Stintino, Sardinia

Liz by the harbour in Stintino

5^th June It’s back to sea today as we sail north up around Capo Falcone to the village of Stintino.  The village used to be known as a centre for Tuna fishing, where they used traditional trap nets to catch the migrating tuna, but now it’s more famous for its beaches, particularly La Pelosa, which features on Italian postage stamps.

The approach involves sailing through a narrow, shallow channel between the headland and the island of Asinara, using leading lines painted on posts to keep us from going aground. As we sail through and into deeper water we get our first glimpse of the beaches: from a distance they look picture-postcard material, dazzlingly white against a perfect turquoise sea.

This evening we went for a meal in town. By luck we found an excellent little fish restaurant and had a delicious meal of fresh pasta followed by locally caught tuna.

Local mural

Sailing boat stone sculptures

 6^th June This morning Cliff took the bus back to Alghero to collect his glasses while Liz and I wandered round Stintino. The place is full of character with a busy fishing harbour and lots of evidence of local artists, from buildings painted with murals to an unusual sculpture of boats made from local stone.

 

La Pelosa beach

We couldn’t leave Stintino without visiting La Pelosa, so this afternoon we walked a couple of kilometres over the hill to the beach. When we arrived the wind was blowing hard, the beach was packed and there were little brown jellyfish in the water, so it wasn’t quite the idyllic experience we expected! But the view was lovely, and we did manage to dodge the jellyfish for a quick swim.