The islands of Tavolara and Molara off the
Northeast coast of Sardinia can be reached by boat with
a journey of about 20 minutes from Porto San Paolo, Olbia
and Golfo Aranci. Tavolara with its stretched rectangular
shape is a large limestone rise resting on an underwater
granite base. The island is 4 km long with the rocky part
in the middle reaching levels as high as 565m above sea
level. The coastline is characterised by high vertical cliffs,
which are very difficult to reach, unfortunately a large
part of the island is not accessible due to a military restricted
area. The side of the island that faces Sardinia, which
is also the part where the boats arrive and is called “Spalmatore
di Terra”, is flat with a little marina, a small built-up
area with a few restaurants and some nice beaches.
The island of Molara, set South from Tavolara, has a slight
circular shape and is rather flat with only 150m at his
highest point. It is the emerged part of a large underwater
granite base surrounded by beautiful beaches. The ruins
scattered on the island show signs of human presence since
ancient times, like the ruins of the Medieval village of
Gurguray. On a hillock called Monte Castello, one can see
the ruins of Medieval fortification walls, built to defend
the island from the Saracens.
For the joy of the nature lovers, this paradise still has
about 150 mouflons, rare wild goats that only leave in Sardinia
and large flocks of Cormorans.
The crystalline water and the interesting coastline make
the two islands a very popular destination with divers.
