Guide · The island

Tavolara: a mountain standing in the sea

Tavolara Island rises straight out of the water off north-east Sardinia, a block of pale rock that you see from almost every beach between Olbia and San Teodoro. Here is what it is, how to reach it and what you may do there.

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Editorial team, tavolaraboattour.comUpdated October 20, 20266-minute read51 sources

The tour for this guide Tavolara boat tour with snorkeling 4.9 (1,145 reviews) 4 hoursFrom the MOYS marina, OlbiaSnorkel gear included from$87per person Check availabilityFree to cancel until 24 hrs before your boat

Quick answer

01What it is: A limestone and granite mountain rising from the sea, 560 m high and 4 km long.¹
02Where: Off north-east Sardinia, in Olbia's territory, with Porto San Paolo facing it on the mainland.²
03Getting there: Ferries run daily from Porto San Paolo; some private boats leave Olbia and Golfo Aranci.³ ⁴
04Where you land: Spalmatore di Terra, with a little port, places to eat and a few houses.⁵
05Off limits: A military area at Punta Timone, where the NATO base was built in 1961.⁶ ⁷

Where is Tavolara, and what kind of island is it?

Tavolara sits off the north-east coast of Sardinia and belongs to Olbia's municipal territory together with its smaller neighbours Molara and Molarotto.⁸ On the mainland directly opposite lies the village of Porto San Paolo, from which most boats cross.² Seen from the coast it looks like a table set on the sea, flat on top and sheer at the sides.

Italians call it Isola di Tavolara, and the regional tourism board describes it as a limestone and granite mountain 560 metres high and four kilometres long.¹ Olbia's own tourism portal gives the same height and picks it out as the landmark of the protected sea around it.⁹ The protected area's managers set its pale, vertical limestone against the rounded granite of Molara, Molarotto, Piana and the Isola dei Cavalli.¹⁰

All of these islands lie inside the Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area, about 15,000 hectares of sea and roughly 40 km of coast.¹¹ That status shapes your visit more than anything else: where boats may go, where you may swim and anchor, and what you may take home, which is nothing at all.

History in brief

From a sandbar island to a protected area

8,000 years ago

Cut off by the sea

Tavolara became an island, probably still joined to Isola Piana.¹²
7,000 years ago

First people

Neolithic seafarers traded Sardinian obsidian along this coast.¹³
1600s

The Bertoleoni arrive

A family of shepherds settles, by the protected area's account.¹⁴
Until 1955

Lime kilns

Kilns burned the island's limestone; their ruins are still visible.¹⁵
1961

NATO base

Built at Punta Timone; the last residents leave.⁶
1997

Protected area

The Marine Protected Area is established by decree.¹⁶

Limestone, granite and a sandbar

The island's two rocks tell its story. The limestone was laid down in the Jurassic, and water has been dissolving it ever since, opening caves and fissures; the large arch near the old lighthouse is what remains of an ancient cave.¹⁷ The granite is older, about 300 million years, and on Tavolara it appears only at the Spalmatore di Terra and in a few outcrops along the coast.¹⁸

Tavolara has not always been an island. Fossil beaches and other deposits show that it became one only 8,000 years ago, and a sandy strip called the Passetto still joins the last part of the Spalmatore di Terra to the main mass.¹² The first people reached this coast in the Neolithic, about 7,000 years ago, when it lay on the sea route of the Sardinian obsidian trade.¹³

You notice the geology from a boat even if you never read about it. The limestone walls drop almost straight into deep blue water, while the granite coves of Molara and the mainland shelve gently into turquoise shallows. Boat tours here mix the two: cliffs for the view, granite pools for the swim.

Three islands

Tavolara, Molara and Molarotto compared

	Tavolara	Molara	Molarotto
Main rock	Limestone and granite	Granite	Granite
Size	560 m high, 4 km long	Second largest	A small rock
People	A few houses	Uninhabited	Integral reserve
Landing	Spalmatore di Terra	Boats anchor off the pools	No landing
Wildlife	Shearwater colonies	Wild cows and goats	Its own lizard

From the protected area, SardegnaTurismo and the MPA services map.¹ ¹⁹ ²⁰ ²¹ ²² ²³

Decision helper

How do you want to meet the island?

Choose what matters most on your day

I want to walk on the island I want to swim around it I want to reach the summit I am staying in Olbia I just want the view

The ferry

Daily crossings from Porto San Paolo land you at the Spalmatore.³

A boat tour

This site's tour swims off Tavolara and at Punta Spalmatore.

