Asinara Boat Tours

Day Trip Boat Tours to Asinara

• The most popular choice is to join a day tour by boat from Stintino or Porto Torres
• The tours typically last from 7 to 8 hours and include stops for swimming, snorkeling, visiting the island's highlights, and learning about its history and natural environment
• Prices vary depending on the company and type of tour, generally starting at around €30 per person.

During these tours, participants can explore some of the most beautiful beaches in the area, renowned for their crystal-clear waters and white sand. Some popular destinations include the Beach of Pelosa and Asinara Island, a national park with rich biodiversity and a fascinating history as a former penal colony. The excursions also provide opportunities to spot local wildlife, such as dolphins, sea turtles, and various bird species.

Sailing Excursions to Asinara

Mini cruises: If you have more time, you can opt for a multi-day mini cruise with overnight stays on board. These cruises provide a more comprehensive experience of the island and allow you to explore even the most remote bays. Prices vary depending on the duration of the cruise and the type of boat, generally starting around €200 per person. Mini cruises allow for a more in-depth experience of Asinara, with opportunities to visit less accessible places during day trips. Staying overnight on board lets you enjoy the island's nighttime tranquility, with starry skies and the soothing sound of waves crashing on the shore.

Mini Cruises to Asinara by Sailboat

Mini cruises: If you have more time, you can opt for a multi-day mini cruise with overnight stays on board. These cruises provide a more comprehensive experience of the island and allow you to explore even the most remote bays. Prices vary depending on the duration of the cruise and the type of boat, generally starting around €200 per person. Mini cruises allow for a more in-depth experience of Asinara, with opportunities to visit less accessible places during day trips. Staying overnight on board lets you enjoy the island's nighttime tranquility, with starry skies and the soothing sound of waves crashing on the shore.

Boat Trips to Asinara

• The Asinara Island is an island located in the Northwest area of Sardinia and is easily reachable by boat from Stintino and Porto Torres
• It is part of a Marine Protected Area, so you can only explore it fully by catamaran or sailboat
• It is the second largest island of Sardinia and is known for its crystal-clear sea and white donkeys

Rates

Tickets for boat trips to Asinara cost between €50 and €150

The fare varies based on the duration of the excursion, the boat used, the departure port, seasonality, and services offered.

Prices are indicative and non-binding. Select the type of excursion you prefer to find out the official price.

Boat trips to Asinara depart from Stintino, Porto Torres.

You can also find departures from Alghero and Bosa

Typically, boat trips to Asinara depart in the morning and return around 18:00.

How to Book

Online booking is essential, otherwise, you risk not finding a spot. Additionally, online prices are often lower.

Choose the yacht, motor vessel, or boat you prefer from the offers; you can immediately see the duration, fare, and departure port at a glance.

On the page for each activity, you can then select the departure date and enter your details. There's no need to print the ticket; you can simply show it from your smartphone on the day of boarding.

At least 2-3 days in advance.

Boat trips to Asinara are very popular. Especially during the high season, you risk not finding a spot if you book last minute. Therefore, we suggest booking as early as possible.

Generally, trips to Asinara are made:

• by sailboat
• by catamaran

Asinara is part of a marine protected area, which means motor boats have various limitations.

The best way is, therefore, to choose a sailboat or catamaran.

You will be refunded your ticket or be asked to choose another date.

All boat excursions require suitable weather conditions to ensure safe navigation.

For this reason, it is at the captain's discretion— for the safety of their passengers and the vessel— to decide whether or not to proceed with the excursion.

Information about Boat Trips to Asinara

Asinara is an island rich in history and nature, so you can vary your activities during your visit to Asinara. You can choose from various activities:

• Guided or self-guided nature walks,
• Historical visits to the Asinara prisons;
• Snorkeling in the Asinara Marine Area;
• Diving;
• Off-road excursions;
• Boat and sailboat trips in the most beautiful bays of Asinara;
• Mountain biking tours, e-bikes, and electric car tours

The Asinara prison was active from the early 1880s and then subsequently closed in 1998, giving way to the Asinara National Park. The isolation of Asinara, due to the presence of the prison for over a century, contributed to making it both a fascinating island wrapped in mystery, and favored its preservation, rendering it a true natural heritage of inestimable value.

The transition from prison to National Park occurred between the late 1990s and the early 21st century. The Asinara prison was definitively closed in 1998, gradually making way for the Asinara National Park.

The Asinara is a National Park, and there are 3 protected areas:

• Protected Marine Area of Asinara Island;
• Site of Community Interest Asinara Island;
• Special Protection Zone Asinara Island.

The Park Authority is very active on the island, and the results of this protection regime are tangible. On the territory of the island, the Park and Protected Marine Area rules are well observed and respected.

While visiting Asinara, you can feel their presence and admire the results of the incredible conservation efforts in place. Many naturalistic and scientific activities are allowed, along with eco-sustainable excursions aimed at safeguarding and discovering the territory, everything is well regulated. In the waters of Asinara Island, motor navigation is permitted only in certain approach corridors, outside of which motor propulsion is not allowed.

Hiking is encouraged and well signposted, but be careful, there are portions of territory that are inaccessible because they are under total protection where transit is not allowed.

It is possible to visit Asinara on horseback, rent an electric bicycle, rent an electric car, and go trekking.

