Serenity in Sardinia

The latest Adventures of S & S included an exciting honeymoon to the beautiful island of Sardinia. Check out this short clip for a summary of our trip, then keep scrolling down to read all about it!!

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Overview of Sardinia

• Country: Italy
• Recommended Hotel(s): Grand Hotel Poltu Quatu (Poltu Quatu), Hotel Panorama (Olbia)
• Best Bites: The famous Sardinia tortilla bread, mussels, octopus
• Activities: Snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving, hiking, dolphin watching
• Beaches: Baia Sardinia, Phi Beach (party beach), Porto Cervo
• Language: Italian, most people spoke English well enough
• Surprising Parts: $$$, very little sea life due to minimal vegetation underwater, topless beaches
• Best Assets: differing landscapes – mountains, beaches, deserts; beautiful Juniper trees all around; lots of villages and small communities

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Sardinia was just a short one-hour flight from Venice and only about 100€ round trip. We rented a car from EuroCar at the airport and found it super convenient. There are so many things to do around the island and it would be very limiting without a car. Our hotel provided Rolls Royce for rent, but I refused to even look at the price per day for that.

The Hotel

We stayed at the luxurious Grand Hotel Poltu Quatu. We were very fortunate in the timing of this trip. During peak season, July and August, rooms run about $1000-$5000 a night. Luckily we visited in the off-season and it was much more reasonable for an entire week.

The Beaches

The very first thing we did after checking in, was to grab our swimsuits and head to the nearest beach. We stumbled upon Baia Sardinia Beach, a short 5-minute drive from the hotel and man was it beautiful. The weather during this time was high 70’s, low 80’s. But the water…..oh goodness it was frigid!

Monday morning we enjoyed the most extensive breakfast I’ve ever seen. It felt like miles and miles of a breakfast buffet. They had everything from a mimosa bar, sweets bar, cereal station, juice station, to omelets galore. The view of the yachts in the inlet wasn’t too shabby either.

For dinner that night, we made reservations at the hotel restaurant. They have an awesome deal where you get a first course, second course and a dessert for 50€. I chose stuffed rabbit the first night and it was delicious. Expect to pay a pretty penny for wine and most meals in general in Sardinia.

Snorkeling & Scuba Diving

On Tuesday, we rented snorkeling gear from Oslo Diving, which was conveniently within walking distance of our hotel. We then drove to nearby beaches. I had never snorkeled before, so this was awesome for me!

On Wednesday, after relaxing by the pool for a bit, we made our way over to Oslo Diving and went out scuba diving. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. They don’t require that you have your scuba diving license, which is apparently a big thing. It was Stephen & I alone with our scuba instructor. He started out by teaching us the basics, such as how to sit on our knees on the sea floor and how to deflate and inflate to move higher and lower underwater. Once we got the hang of things, we were able to move to deeper waters and explore. We saw everything from sea urchins, octopus, starfish, to other beautiful schools of opaque fish.

On Thursday, we signed up for a snorkeling and island tour again through Oslo Diving. We had the opportunity to explore several beautiful beaches and see some sights that were only reachable by boat. Even with wetsuits, the water was very chilly. I spent most of my time laying on the boat sunbathing or exploring the beaches while Stephen snorkeled.

Later that night, we decided to drive to Porto Cervo for dinner. There are billboards everywhere for a restaurant called WhyNot and we thought, why not? (see what I did there). I’m so glad we decided on this beautiful place. We were the first people there for dinner so it felt like we had the entire place reserved for ourselves. The manager brought out complimentary champagne that was so great, we ended up buying a bottle. The atmosphere and ambiance of the restaurant were top-notch and the staff was just lovely. I highly recommend it if you ever make it to Sardinia.

Kayaking Tour in Olbia

My favorite activity of the week though was our kayak tour in Olbia with EcoSport Sardinia. This was an excellent, relaxing way to get to know more about Sardinia and see exclusive beaches. It felt so magical looking over the side of my kayak and being able to see to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. We even had the opportunity to cliff dive, which was another first for me. Our tour guide was awesome and we got lucky again as it was just Stephen and me along for the tour.

Related Post: Whitewater Kayaking in Northern Italy

There is so much more of Sardinia that I would love to explore and I intend on going back one day for more adventures. I hope this blog post inspires you to do the same and as always, thanks for following along with the crazy adventures of our honeymoon in Sardinia.

Leave me a comment if you enjoyed!!

**Photo Credits to my awesome husband and his GoPro Hero 5. I couldn’t have made all these cool videos and pics without his photography skills.