Island of Santa Maria — Local services in La Maddalena

I traveled to Sardinia with my family, we have been to the North, South, East, West and Central. We have traveled to a plethora of small villages as well as most large cities.

Sardinia has no redeeming features. This is a highly, industrialised island, not at all geared up for tourism. Almost all beaches are polluted with sewage (hence, the flamingos).

Any beach that is possibly suitable for a family vacation has "protected" sand. We were asked to remove our towels from the beach despite 10,000 other people being on the beach at the same time, this was purely because we speak English. This, as you can understand, deeply upset my children.

It is the only country where I have experienced racism as an English-speaking, white male.

If you speak English, you will not be welcomed in Sardinia whatsoever. The food is often provided with a vast amount of saliva. If it has not rotted, if they allow you into the restaurant atoll, they will often be "fully booked" despite being empty, and staying empty all night. English speakers are not welcome.

Waiters and waitresses will shout at you.

When finally able to leave the island and discussing the experience with other travelers on the airplane and in the airport, all English travellers experienced the same treatment.

Having lived in 12 different cities in four countries on two continents and having vastly traveled throughout the world, I can honestly say that Sardinia is the worst godforsaken piece of land on the planet.

Never, ever go to Sardinia.

There are no nice views. There are no nice roads. There are no nice restaurants and there are no nice people.

When most travel websites suggest that the best thing to do on the island is to leave and go to another island La Madellena, it should be a clue. La Madellena is also "protected". They get 5 boats and hour with 100 Sardinians on each, 8 hours a day for 7 days a week. That's 4000 people urinating in the water every day. The beaches are tiny and there is no sea life whatsoever.

Sardinia is horrible. 19 days we walked the old towns. There is nothing nice in Sardinia, especially the people who are rude and hostile....and it's expensive.

Save your money,...

Inutile soffermarsi su acque trasparenti ed azzurre, informazioni che trovate ovunque. La motonave lascia proprio accanto alla spiaggia. Splendido arrivare con la caletta deserta. Ci sono solo 19 case sull'isola, si godono appieno le meraviglie dell'incredibile contesto. Meno piacevole arrivare con la terza motonave (la compagnia dispone, infatti, di tre imbarcazioni quasi gemelle), e cercare un fazzoletto di spiaggia dove sdraiarsi. Sensazione totalmente diversa. Il consiglio, quindi, è: se scegliete un'escursione con la principale compagnia locale (consigliata, è sostanzialmente ben organizzata), andate presto al mattino, in modo da salire...

Bel posto, peccato che è sovraffollato... i barconi scaricano i turisti allo sbando in massa... non ci sono servizi di nessun tipo. Sui barconi raccontano quello che non c'è. L'isola mal gestita, anzi non gestita, dall'ente parco è una perla rovinata da chi invece dovrebbe salvaguardarla. Evidente miniera d'oro per chi la dovrebbe valorizzare e proteggere. I residenti si fanno in 4 per tenerla in ordine... veramente un peccato. Lo stato dovrebbe vigilare meglio sugli enti che gestiscono...