Always rely on a guide or choose an organized excursion to avoid prohibitions or penalties.

The flora of Asinara is typical of the Mediterranean scrub. During land excursions, you can spot many plant species including cornflower, various types of euphorbia, juniper, and rockrose. The famous Asinara helichrysum is used to make many beauty products.

In the Cala Reale area, there is Farmasinara, a small shop where you can purchase products made from herbs collected on the island. Farmasinara is a project developed for the study of Asinara Island's natural resources.

In the Cala Reale store, there are also cosmetic products made from donkey milk. The donkey milk used for cosmetics comes from Sardinian donkeys, not from donkeys of Asinara because the specimens present on the island are protected. During your excursion to Asinara, you can stop by the Farmasinara shop, a concentrate of nature and beauty where you can find truly unique natural products.

The fauna of Asinara is quite interesting, both for the introduced species and for the endemic species, which are subject to studies and conservation projects.

Among the avifauna species, notable mentions include the Corsican gull, common tern, great shearwater, and lesser shearwater, crested cormorant, storm petrel, peregrine falcon, and barn owl.

The terrestrial and amphibious fauna counts several representatives such as common tortoise, Sardinian discoglossus, emerald toad, mouflon, Sardinian hare, hedgehog, wild boar, goat, and of course, the donkey.

On Asinara, there are both the Sardinian donkey breed, which has a gray coat, and the white donkey, the albino variation, whose origins have not yet been clearly identified. The most credible hypotheses regarding the origin of the albino variation are 3:

• importation from Egypt;
• arrival aboard a possibly French vessel;
• indigenous origin derived from the gray specimens.

It is certainly known thatthis is a hereditary alteration that determines the white coat color and the pink skin color. The iris is partially pigmented in pink, generally not red. White donkeys are smaller than their gray counterparts, photophobic, and quite delicate.

In the Cala Reale compound, there is the Sea Observatory with the Marine Animal Recovery Center where many specimens of Caretta caretta, the Mediterranean sea turtle, are rescued every year.

In the Mediterranean Sea, there are also 2 other species of sea turtles that transit and sometimes nest:

• Dermochelis coriacea or leatherback turtle;
• Chelonia midas or green turtle.

These specimens often need care because they become injured during human fishing and boating activities. The center takes care of their treatment and subsequent reintegration into the wild.

Snorkeling in Asinara really offers many surprises. The species present are not surprising for their rarity but for their size. In just a few meters of water, you can admire groupers, sea eagles, mullets, breams, and barracudas. For divers with tanks and freedivers, a dive in Asinara is definitely a must: an extraordinary spectacle at giant sizes that you won't easily forget.

If you wish to spend several days in Asinara to do various types of excursions and explore the island better, the best way is to stay in a bed and breakfast or a hostel in Asinara. There are some interesting accommodation solutions on the island. The SognAsinara hostel overlooks Cala d'Oliva and has large dormitories converted from a former prison building. Also in Cala d'Oliva is the Park Inn, a small and charming B&B recently renovated, smaller in size and more exclusive in character.

The island of Asinara, from the late 1800s to the late 1900s, was famous for being home to an important penal colony. During this tumultuous period, individuals associated with both the Red Brigades and the Anonymous Kidnappers, as well as mafia clans from Cosa Nostra, were detained on the island.
Among the inmates sadly known in the Italian news are Salvatore "Toto" Riina, Raffaele Cutolo, Leoluca Bagarella, Matteo Boe; the latter infamous for escaping from Asinara in 1986 aboard a rubber dinghy. In over 100 years of activity, only one inmate managed to escape, a record that earned Asinara the nickname of Italian Alcatraz. Some buildings from the prison regime are currently visitable, including the museum located in the Central Branch of Cala D'Oliva: a leap into recent history that opens your eyes to many often unknown or overlooked aspects.
The prison regime present on the island ranged from the agricultural penal colony to the so-called tough prison system, including the special 41BIS. In the penal colony, inmates could work and move with partial autonomy as this regime allowed for a certain degree of freedom and social interaction. On Asinara, there was also a tough prison regime for particularly heinous crimes or mafia offenses. The buildings assigned to this regime are not currently visitable because they are covered by State secrecy.

Certainly, there are several branches of prisons on the island. All the establishments present in Asinara were used - and often created - by the prison system for the penal colony and for the maximum-security prison. In Cala d'Oliva at the Central Branch, there is a recently inaugurated museum where you can see the cells, common areas, and work zones

In Cala d'Oliva, you can see the house - former guesthouse - where the two judges stayed in the summer of 1985. For security reasons, the two magistrates and their families were urgently transferred from Palermo to Alghero and brought to Asinara where they wrote part of the sentences of the Maxi Trial. This story is recounted in the film Era D’Estate, filmed right in Asinara. Generally, it is not possible to enter the "red brick house by the sea," but a visit from the outside is still very evocative.

Asinara is a very famous and well-known island, hosting many tourists and visitors every year. It is important to book excursions online as the spots are limited and without a reservation, you may not find availability. A video about Asinara nicely describes the historical, cultural, educational, and natural activities of the island and The Changing of the Guard – Journey in Asinara. The video is quite extensive, lasting about 27 minutes. You can watch the video before your holiday in Asinara to prepare yourself or you can watch it after taking an excursion on the Island to relive the places you've visited.