Wally Vantanera in Antigua. Photo: Julian Pircher

Sardinia & Corsica: Twin Island Escape

To desire nothing beyond what you have is surely happiness. Aboard a boat, it is frequently possible to achieve just that.
Carleton Mitchell

Sardinia & Corsica

Twin Island Escape

Thirteen days between two islands, two countries, and two ways of being beautiful.

Two islands separated by a narrow strait and an entire philosophy. Sardinia — polished granite, emerald water, the kind of effortless Italian elegance that looks like nobody tried. Corsica — wilder, rougher, French in passport but something else entirely in spirit. Mountains that fall straight into the sea. Towns that cling to cliffs like they're daring gravity to disagree.

Thirteen days aboard Vantanera, moving between both at whatever pace feels right. Long enough to stop counting days. Long enough to forget which country you woke up in — and to stop caring.

Costa Smeralda & La Maddalena

Days 01-04

You board in Olbia and leave everything behind within the hour. The first days belong to northeast Sardinia — Porto Cervo's quiet harbours, the archipelago's granite islands, water so clear the anchor chain casts a shadow on the sand four metres below. Swim before breakfast.

Lunch in a cove that doesn't have a name. Anchor off Caprera and watch the light turn the rock from grey to pink to gold as the afternoon fades. The Costa Smeralda is famous for good reason, but from a Wally it looks different — less scene, more stillness.

Bonifacio & the Lavezzi Islands

Days 05 - 08

North across the strait. Bonifacio announces itself from a distance — a medieval town balanced on white limestone cliffs, sixty metres above the water. The harbour entrance is a narrow fjord carved into the rock, the kind of arrival that stops conversation on deck. Spend a day in the old town. Walk the citadel walls. Eat Corsican charcuterie in a stone square with no tourists.

Then south to the Lavezzi Islands — low granite rocks scattered across water so shallow and transparent it barely looks real. This is the Strait of Bonifacio's best-kept secret: a protected marine reserve with no buildings, no roads, and no sound except wind and waves. Snorkel. Swim. Do nothing at all. The Lavezzi don't ask anything of you.

Corsica's West Coast

Days 09 - 12

This is where the trip changes character. The west coast of Corsica is dramatic in a way that Sardinia is not — red cliffs, deep gulfs, maquis-covered mountains dropping into dark blue water. The Calanques de Piana, a UNESCO site, look like someone sculpted the coastline out of terracotta and forgot to smooth the edges. Anchor in the Gulf of Porto. Sail past Scandola, a nature reserve accessible only from the sea. Lunch in Girolata, a village with no road access — you arrive by boat or you don't arrive at all.

These are the days that stay with you. Not because anything spectacular happens, but because nothing needs to. The coastline does the work. You just watch.

Return to Olbia

Days 13

South again through the strait, past Tavolara's limestone wall rising from the sea, and back to Olbia. The airport is fifteen minutes away. Your life is waiting. But after thirteen days on the water, you might need a moment to remember what all the hurry was about.