Snorkeling from the boat
A La Maddalena snorkeling tour here is a full boat day with long swim stops, not a dive trip: you bring your own mask and slip into the water at coves such as Cala Corsara, Cala Coticcio and Cala Connari. Days start from $56 per person. Below: which of the twelve listings name snorkeling, how long each stop lasts, what the price covers and what to pack.
Quick answer
The short answer. For snorkeling, book the Palau islands day at $56 on a Monday, Tuesday or Friday; it is the La Maddalena snorkeling tour we would book first. Those days end with an hour in Cala Coticcio on Caprera, and the operator strongly recommends a snorkelling mask for it. For the most time in the water near the boat, take the 1956 motorship at $80: 1.5 hours off Cavaliere beach and two hours at Cala Connari. No listing says masks are provided, so pack your own.
What you are booking
Twelve full days on the water. Six of them name snorkeling outright.
None of the twelve listings on this site is a snorkeling class with a guide in the water. Each one is a full day on a boat between the islands of the national park, with long stops in coves where you can swim or float face down. Choosing a La Maddalena snorkeling tour means choosing the boat whose stops suit snorkeling best.
Six listings name snorkeling in their own words. The Palau islands day invites you to sunbathe, snorkel or dive from the boat. The guided day from Palau or La Maddalena port promises plenty of options for swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing, and points to Cala Granara on Spargi. The wild-islands day says snorkelling is very widespread on Spargi. The four-islands boat names the water of Budelli and the coves of Cala Granara or Cala Ferrigno. The 1956 motorship lets you snorkel near the boat at both of its long stops, and the Olbia day with a minibus makes two stops of about an hour on Spargi and Santa Maria where you can go snorkeling.
The other six, our top pick from Santa Teresa among them, talk about swimming rather than snorkeling. You can still take your own mask; the operator simply does not promise it.
In the water
Four more frames of the water a snorkeling stop puts you in.
A man in orange shorts bends over his mask in knee-deep water at the edge of a granite cove, with swimmers further out and yachts lying off the far shore.
Pale sand shows through bright turquoise water, broken by dark patches of seagrass, with a round granite rock in the bay and white cliffs behind.
Seen from the deck: swimmers, some in masks, spread out in turquoise water beside the white hull, below a rocky shore.
A grey granite boulder, worn into folds and hollows, sits at the waterline above clear shallows where dark seaweed lies on the sand.
Stop by stop
Stop lengths as the listings give them. On a La Maddalena snorkeling tour, a long stop is what you are paying for.
Cala Corsara on Spargi for 1.5 hours and Cala Santa Maria for 75 minutes. On Monday, Tuesday and Friday the last stop is an hour in Cala Coticcio on Caprera, swimming from the boat; on the other days the town of La Maddalena takes its place.
Two hours at Cala Corsara on Spargi, where the listing says snorkelling is very widespread, then an hour at the natural pools of Budelli.
Thirty minutes at Cala Serena on Caprera, then 1.5 hours off Cavaliere beach on Budelli and two hours at Cala Connari on Spargi. At both long stops you can snorkel near the boat or go ashore.
Twenty minutes at the natural pools of Budelli, 1.5 hours at Santa Maria and 1.5 hours at Cala Granara on Spargi, the cove the listing names for snorkeling.
Twenty minutes at the pools of Budelli, named for snorkeling, then 75 minutes each at Santa Maria and at Cala Granara or Cala Ferrigno.
75 minutes at Cala Corsara, 25 minutes at the natural pools of Porto della Madonna, where you dive in from the boat, and 75 minutes at Cala Santa Maria.
75 minutes at Cala Corsara, 1.5 hours at Santa Maria and 30 minutes at the natural pools of Budelli. Alex from Germany: «good snorkeling».
A minibus to Cannigione, then two stops of about an hour each on Spargi and Santa Maria, where the listing says you can swim or go snorkeling. Tomato pasta is served on board.
Two stops of 1.5 hours each, at Santa Maria and Spargi, where the boat docks and you walk ashore. Lunch is cooked on board. Diving from the boat is not permitted, and the listing does not mention snorkeling.
Every trip, current fare
Each La Maddalena snorkeling tour below is priced per person; the landing fee is extra wherever the operator names one.
