Hotel Pitrizza

A small private beach on Liscia di Vacca, with a buoyed swim zone off the sand.

The hotel's own beach sits on Liscia di Vacca, a couple of miles northwest of Porto Cervo: soft white sand broken by the rounded granite that runs along this coast, and a walk-in entry into water that stays shallow and clear a long way out. A line of buoys marks the swimming zone and holds boats off the water directly in front, with a floating platform to turn at. Beyond the buoys this is the Costa Smeralda in season, so the early morning, before the boats are moving, is the swim. A low rocky headland closes the bay on one side and the water opens across toward the headlands on the far side. Above the beach the hotel keeps a saltwater pool cut into the rock, with separate depths for swimming and for standing, looking out over the bay.