The Strait of Bonifacio is 11 kilometres wide at its narrowest point. On one side, Corsica: French since 1768, notoriously independent in character, and the least developed major island in the western Mediterranean. On the other, Sardinia: Italian, the second largest island in the Mediterranean, and home to some of the most expensive marina berths and superyacht traffic in the sea.
The combined coastline of both islands delivers two to three weeks of sailing without repetition. Corsica offers dramatic landscapes — limestone cliffs dropping straight into the sea, maquis scrubland running to the water's edge, villages that were genuinely inaccessible before roads were built — but fewer services and more difficult anchorage access. Sardinia has better-developed marinas, more restaurants, more infrastructure of every kind, and correspondingly higher prices. Porto Cervo in high season prices berths at levels that make Monaco look restrained.
The circuit works best starting in Porto-Vecchio or Bonifacio at the southern tip of Corsica, crossing to La Maddalena on the Sardinian side, working north along Sardinia's Costa Smeralda if budget permits, then heading back to Corsica for the return leg along the west coast. Or the reverse. Wind tends to favour one direction over the other depending on the week's forecast, and experienced sailors plan their circuit loosely around what the weather gives them.
Porto-Vecchio is the main charter base on Corsica's south coast. The marina is well-equipped — fuel, water, chandlery, good provisioning in the town 2km uphill — and it serves as the logical start point for any Corsica-Sardinia circuit. The town itself is attractive, built on a Genoese fortress site with a warren of old streets on the promontory above the port.
From Porto-Vecchio the coast runs southwest to Bonifacio, 20nm by sea, past some of Corsica's finest anchorages. The Cala Rossa area north of town has half a dozen sheltered coves with sand bottoms and 4-8 meter depths. Roccapina, roughly halfway to Bonifacio, has a notable lion-shaped rock formation on the cliff above the anchorage and a beach that earns its reputation.
Bonifacio is the sight that justifies the entire southern Corsican itinerary. The town perches on a limestone plateau 70 meters above the sea, the buildings stacked right to the cliff edge as if the architects were daring gravity. The approach by sea from the east through the Strait is one of those arrivals that stops conversation. The marina sits at the base of the cliff in a narrow fjord, well-protected but busy from June onwards — book ahead or anchor in the approaches and dinghy in.
The Lavezzi Islands nature reserve occupies the water between Bonifacio and the Sardinian coast. Day anchoring among the granite rock formations is permitted; overnight stays are not. The snorkeling is excellent around the rock formations, with good visibility in settled conditions. The islands serve as a natural staging point for the strait crossing.
La Maddalena National Park encompasses seven islands and a scattering of smaller islets just off Sardinia's northeast coast. The granite rock formations are extraordinary — weathered into smooth orange-red shapes that look like sculpture, rising from water that runs through every shade between turquoise and deep blue depending on depth and bottom type. Caprera, the largest island in the park, is where Garibaldi retired and died. His house, the Compendio Garibaldino, is a museum that explains something essential about 19th-century Italian nationalism if you have an afternoon.
The best anchorages in the Maddalena park are the coves around Spargi, Budelli, and Razzoli. Budelli is known for its Spiaggia Rosa (Pink Beach), though landing is prohibited since 1994 to protect the fragile pink sand derived from coral and shell fragments. Anchor offshore and admire it from the dinghy. Spargi's Cala Corsara is a southwest-facing cove with turquoise water over white sand, typically busy in August but manageable in June and September.
Porto Cervo, the Costa Smeralda's flagship marina, operates a pricing model calibrated to superyacht clients. A 45ft sailboat in July or August will pay €200-350 per night for a berth, plus water and electricity. The infrastructure is faultless. The restaurants are expensive. The scenery — granite headlands, transparent water, well-maintained everything — is genuinely beautiful. Whether that combination justifies the cost is a personal decision. Porto Rotondo and Portisco, further south along the coast, offer similar scenery with marina fees that are 30-50% lower.