| Trip | Price | Price is for | Length | Longest stop | What the price covers | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palau islands day | $56 | per person | 7 hours | Cala Corsara, 1.5 hours | The boat day from Palau; Cala Coticcio on Mon, Tue, Fri. Lunch not included, snacks to buy. Bring your own mask | 4.4 · 2,876 |
| Wild-islands day | $56 | per person | 7 hours | Cala Corsara, 2 hours | The boat day from Palau; an hour at the pools of Budelli. Lunch not included; landing tax paid separately | 4.3 · 2,827 |
| The 1956 motorship | $80 | per person | 6.5 hours | Cala Connari, 2 hours | An 18-metre boat with two bathrooms and a covered deck; snorkel near the boat. Bar and kitchen on board, food at extra cost | 4.7 · 657 |
| Guided day, Palau or the island | $62 | per person | 6 - 7 hours | Cala Granara or Santa Maria, 1.5 hours | A live guide in four languages. Lunch at extra cost or bring your own; landing fee in cash | 4.6 · 6,436 |
| Olbia day with a minibus | $191 | per person | 9 hours | Spargi or Santa Maria, about 1 hour | Minibus from the meeting point to Cannigione and back; tomato pasta on board. Docking fee in cash to the driver | 4.5 · 527 |
| Santa Teresa, our top pick | $70 | per person | 8 hours | Santa Maria or Spargi, 1.5 hours | The boat day from Santa Teresa Gallura; lunch cooked on board; restrooms on all boats. Landing fee in cash | 4.3 · 1,571 |
Where the water is clearest
Names of coves, in the operators’ own words, and one beach you only see.
Nobody can promise how far you can see underwater on a given day. What we can tell you is which coves the operators themselves single out. At the natural pools of Porto della Madonna on Budelli, the four-stop listing points to the colour and the transparency of the water, and has you dive straight in from the boat. On Spargi and Santa Maria, the Olbia listing speaks of transparent waters at both of its hour-long stops. Cala Coticcio on Caprera is the one cove for which an operator asks you to bring a mask.
Cala Corsara and Cala Granara, both on Spargi, are where two listings send you to snorkel. Luciana from Italy, after the four-stop day: «We stopped at 2 beaches and one snorkel/swim spot, with the clearest and most beautiful water i’ve ever seen.»
One famous stop is not for the water at all: the Pink Beach on Budelli. Every listing shows it from the boat only, so no La Maddalena snorkeling tour lands you there. The swimming happens a short way off, in the natural pools.
Before you book
Five minutes now make a La Maddalena snorkeling tour easier on the day.
No listing says masks are provided. The Palau islands operator strongly recommends taking a snorkelling mask for Cala Coticcio.
Up to five euros a person, paid in cash on the day and not in the price; children under seven do not pay. Card payments can fail on the islands.
Cala Coticcio is on the Palau islands day on Monday, Tuesday and Friday only. Cristina from the United Kingdom: «should be clearer the variations in itinerary before booking».
Most Palau boats check in from 9:00 and sail at 10:30. The wild-islands boat lets no one on board after 9:45; Santa Teresa meets at 8:00 to 8:15.
Lunch is served on board on four listings; on the others, buy at the bar or bring your own.
Our verdict
For snorkeling, book the Palau islands day on a Monday, Tuesday or Friday. At $56 it shares the lowest fare on this site, it gives you 1.5 hours at Cala Corsara and an hour at Cala Coticcio, and 2,876 reviewers rate it 4.4.
For the most time in the water, take the 1956 motorship at $80: three and a half hours across two long stops, rated 4.7 by 657 reviewers. Roos from the Netherlands: «enough time to swim, jump from the upper deck into the cristal blue waters, snorkel or go to the beach».
Staying near Santa Teresa? Our top pick at $70 gives you two 1.5-hour beach stops and lunch cooked on board. Bring a mask.
Book direct
Four ways to book a La Maddalena snorkeling tour: Cala Coticcio, the longest stops, two hours at Cala Corsara, and our top pick.
★ 4.4 · 2,876 reviews
★ 4.7 · 657 reviews
★ 4.3 · 2,827 reviews
★ 4.3 · 1,571 reviews
Common questions
Yes. None of the twelve listings says masks are provided, and the Palau islands operator strongly recommends a snorkelling mask for Cala Coticcio. Pack one for any La Maddalena snorkeling tour on this site.
On some boats, yes. The Palau islands day lists diving from the boat, and the four-stop day has you dive in at the natural pools of Porto della Madonna. On the motorship you can snorkel near the boat. On our top pick from Santa Teresa, diving from the boat is not permitted.
No. On all twelve listings the Pink Beach on Budelli is seen from the boat only. Most boats stop instead at the natural pools of Budelli nearby.
Twenty to thirty minutes on the larger boats. The wild-islands day gives the pools an hour, and the motorship spends 1.5 hours off Cavaliere beach on Budelli.
The Palau islands day, on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, for an hour of swimming from the boat. The dinghy day from Cannigione also names Cala Coticcio, and the motorship stops at Cala Serena on Caprera.
No. Most operators collect a landing fee of up to five euros a person, in cash on the day; children under seven do not pay. Three listings do not mention it at all.
Go deeper
Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria and Caprera, one by one.
From PalauThe harbour most boats leave from, and the days that start there.
The day outFrom the morning departure to the return: timing, stops and what to bring.
With childrenWhat the listings say about ages, swimming and long days on board.
Which one to pickChoosing by port, boat, price and the islands you want.
From Santa Teresa Gallura: La Maddalena Full-Day Boat Tour
★ 4.3 · 1,571 reviews · 8 hours