The guided trek

A via ferrata of about 45 minutes leads to Punta Cannone; check it runs under the 2025 climbing ban.²⁴

A boat from the marina

Tours leave the MOYS marina in Olbia.

A beach facing it

La Cinta and Brandinchi look straight out at the island.²⁵ ²⁶

Tavolara is a limestone and granite mountain that rises up from the sea, 560 metres high and four kilometres long

SardegnaTurismo (Regione Sardegna)Source 1

Spalmatore di Terra: the place you land

Boats land at the Spalmatore di Terra, which has a little harbor, places to eat and a small group of houses.⁵ Its sand faces the Sardinian coast, and a smaller docking area on the far side, at Cala Levante, serves the lighthouse and the NATO radio station.²⁷

In summer the protected area runs an information point here, where visitors find advice on how to behave inside the reserve.²⁸ Its services map also marks two nature trails at the landing, the paths of the Prolago and the Mandria.²⁹ Carry your rubbish home: one boat operator reminds guests that there is no waste collection service on the island.

Walking is limited to part of the island. A historian of Tavolara writes that visitors move freely on the land owned by the Bertoleoni descendants, while other owners and the Italian state restrict access to theirs.³⁰ Stay on marked paths, carry water and expect little shade away from the beach. The landing area is the busy part of the island on a summer day, with boats coming and going and swimmers on the sand, so a walk along the trail is the easiest way to find a quieter corner and a view back towards the mainland.

Map

Tavolara, Molara and the coast from Olbia to San Teodoro

Where the boats leave from, the islands and their landing places, and the beaches that face them.

Map of the coast of north-east Sardinia from Olbia and Golfo Aranci to San Teodoro, with Tavolara and Molara offshore — Olbia to San Teodoro

Map of Tavolara, Molara, Molarotto and the small islands off Porto San Paolo — Tavolara and Molara

Map of the beaches between Capo Ceraso and La Cinta, facing Tavolara and Molara — The coast facing the islands

1
Olbia marina (MOYS)
This site's tour checks in here at Dock A, Berth A44, and several other boats to the islands leave from the same marina.
In Google Maps ↗
2
Golfo Aranci
A port 20 minutes from Olbia, facing Tavolara, where dolphin trips and some island boats start.³¹
In Google Maps ↗
3
Figarolo
A pyramid-shaped limestone islet off Cala Moresca, where the dolphin trips look for a pod of bottlenose dolphins.³²
In Google Maps ↗
4
Porto San Paolo
The village opposite the island: the ferry office is in Via Molara, and wooden boats leave from the floating docks.³³
In Google Maps ↗
5
Tavolara
A limestone and granite mountain rising from the sea, 560 m high and 4 km long, in Olbia's territory.¹ ²
In Google Maps ↗
6
Molara
The second largest island of the protected area, uninhabited, with its pools on the south-west side.¹⁹ ³⁴
In Google Maps ↗
7
San Teodoro
The harbor where the dinghy tours of the archipelago set off each morning.
In Google Maps ↗
8
Capo Ceraso
A headland passed on the way out from Olbia; a disused military road leads to its old fortifications.³⁵
In Google Maps ↗
9
Spalmatore di Terra
The landing place, with a little port, places to eat, a few houses and the protected area's info point.⁵ ²⁹
In Google Maps ↗
10
Punta Cannone
The summit, reached by a guided trek and a short via ferrata; climbing on the island has been restricted since 2025, so ask the operator first.
In Google Maps ↗
11
Punta Timone
Site of the NATO radio station built in 1961; the protected area's map marks a military area with no entry.⁶ ⁷
In Google Maps ↗
12
Piscine di Molara
Clear pools among granite rocks, with an anchoring zone for boats up to 30 m.³⁴ ²²
In Google Maps ↗
13
Molarotto
A small granite rock in the integral reserve, home to a lizard subspecies found nowhere else.²¹
In Google Maps ↗
14
Isola Piana
An island off Porto San Paolo with little beaches of fine greyish sand.³⁶
In Google Maps ↗
15
Isola dei Cavalli
A small island with a beach of fine, firm sand and shallow water.³⁷
In Google Maps ↗
16
Spiaggia del Dottore
The first swim stop of this site's tour and of several other boats.
In Google Maps ↗
17
Porto Istana
A bay of four beaches at the foot of Capo Ceraso, twenty minutes by car from Olbia.³⁸
In Google Maps ↗
18
Porto Taverna
Dunes with a pond behind them, where water birds can be seen.³⁹
In Google Maps ↗
19
Cala Girgolu
Known for the turtle-shaped rock called La Tartaruga.⁴⁰
In Google Maps ↗
20
Cala Brandinchi
Very light sand and turquoise water almost opposite the island; access is booked from 1 June to 30 September.²⁶ ⁴¹
In Google Maps ↗
21
Lu Impostu
One kilometre of white sand dunes with junipers, the twin of Brandinchi.⁴²
In Google Maps ↗
22
Capo Coda Cavallo
A strip of granite land sheltered by Tavolara, with Molara and the islet of Proratora in front.⁴³
In Google Maps ↗
23
La Cinta
San Teodoro's most famous beach, an arch of fine white sand facing the island.²⁵
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