The south coast around Cagliari and the Sulcis region in the southwest offers an entirely different Sardinia. Older, less visited, cheaper by a factor of three or four in marina fees. Cagliari's marina is a functional working port with full services. The Chia anchorage on the south coast has one of the island's finest beaches and costs nothing to use.
The 11km crossing between Lavezzi on the Corsican side and Santa Teresa Gallura on the Sardinian side is the technical centrepiece of the circuit. In normal trade wind or light Mistral conditions it takes under two hours and causes no difficulty. When the Mistral accelerates through the strait, conditions deteriorate quickly.
The Mistral funnels down the Rhône Valley and across the Gulf of Lion before hitting the strait. In a moderate Mistral event (30-35 knots over the Golfe du Lion), the strait can see gusts to 40 knots with short, steep seas generated by the acceleration effect between the two land masses. The Lavezzi Islands provide some shelter on the Corsican side. The anchorage at Sperone, just east of Bonifacio, is the standard waiting spot on the Corsican side when the strait is rough. Santa Teresa Gallura harbour provides the equivalent shelter on the Sardinian side.
The crossing rules are straightforward: cross in the morning before thermal winds build, listen to the forecast the evening before and again at 0630, and do not cross if the Mistral is above 20 knots measured at Bonifacio. Once the Mistral establishes it can blow for 3-5 days. Have a plan for waiting it out. Bonifacio marina is full in season but the anchorages in the approaches hold well. Plan 24-48 hours of contingency into your circuit for weather delays at the strait.
Corsican limestone, Greek-blue anchorages, Maddalena granite, turquoise coves, sailing the strait, and Costa Smeralda light.
June and September are the optimal months for this circuit. June sees fewer boats in every anchorage, marina fees at shoulder-season rates (typically 30-40% below July-August peaks), and Mistral events less frequent than midsummer. The water is warm enough for comfortable swimming by mid-June — 22-24°C in the south, cooler around Corsica's northwest coast. Daytime temperatures in the mid-20s with fresh sailing breezes make for excellent passage days.
September has everything going for it. Summer crowds have thinned dramatically after the first week. The water has reached its annual maximum temperature of 26-27°C. The light in September is different from July — lower in the sky, warmer in tone, making the granite and limestone of both islands glow in the late afternoon. Mistral frequency drops compared to August. The only downside is that some smaller restaurants and beach facilities close after the first week of September.
July and August present the classic Mediterranean high season trade-off: peak prices, crowded anchorages, and the highest likelihood of both Mistral disruption and intense afternoon thermal winds. The circuit is still entirely doable. You need to book popular marinas like Bonifacio and Porto Cervo a month ahead, leave at dawn to beat afternoon wind build, and accept that you will share your anchorages with 20-30 other yachts instead of 5-10. For families with school-age children, July-August is the only option. Just adjust your expectations and book early.
May is worth considering for experienced crews who are not prioritising swimming. Sea temperatures are still 18-20°C, which is manageable with a wetsuit but not for extended swimming. The sailing conditions are excellent — reliable breeze, low Mistral probability, and virtually empty marinas. A May circuit of Corsica and Sardinia gives you both islands at their least developed, most local, and most affordable.
The Mistral can establish in the Strait of Bonifacio with as little as 6 hours warning, accelerating from flat calm to 35+ knots as the pressure gradient develops over the Gulf of Lion. Listen to Météo France VHF on channel 79 every morning before 0700. The weather bulletin covers the Strait of Bonifacio specifically, named as Bouches de Bonifacio, and gives forecast wind strength for the crossing. If the bulletin mentions Mistral etabli (established Mistral) or vent fort (strong wind) for Bouches de Bonifacio, wait. The crossing will be there tomorrow or the day after. A marina delay of 24-48 hours in Bonifacio, with its old town, excellent restaurants, and remarkable cliffs, is not a hardship.
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