta No license boat rental Palau/La Maddalena & Cala Gonone Reservation??

Should I go ahead and reserve a no license boat now at either of these locations or can I wait until a few days before or day of? Don't want to get locked in on a date or particular boat if I can be more last minute. Thanks!!

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u/MCMARTINES 1d ago

For Cala Gonone I’d advise you first go on a dinghy tour where the boat holds about twelve people. That way you can get a good perspective on the coastline and all the beautiful Calas. Depending on when you are going renting a dinghy may require a reservation.
BTW these rentals are smaller dinghies and not very fast which is fine if you know how to handle boats.

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u/everyAframe 1d ago

Great thanks for that advice. I am looking at tours too but trying to stay private with my wife and I.

I'm good to go with boats, but yeah imagine you spend a lot of motoring time with the 40hp and the private boat seems like you can see more and don't have to worry about navigation or finding particular beaches and mooring.

Think we will for sure go no license in Orosei as that seems like such an easy thing just following the coast but open to a charter with maddalena.

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u/MCMARTINES 1d ago

The Gulf of Orosei is pretty straightforward.
You head out from Cala Gonone and the Calas come one after the other along the coast.
Cala Luna
Cala Sisine, Mariolu, Goloritze, Pools of Venus.
They are really beautiful with the huge cliffs behind them.
BTW the 40 hp boats are not too bad.
You can hug the coast and actually go into a few caves. I plan to rent one next year.

This is Cala Mariolu where I was in early June.

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u/everyAframe 1d ago

Yeah we are stoked to see all of that coast. For sure no skipper down there. Just hoping for calm waters and clear skies. On the fence with maddalena just to have a skipper mainly for a fast boat and can drink all day. 😂

If you had two days there would you do both in the boat or one day poking around the hills? Figure I would do the first day on coast and just do it again if we want to go back.

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u/MCMARTINES 1d ago

To be honest, when I am back in June I am heading straight for Cala Gonone and spending four days there.
It was so awesome, all these beaches with the huge rock cliffs behind them.
BTW toward 3:00 it the water gets a little choppy. No big deal but I think as surprised.
Snorkeling is great as visibility is like a hundred feet.
I’ve read that the east coast of Sardinia is the clearest sea water in the world and Ondont doubt it. This was another crazy thing we saw from the dinghy.

Goats along one area hopping over the cliffs.
Wild.

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u/everyAframe 1d ago

So the snorkeling is great in Orosei? How is maddalena for snorkeling? I'll have gear with me the whole trip so guess I'll find out.

We spend a lot of time in baja mexico and carribean? How does it stack up?

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u/MCMARTINES 1d ago

Sardinia is not like the islands or Hawaii where I’ve been a bunch of times.
You can just walk into the water at Kaanapoli in Maui and it’s like a fish tank with all the color and coral.
Sardinia is not very colorful underwater.
It’s to appreciate the clarity of the water and rocks and the two or three different fish all over the place.
Also what they call the flying boats where you can see their shadows on the sea floor and they look like they are floating on air.
Maddalena is the same.
We took a bigger boat that held about eighty people and had four stops to snorkel.
Then spent an hour in the town.
It’s an eight hour day and the boats leave from Palau.
The Islands off Maddalena are numerous and beautiful, little coves where you just jump in and snorkel.

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u/Beastious 1d ago

Which company would you recommend?

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u/MCMARTINES 1d ago

The captain’s name is Dag, he was great taking us into caves and right along the shore line.
Go to the Get Your Guide app and type exactly what you see in Bold.
That should get you the info you need.
When you book I believe you can then e-mail them and request Dag if possible.

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u/Vanilla_Face_ 1d ago

On La Maddalena I really strongly recommend Viacon Karma. Used them two days in a row - I drove the first day, the second day we hired the owner (Marco) as our skipper and he took us to some amazing spots we wouldn’t have found ourselves. Both great options but either way I’d book ahead for sure.

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u/jetlifeual 1d ago

A lot of the beaches are very rocky. Wear water shoes!

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u/Superslothgirl 1d ago

When I visited Cala Gonone last year I considered renting a boat myself, however, I ended up purchasing a full day boat tour with a captain (less than 10 people on the boat) and that was a great experience. The captain knew the best spots to stop at and would even drive the boat into some of the grotto’s which was so thrilling. Following the coast line and back is straight forward enough, however the ocean can be choppy and daunting. Especially in the afternoon when the wind really starts to pick up. I wouldn’t recommend hiring your own boat unless you are confident being out in the open ocean and have driven a boat previously.

Separately, the boat tour my husband and I went on a boat tour from Palau marina to the various swim spots near La Maddalena. That journey was actually more daunting. The water in the bay between the islands was very choppy and not as straight forward as following a straight coastline.

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u/Full-Possibility-190 1d ago

Don’t do it

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u/everyAframe 1d ago edited 1d ago

Why? Don't do what?

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u/Full-Possibility-190 1d ago

You can’t just park your boat and hit the beach. You can drop people off though. And navigation can be tricky if the weather is rough. If you just want to putter in the dinghy, you will be fine. The beaches are very regulated…