Cala Goloritze

Cala Goloritze is the one that stops people mid sentence. At the southern end of the Gulf of Orosei a beach of bright white pebble meets impossibly clear water, and above it rises a limestone spire more than a hundred and forty metres tall, with a natural arch curving out of the cliff beside it. It is a protected natural monument, and it looks less like a beach than a cathedral with the sea for a floor.

The water is the reward: clean, deep and an electric blue that comes from the pale stone bed, perfect for swimming and snorkelling once you are over the lack of soft sand. There is no kiosk, no lounger, no shade to rent and no road. What you carry in is what you have, and what you carry in you carry out, which is part of why the cove still feels pristine.

Access is the honest catch, and it is strict for good reason. Numbers are capped each day and a ticket and booking apply in the season, with the exact fee and rules best confirmed before you travel. You reach the beach on foot, down a steep and rocky trail of roughly an hour and a half from the Golgo plateau above Baunei, a serious walk that needs proper shoes, water and a head for uneven ground. Tour boats may anchor offshore to let people swim in, but they are not allowed to land on the sand.

Who should skip it: anyone with limited mobility, small children, or a wish for an easy serviced day, since the trail is demanding and the cove has nothing laid on. Who should go: confident walkers and swimmers who want the single most dramatic cove in Sardinia and will respect the cap, the ticket and the leave no trace rules that keep it perfect.

Cala Goloritze lies at the southern edge of the Gulf of Orosei in the territory of Baunei. There is no road to the beach, so the only way to set foot on the sand is to walk in from the Golgo plateau above.

Drive up to the trailhead near Golgo, where parking and the access point are managed in season, then descend the rocky path of about an hour and a half each way. Numbers are capped daily and a ticket and booking apply, so confirm the current rules and fee before you set out. Boats from Cala Gonone and Santa Maria Navarrese pass below and anchor offshore for a swim, but cannot land.