The next day we had a bit of free time between breakfast and sailing. So my other half and I decided to explore the town of Carloforte. Before then, we had only seen it in the dark. Though the it was beautiful at night with all of the street lights, the views were astounding in the daylight. The town is just completely full of colour everywhere you look, and climbing to the top of the hill next to the city wall, you get amazing views of the whole town and surrounding coastline.
The main square is buzzing with life, friends would sit on the benches by the trees and talk for what seemed like hours, kids would ride there’s bikes around the square and play football, you get a real sense of community spirit in that place. Everyone knows everyone, and you can tell that everyone feels safe. I took quite a few pictures!
The itinerary that day was to sail out of Carloforte and head north. We would sail around the whole island and eventually return to our starting point. During this trip, I discovered what a beautiful coastline the island had, and how much it varied. It was pretty amazing to watch the face of the cliffs completely change in shape and colour as we stopped at different points. It went from shallow cliffs with green rolling hills to suddenly becoming sharp, harsh grey rock. As we approached closer to this harsher rock, we discovered a beautiful cave where the water turned turquoise and glistened in the sun.
attempted to swim to the caves on the shore. Here, you could find clay which the locals use as a natural body scrub. I didn’t quite make it there though, after kicking a few rocks in the water as it got shallower and shallower, I decided it best to head back to the boat.
The spot where we anchored was near Cala Mezzaluna, a popular scenic point. Below is a map of all of the popular spots that you can stop off at when sailing around the island.
Upon our return to Carloforte, we were taken out in a Land rover and driven around the island to see what it offered from the land. The highlight of which was returning to exactly the same point where we had anchored but on top of the cliffs. The views were honestly like nothing I had ever seen, the sun was setting on the horizon, and the way the lighting would reflect off of the pathways leading to the lighthouse was second to none.
The peace and tranquility of that evening was a perfect end to what had been a fabulous couple of days in a great location,but given we were in Italy, more food was on the cards. For our last meal, we were joined by pretty much all of the marina staff, some 20 of us flooded the restaurant and were all seated together. The locals and the restaurant staff all knew each other very well and greeted each other with smiles and laughter, it goes back to the whole family orientated feel of the town.
I sat next to a very, very italian man that night who tried his best to explain the array of fish that lay in front of me. I tried to explain that I wasn’t a fan, but I think that got lost in translation as he pushed me to try some tuna heart. I must say, I’m glad he did, even though I still have a gastly taste in my mouth now, I’m happy I tried something and didn’t offend an italian gentleman who was much larger than I.
That was the end of our trip really. We got to sleep that night, failed to set an alarm, woke up 10 minutes before our ferry and had to sprint to the port at 7:30am. We had no key for the marina gate, so had to squeeze through a tiny hole to get out. Anyway, we made the ferry and thus the flight. All’s well that ends well.
All in all, Carloforte and San Pietro Island is a beautiful location, and somewhere that I would definitely recommend, even if it’s just for a day or two. I can safely say that I’ll return once more in the future.