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Now let the sea day I'll be doing. Hello, my name is Claudia. I was born and raised in Sardinia and I still call it home. I am the mastermind behind the Strictly Sardinia Travel Blog and now the Strictly Sardinia Podcast where each week I'll bring you the best Sardinia has to offer and share my most insightful tips that will help you plan and a memorable trip to my wonderful island. In the last episode I taught you about traveling from Cagliari to Alghero. This week I will share with you my tips on visiting La Pelosa beach, the most famous beach in Sardinia. Let me stress that you will find a more detailed version of today's episode on my blog streetlacerdinia.com as always, you will find the link to my blog post in the episode description, so don't forget to read that for more information. Also, let me remind you that if you ever need more help and more tips to plan your trip to Sardinia, you can book a one hour travel consultation with me. The link for that is in the episode description. Now today's topic La Pelosa beach or Spiaggia La Pelosa in Italian. This is one of the most beautiful and most photographed beaches in Sardinia. It's worldwide famous and people, locals and tourists love it. Needless to say, I have been there many times so I know everything you also need to know to plan, visit and have a great time. La Pelosa is located at the northwestern tip of Sardinia in Stintino, which is one of the prettiest coastal towns on the island. It's a small beach that has beautiful fine sand and very shallow, very transparent waters. It's incredibly scenic. Its conformation makes it a perfect spot to relax on a hot summer day. However, popularity caused considerable damage to this beach in the last couple of decades. Its surface has been receding and in an attempt to protect it, local authorities have implemented a set of rules, including having to book a spot at the beach ahead of your visit. But this is just one of the things you need to know before going. So continue listening because I will share everything you need to know to have a fantastic day. Now here's a quick pointers La Pelosa is one of the protected beaches of Sardinia. Since 2018, before limits were placed on the number of visitors, there were days when 4,000 people accessed the beach. The number of visitors that now can access La Pelosa beach is capped at 1500. If you ask me, that's still too many people and it still feels crowded. That means that in order to Access the beach between 5015 May and 15 October. You will have to make reservations and get La Pelosa tickets. The beach gets fully booked in the peak months of July and August. And so if that's when you intend to visit, book well ahead. So how can you book? You first of all have to visit the official booking portal. The website is in Italian and English. You have to click on prenota, which means book, in the top right corner of your desktop. This will open a new page which automatically opens in Italian, but then you can click on the globe symbol on the top right. To switch to English. You have to select the date and the number of visitors. It can be no more than four person per bookings and kids under the year the the age of 12 are not counted. On the left side bar there's a menu where you can see places available. Click on that to see the calendar with exact availability. Spots for unlimited reservations are marked in gray. Spots for reservations within 48 hours are marked in blue. You have to add your name and then confirm. Enter the full names for each adult. Make sure the email is correct because your QR code to access the BE arrives there and then you have to click on Confirm and Pay. Another page again opens up and says Click here to pay. And that's when you insert your credit card number and pay the €350 per person. Remember that kids can get in for free. You have to save the the QR code and screenshot it just in case you have no connection at the beach. And once you access the beach, a worker will scan your QR code. Now remember that only 1,500 visitors are allowed. Of these, 700 can only book within 48 hours of their intended day of visit. So for example, if you want to visit. If you want to visit in two days, you have to book right now. 700 spots are available to book ahead of time. So for example, you can book on 1st of May if you want to visit on the 1st of July. And if you're lucky enough to do to be able to do that, you can book for up to 31 consecutive days. Now, if your date is sold out, you can try the 48 hour tranche at release time or go after 6pm when there's no need to access the beach with a QR code. The website of La Pelosa Beach Reservations only works between May and October when access to the beach is kept. So you cannot make reservations for La Pelosa in April for May or in November for the following year. That's because the beach is free to visit from the 15th of October till the 15th of May. Just remember that. So if you try today to book Lapalosa tickets, the website will not be working.
