Sea Kayaking in Sardinia – Day 3
The final day of sea kayaking already and the itinerary looked good. The weather looked nice as well as we all piled into the minibus after breakfast for the short drive to the beach of Tramariglio on the Capo Caccia Peninsula in Sardinia. The drive there was pretty spectacular as we followed the road along the cliff tops of the huge bay and entered into the Porto Conte Regional Park.
The Porto Conte regional park, founded in 1999, covers fifty thousand hectares of coast and hinterland of Alghero. Covered by a large pine forest and Mediterranean scrub it is an important area for both terrestrial and marine flora and fauna. Home to endemic species such as the dwarf palm tree the terrestrial park was extended in 2002 to inclde the Capo Caccia Marine area. The park is fundamental to the preservation of Sardinian biodiversity containing 35 identified species of mammals and 150 species of bird. The southern part of the Capa Caccia Peninsula is dominated by towering linestone cliffs. These fossil-rich rocks are pock-marked with caves, the most famous of which is Neptunes Grotto. We could see the cliffs in the distance as we drove there, and these would be our companions for the day.
We also passed a couple of large Nuraghe on the drive. Nuraghe are ancient megalithic edifices found exclusively on Sardinia. These truncated cone stone structures were built by the Nuragic civilization between 1900 and 730 BC. There are 7,000 nuraghes found on the island, but it is estimated that there were once more than 10,000 in total. While there is currently no consensus among the experts as to the function of nuraghes, it has been suggested that they were either the homes of rulers or military strongholds, or perhaps religious temples or meeting halls. We didn’t stop to see them but they look quite interesting.
Into the land of Cliffs
We soon arrived at Tramariglio Beach and got ourselves ready for another day of kayaking.
It wasn’t long before we were on the sparkling water and heading across the bay to the first headland. Here we paddled across the next bay heading towards a tower into a bit of headwind. As we did so, Griffin Vultures could be seen soaring on the thermals above the peninsula. They were quite a long way away so we had to take Clark’s word for it that they were indeed vultures. From this distance they could have been any large bird of prey. We also saw a Peregrine Falcon, and later in the day either an Osprey or a Marsh Harrier.
From the next headland we headed southern under ever taller cliffs. All were undercut at the bottom and had small trees and palms clinging to their sides and seabirds nesting on them. We passed some divers and their RIB and continued south under ever taller cliffs. Looking up at them was veritgo inducing! From our vantage point in tiny little kayaks it was difficult to see the tops.
There was a small rocky island for me to circumnavigate whilst waiting for the others to catch up at one point and then we headed around the end of the peninsula and into a little more head wind and chop. It was’t too bad though and everyone was paddling well.
Foradado Island
From the end of the peninsula we headed NW towards Foradado Island, a huge piece of rock isolated from the rest of the peninsula. It was larger than we were expecting and as we approached it’s huge cliffs once again towered over us. I hugged the base of the cliffs playing a little on the surging waves as they rose an fell against the vertical sides
As we rounded the island a huge cave presented itself. Giovanno, Hannah and I paddled right intoiti and tried to take some photos. The far end of the cave had a hole in it’s roof through which sunlight streamed.
We continued around the island and then headed back to the mainland and the rocky cove of Cala d’inferno.
Cala d’inferno
It was indeed quite an inferno here today as it was sheltered from the wind and quite a sun trap. We had a relaxed lunch, took some photos and clambered over the rocks. We didn’t go for a swim here today though, we just chilled in the sunshine.
After a while it was time to climb back into the kayaks and head back. We stayed close to the mainland on the way back, passing the entrance to Neptunes Grotto and the impressive steps down the cliffside to access it.
Climbers could be seen on the huge cliffs too. I think there are some good via ferrata routes along this stretch of coastline as well. Jacqui had a bit of a wobble at one point put soon settled back into things once we rounded the headland and gained some shelter from the breeze. the next stop was the beach of Cala Dragonara.
Cala Dragonara
It was nice to have another stop today as the distances and time on the water were a little longer than previous days. Unfortunately the beach bar wasn’t open this early in the season so we sat there in the sun taking a well-deserved rest. A local family were about to go in the water for some snorkelling, complete with more neoprene than I would wear in the depths of winter in the UK. The water might have been chilly but I don’t really think it warranted a full, thick winter wetsuit, hoods, gloves and boots! I of course couldn’t resist a little swim in my speedos. Hannah went for a swim too.
After that it was just a short paddle back to our starting point where we packed up and the sea kayaking was complete. Today had been the best day on the water.
We then headed into Fertilia for some beers before heading back to the Agriturismo for dinner. Tonight’s chicken dish was lovely. Claire headed off partway through it though to catch her flight and Anna and Jacqui had headed into Alghero for a change of menu.
Tomorrow would be our last day on the island. Our flight wasn’t until 10pm though so we had a whole day with which to do something. Check-out time was 10am so we asked owners of the Agriturismo if we could leave our bags somewhere while we went sight-seeing in Alghero. They said we could stay in the room which was nice of them as it meant we could keep the bags safe and maybe even have a shower before heading off to the airport. They also booked us a taxi to take us to the airport. They had been lovely throughout in fact and an agriturismo is definitely a nice place to stay whilst visiting Sardinia.
Here’s a little video edit of a few clips taken with a steamed up GoPro
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Sounds and looks like a wonderful holiday, It must have felt good being back on the open water! X