Boat Trips Asinara

Day Trip Boat Excursions to Asinara

Snorkeling Isola Tavolara
  • The most popular option is to participate in a day boat tour from Stintino or Porto Torres
  • These tours usually last from 7 to 8 hours and include stops for swimming, snorkeling, visiting the island highlights, and learning about its history and natural environment
  • Prices vary depending on the company and the type of tour, but generally start at around €30 per person.


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

book snorkeling Tavolara + dolphin watching

Sardinial Boat Excursions to Asinara with Sailing

Tavolara - Gite in barca Asinara
Tavolara excursions by dinghy

Mini Cruises: If you have more time, you can opt for a multi-day mini cruise with overnight stays on board. These cruises offer a more complete experience of the island and allow you to explore even more remote coves. Prices vary depending on the duration of the cruise and the type of boat, but generally start at around €200 per person. Mini cruises allow you to experience Asinara in more depth, with the chance to visit less accessible places during day trips. Overnight stays on board allow you to enjoy the island's nighttime tranquility, with starry skies and the sound of waves lapping against the shore.

Book Tavolara excursion by dinghy

Asinara Mini Cruises by Sailing Boat

Tavolara - Gite in barca Asinara (foto 2)
Excursions Tavolara by dinghy

Mini Cruises: If you have more time, you can opt for a multi-day mini cruise with overnight stays on board. These cruises offer a more complete experience of the island and allow you to explore even more remote coves. Prices vary depending on the duration of the cruise and the type of boat, but generally start at around €200 per person. Mini cruises allow you to experience Asinara in more depth, with the chance to visit less accessible places during day trips. Overnight stays on board allow you to enjoy the island's nighttime tranquility, with starry skies and the sound of waves lapping against the shore.

Book Tavolara excursion by dinghy

Boat Excursions 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 and as such, it can only be fully explored by catamaran or sailing boat
  • It is the second-largest island in 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 rate varies depending on the duration of the excursion, the type of vessel used, the departure port, the seasonality, and the services offered.

Prices are indicative and not binding. Select the type of excursion you prefer to know the official price.

Boat trips to Asinara depart from Stintino and Porto Torres.

You can also find departures from Alghero and Bosa

Usually, boat trips to Asinara depart in the morning and return around 6 PM.

How to Book

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

Choose the yacht, motorboat, or boat you prefer from the options available; you can immediately see the duration, rate, and departure port at a glance.

On the page of each activity, you can see the details and choose 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 in high demand. Especially in high season, you risk not finding a spot if you book at the last minute. For this reason, we suggest booking as early as possible.

Generally, trips to Asinara are done:

  • by sailboat
  • by catamaran

Asinara is part of a protected marine area, for this reason, motorboats have several limitations.

So the best way is to choose a sailboat or catamaran.

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

All boat excursions require suitable weather and sea 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 carry out the excursion.

Information about Boat Trips to Asinara

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

  • Guided or self-guided nature walks,
  • Historical visits to the Asinara prisons;
  • Snorkeling in the Asinara Marine Area;
  • Scuba diving;
  • Off-road excursions;
  • Catamaran and sailing trips in the most beautiful bays of Asinara;
  • Mountain bike tours, assisted pedal bicycles, and electric car tours.

The Asinara penitentiary was active since the early 1880s and was 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 has made it both a fascinating and mysterious island, while also favoring its preservation, making it a true natural heritage of invaluable worth.

The transition from prison to National Park occurred between the late 1990s and the early 21st century. The Asinara penitentiary was definitively closed in 1998, progressively giving way to 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 Importance Asinara Island;
  • Special Protection Area Asinara Island.

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

Visiting Asinara, you can feel their presence and admire the result of incredible conservation efforts. Many activities related to nature and science are allowed, including eco-sustainable trips aimed at safeguarding and discovering the territory, all of which is well-regulated. In the waters around Asinara Island, motor navigation is allowed only in certain approach corridors, outside of which motor propulsion is not permitted.

Walking is encouraged and well-marked, but be careful, there are areas of land that are not accessible as they are under total protection where passage is not permitted.

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

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

The flora of Asinara is typical of the Mediterranean scrub. During land excursions, you can spot many plant species, including cornflower, numerous varieties of spurge, juniper, and cistus. The helichrysum of Asinara is famous for its use in many beauty products.

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

In the Cala Reale shop, you can also find cosmetic products made from donkey milk. The donkey milk used for cosmetics comes from Sardinian donkeys, not from donkeys on Asinara because the specimens on the island are protected. During your excursion on Asinara, you can visit the Farmasinara shop, a concentration 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 the endemic species, which is why it is the subject of studies and conservation projects.

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

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

On Asinara, there are the Sardinian breed donkey which has grey fur and the white donkey, an albino variation, whose origins have not yet been clearly identified. The most credited hypotheses regarding the origin of the albino variation are three:

  • importation from Egypt;
  • arrival aboard a vessel probably from France;
  • indigenous origin derived from grey specimens.

It is certainly known that it is a hereditary alteration that results in the white coat color and pink skin color. The iris is partially pigmented pink, generally not red. White donkeys are smaller than their grey counterparts, light-sensitive, and rather delicate.

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

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

  • Dermochelys coriacea or leatherback turtle;
  • Chelonia mydas or green turtle.

These specimens often need care because they are injured during human fishing and boating activities. The center takes care of their rehabilitation and subsequent reintegration into nature.

Snorkeling in Asinara truly offers many surprises. The species present are not remarkable for their rarity but for their size. In just a few meters of water, you can admire grouper, sea eagles, mullets, bream, and barracuda. For divers with tanks and free divers, diving in Asinara is definitely a must: an extraordinary spectacle at giant dimensions that is not easily forgotten.

If you want to spend several days in Asinara to do different types of excursions and explore the island to the fullest, the best way is to stay in a bed and breakfast or a hostel in Asinara. The island offers some interesting accommodation options. The SognAsinara hostel, overlooking Cala d'Oliva, features large dormitories converted from a building of the prison system. Also in Cala d'Oliva, there is the Park Inn, a small and charming recently renovated B&B, of smaller size and a more exclusive character.

Asinara Island was very famous from the late 1800s to the late 1900s for being home to an important penal colony. During this troubled period, people belonging to both the Red Brigades and the Anonymous Kidnappers, as well as the mafia clans of Cosa Nostra, were detained on the island.
Among the detainees infamous in Italian news are Salvatore "Toto" Riina, Raffaele Cutolo, Leoluca Bagarella, and Matteo Boe; the latter infamous for escaping from Asinara in 1986 aboard a rubber dinghy. In over 100 years of activity, only one prisoner managed to escape, which 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 glimpse into recent history that sheds light on many often unknown or overlooked aspects.
The prison regime on the island ranged from an agricultural penal colony to the so-called hard prison regime, including the special 41BIS. In the penal colony, prisoners could work and move with partial autonomy as this regime allowed for some freedom and sociability. On Asinara, there was also a regime of hard prison for particularly heinous crimes or mafia offenses. The buildings that were assigned to this regime are currently not visitable as they are covered by state secrecy.

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

At 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 taken to Asinara where they wrote part of the verdicts of the Maxi Trial. This story is told in the film Era D’Estate, shot right on Asinara. Generally, it’s not possible to enter the “red-brick house by the sea,” but the view from the outside is still very evocative.

Asinara is a very famous and well-known island, hosting many tourists and visitors every year. It’s important to book excursions online because spots are limited and without a reservation, you might 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 comprehensive, lasting about 27 minutes. You can watch the video before your vacation on Asinara to prepare, or you can watch it after taking an excursion on the Island to relive the places you visited.