Cala Goloritzé

Cala Goloritzé lies at the southern end of the Gulf of Orosei, in the territory of Baunei in the Ogliastra region of eastern Sardinia, Italy, and was declared an Italian Natural Monument in 1995 within a wider UNESCO-listed area. It is a small, wild cove rather than a long open strand, floored with bright white pebbles and limestone shingle that give the shallows an almost luminous pale-turquoise-to-deep-blue clarity. The cove is framed by white cliffs and overlooked by the Aguglia, a 143-metre limestone spire beloved of rock climbers, while a natural rock arch rises from the water at the shoreline. There are no roads, buildings, sunbeds or bars here: the beach is entirely undeveloped, so visitors must bring all their own water, food, shade and snorkelling gear and carry their litter out. Access is deliberately difficult, which keeps crowds and character in check. Most arrive by boat or dinghy from Cala Gonone or Santa Maria Navarrese and anchor offshore, since boats may not land directly on the beach; the alternative is a steep walk of roughly 3.5 kilometres each way from the Golgo plateau above Baunei, descending around 470 metres through holm-oak woods and rocky paths, a round trip of about three to four hours. A daily visitor cap and an online entry booking with a small fee of a few euros are in force to protect the site, and climbing on or removing the pebbles is forbidden. The exposure is modest as the cove faces roughly south-east and is fairly sheltered, but there is no lifeguard and the seabed drops away, so it suits confident swimmers, snorkellers and scenery-seekers more than families with toddlers. The reward is one of the Mediterranean's most photographed and unspoilt landscapes, and the descent itself, through woodland and limestone with the spire and arch revealed at the end, is a memorable part of the experience.