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rules that you need to know when you visit La Pelosa you have to use a straw mat under your towel. This is done in order to reduce sandloss. There are rangers that patrol the beach and find anyone that is caught without a straw mat. You can get straw mats cheaply at any supermarket, any store in town or at the info center by the main access. The beach is a non smoking beach now most Sardinian beaches are non smoking beaches. In the actual beach there are reserved spots in case you want to smoke. You cannot smoke under your umbrella and if you're caught doing that you will be fine and trust I have seen that happen in front of my eyes. No littering. There are trash cans at the beach so you really have no excuse to abandon your trash. You cannot collect sand or shell. This is a rule that is valid all over Sardinia. If you're caught with sand in your luggage or in your bag here in Sardinia you will get a fine. Unfortunately, no pets are allowed at La pelosa Beach between 8am and 8pm and finally you have to rinse your fe once you leave. There are public fountains on the access point along the beach and you have to use that. Now how can you get to La Pelosa? La Pelosa is located in Capo Falcone which is about 2 kilometers or 1.2 miles north of Centino. If you are traveling by bus you can take public bus number 727 in Via Sasseri Instintino and you can get tickets at the local kiosk or via the app drop ticket. If you're going by car it takes about six minutes from the center of Cintino and if you're going from Alghero it's about an hour drive. If you're going by car you're going to have to park and La Pelosa parking fee is very expensive. 2 Euro per hour and up to 20 Euro for the entire day, payable by cash or card. And depending on what time you arrive, you. You may struggle to find a good parking spot near the beach. So plan to be very early at the beach or go around lunchtime when some people may be leaving. That's what I did last time I visited. Fines for roadside parking or expired parking are very common, so beware what to pack when you visit La Pelosa. Of course you need shade. There's no vegetation whatsoever. You need a straw mat to place under your towel, preferably a microfiber tower. Water. Choose lunch and snacks. Although there are kiosks at the beach where you can find food and drinks, but they're very expensive. At least two liters of water. Trust me, it gets hot here in Sardinia. A small trash bag. And you know, if you have kids, you may want to bring toys that they can play with at the beach. Finally, what should you do if La Pelosa is sold out for the day you want to visit? My top recommendation is Pelozeta beach, which is really next door. It's a tiny beach with incredible views of Torre della Pelosa. It's still busy, but no booking is required. There are other beaches in Stintino that you could visit. Saline, Etimano, Pazona, or you can go to one of the beaches near Alghero, like Portoferro, Lazaretto, Bombarde. One of my favorite beaches in Sardinia, Arena Mayore della Nurra, which, contrary to La Pelosa, which is prot. This actually one of the most secluded beaches in Sardinia. Getting there requires a bit of an effort, but it's worth it. Otherwise you can go on a boat tour to Azinara National Park. There are sailboat tours that depart from the harbor of Cintino. It's a full day trip and it's absolutely stunning. Now, a few more things that you need to know about La Pelosa. The beach is small, only 300 meters long, which is 984ft and no more than 60 meters or 190ft wide. It faces Isola, Piano and Azinara island, which is one of Sardinia's national parks. It's highly exposed to the mistral wind. Because of that, it's a perfect place to practice water sports such as windsurfing or kite surfing and sailing. Obviously, when there's no people at the beach, when the wind is blowing, the shallow waters still have a good temperature. When the wind is not blowing, it's a perfect place for families with children, ideal for stand up, paddle Boarding, snorkel, clean swimming and kayaking. There is Anoragnes watchtower located on its northern side. It's a defensing tower dating from SVIT 1578 when other similar towers in Sardinia were built and it was used to spot pirates and invaders. We refer to it as La Pelosa Tower. You can visit the tower on the outside, you can swim or walk there for views, but you need rock shoes if you wish to walk in the area. There are sambo tours that stop by La Pelosa beach that you can book online. Most of them go to Azinara and on the way back usually they make a quick stop at the beach. Is La Pelosa the most beautiful beach in Sardinia? Well, you know it definitely is gorgeous, but unless you're staying in the area, I don't recommend going because there are tons millions of other incredible beaches at La Pelosa at in Sardinia where you can go other than La Pelosa. Why the mat rule? It's done to stop sand loss. Sand cans get stuck to towels and stuff at the beach will check that you respect this rule. Is the beach free to access? No, there is a small fee of €3 50 per person but kids can go for free. Now again let me stress unless you are staying in the area, so within an hour drive from La Pelosa, do not attempt to go there. There are many many other incredible be Sardinia that are just as scenic, just as gorgeous and there is no point of going above and beyond to reach this beach. If you're staying in the area, definitely try to make the effort because it is a stunning beach. Now this brings me to the end of today's episode. Before I share the topic for the next episode, let me remind you that if you ever need more tips and help to plan your trip to Sardinia, you can book a one hour travel consultation with me. The link for that is in the episode description, so make sure you read that for more information. Of course there's my blog, streetlisardenial.com that has even more tips to plan your trip and is 100% free to access. Next week I'll be telling you everything you need to know about another protected beach in Sardinia, Cala Brandini. Finally, if you like my podcast, share with your friends who are coming to Sardinia. Give it a five star rating and a good review. And until next week, goodbye.