Who says that beautiful things are only available for a price? The starry sky, sunsets, and nature are for everyone, and anyone can admire them without spending a single euro.
If, for example, you want to enjoy the beauty of Sardinian beaches but think that the most beautiful ones are either paid or restricted, well, you’re wrong because along the Sardinian coast, there are countless completely free beaches, spectacular and often quieter than other more famous ones.
Visit the Ellepi car rental website in Olbia and book your car, which will allow you to travel from north to south Sardinia discovering the most beautiful and free coves and beaches, where you can spend a day in total relaxation with an exceptionally clear sea.
Now let’s explore the free (not limited) beaches of Sardinia!
Spiaggia Is Arenas Biancas
The best way to reach Is Arenas Biancas is rent a car at Olbia airport from Ellepi, an agency with long experience in the sector, offering you a safe service and support for the entire trip.
The beach is located in a protected natural area, between Porto Pino and Teulada, and it presents a vast expanse of soft, white sand, with Phoenician junipers, tamarisks, and sea lilies sprouting on dunes shaped by the winds up to 30 meters high. It will feel like you’ve been transported to a corner of the Sahara, if it weren’t for the azure sea that creates spectacular color contrasts.
The beach is largely free but you can only access it during the summer months as it is part of a NATO military area.
Here you can enjoy swimming, scuba diving, surfing, and excursions to the Brebeis pond, usually frequented by little egrets, kingfishers, and the ever-present pink flamingos.
Spiaggia delle Saline
Stintino is that northern peninsula of Sardinia extending into the sea opposite the island of Asinara and Piana island: the coast is dotted with numerous beaches and coves, some limited access, others free, and among the latter is the Spiaggia delle Saline, whose name recalls the ancient salt pans used since 1200 BC.
These were linked to the Pilo, Saline, and Casaraccio ponds, wetlands that you can visit on foot or by bike, hoping to spot flamingos, lapwings, or red herons.
The beach is very long and made up of quartz pebbles that, when illuminated by the sun, emit an almost blinding iridescent light.
Walk along the shore next to the transparent waters until you reach the oldest tower de armas in Sardinia, built in the 15th century to defend the salt pans from enemy attacks coming from the sea.
With a guide, you can also visit the bunkers used during World War II, built right between the salt pans and Monti Frattu.
Su Giudeu
The beach of Su Giudeu is located along the southwestern coast of the island, in the municipality of Domus de Maria, just a stone’s throw from the beautiful village of Chia and is, in fact, the continuation of the S’Aqua Durci beach.
At Su Giudeu you’ll feel like you’re in the Caribbean, even though it’s not limited access like other equally enchanting beaches: the sand is soft, fine, and white, the dunes appear taller every year, while the sea achieves an extraordinary clarity.
Offshore is the Su Giudeo rock, made of black rock, which you can easily reach by swimming during low tide, arriving at a small hermitage far from other bathers: there’s no better place to snack on some figs, peaches, or a slice of melon, fruits that in this corner of Sardinia are truly satisfying.
If you love birdwatching, then put your backpack on and reach the nearby Spartivento pond, whose lunar appearance is brightened by the presence of birds such as herons, coots, and flamingos, often hiding among the junipers that dot the sandy edges of this wetland area.
Cala Domestica
On the border of Sulcis, between Porto Flavia and Buggerru, just below the beaches of Costa Verde, lies Cala Domestica, a small remote bay framed by limestone cliffs shaped over the centuries by the winds and dominated by a watchtower built by the Spaniards in the 18th century.
The golden beach is free and is bathed by the lush Mediterranean scrub on one side, while turquoise waters dominate on the other.
Cala Domestica looks like a fjord of golden sand, nestled in the heart of a territory with a strong mining vocation. You should know that until 1940, precious minerals were extracted in this area of Sardinia, and you can see for yourself the remains of deposits, warehouses, and galleries, which are just a stone’s throw from the bay. In this regard, one of the galleries dug by the miners leads to another hidden jewel of the coast, La Caletta, much more secluded and intimate.
The village of Buggerru, in the second half of the 1800s, grew economically thanks to mining activities, so much so that it was nicknamed “petit Paris”.
Piscinas
If you’ve often admired the deserted beaches of Normandy, envying their remote and almost deserted atmosphere, then head to the beach of Piscinas, not far from Portixeddu along the Costa Verde.
This free beach, also loved by naturists, has been repeatedly described as one of the most beautiful in the world by National Geographic, with dunes declared a UNESCO World Heritage site rising up to 60 meters, covered here and there with lentisk, junipers, and other Mediterranean plants.
To reach Piscinas, where turtles often lay their eggs, you’ll need to follow a road starting from the extraordinary Geopark of Iglesias, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, walking on dirt paths past the remains of wagons, carts, and an abandoned railway.
The beach is ideal if you enjoy solitude, practicing sports like surfing and windsurfing, or snorkeling: the seabed, which is deep after only a few meters, hides priceless treasures, such as a British shipwreck.
Is Arutas
With the vehicle you choose from the Ellepi fleet, where cars undergo constant maintenance for customer safety, set off to visit the free beach of Is Arutas, one of the most beautiful beaches in Oristano and surroundings.
Often included among the most beautiful beaches on the island by “Vanity Fair travelers”, the beach is located in the Sinis Marine Protected Area, just 14 km from Cabras.
Don’t expect the usual sandy beach, as you’ll find yourself walking on quartz pebbles as big as grains of rice, in green, pink, and white colors that, when illuminated by the sun, appear as precious gems.
In front of the beach, embraced by the sides of the Su Bardoni cliffs and Is Arutas, is the Mal di Ventre rocky islet emerging from the crystal-clear Gulf of Oristano, an untouched place where turtles nest and whose seabed hides ancient wrecks dating back to the 1st century AD.