On the island

Bring

Water: there is little shade away from the beach
A bag to carry your rubbish home
Sun hat and sunscreen

Remember

The military zone is closed to visitors
Climbing is banned, except guides on study trips
Stay on marked paths

Video

We Sailed to the Smallest Kingdom in the World: Tavolara Island (in Italy) 👑

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The summit, the cliffs and the climbing ban

Most of Tavolara is steep rock, and its top is not a casual walk. A guided trekking on Tavolara listed on GetYourGuide crosses by dinghy from Porto San Paolo, walks about 2 hours from the island's small port and then climbs a short via ferrata of about 45 minutes to Punta Cannone. The route is 7 km with 600 m of height difference and is graded for experienced hikers with equipment.

Ask the operator whether the via ferrata is running before you book, because climbing on the island is now restricted. In 2025 the Comune di Olbia adopted an ordinance that bans climbing on Tavolara except for qualified mountain guides with a sport-climbing specialisation, and only for study and science.²⁴ The town cited a survey that found high and very high landslide hazard on all of the island's slopes.⁴⁴

For most visitors the cliffs are best seen from the water. Boats run slowly under the walls, and from a deck you can follow the layers of rock and spot seabirds on the ledges. Half of the world's Yelkouan shearwaters breed in the caves of Tavolara and Molara, so the cliffs matter far beyond Sardinia.²³

Punta Timone and the military zone

The north-eastern tip of the island is closed to visitors.⁴⁵ In 1961 a NATO military base was built at Punta Timone, and the last residents had to leave Tavolara because of it.⁶ The Ministry of Defence still lists a Navy unit called the Stazione VLF NATO Tavolara.⁴⁶

The protected area's map marks a military area with no entry, under an ordinance of Olbia's Coast Guard from 1967.⁷ A Navy engineering report puts the station's facilities in the north-east of the island and states that tourists and bathers may not enter the zone or approach it by any means.⁴⁵ ⁴⁷

In practice this changes little for a boat day. Tour boats keep to the open coast, the landing and the swim spots, and skippers know where the line runs. If you hire a boat yourself, ask the rental company to show you the restricted water on a chart before you leave, and keep well clear of it. Keep drones and long camera lenses away from the installations, and save your photographs for the cliffs, the clear water below them and the people on your boat.

How to see Tavolara

The simplest crossing is from Porto San Paolo, where ferry services leave every day for Tavolara and the smaller islands.³ Some private boats also start from Olbia and Golfo Aranci.⁴ On a ferry you land at the Spalmatore and choose your own return; on a tour you see more of the coast but usually spend less time ashore.

This site's tour leaves the Olbia marina at 9:30 AM and is back at 1:30 PM. Its stops off Tavolara and at Punta Spalmatore are listed for swimming and snorkeling, not for a walk, and it adds Spiaggia del Dottore and a secret stop with an aperitif. If walking on the island matters most to you, the vintage half day from Porto San Paolo lists a stop where guests can go ashore.

In July the island hosts a film festival. Una notte in Italia was founded in 1991, and audiences reach the open-air screenings on boats from Porto San Paolo.⁴⁸ ⁴⁹ Outside festival nights the island is quiet after the last boat leaves, and the best light on the cliffs comes late in the afternoon.

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Snorkel off Tavolara this summer

Up to 10 guests, gear included, back in Olbia by 1:30 PM.

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You ask,we answer.

What is the height of Tavolara?

560 m. The regional tourism board gives 560 metres, and so does Olbia's tourism portal.¹ ⁹

Who owns Tavolara?

It is mixed. The Bertoleoni descendants, other private owners and the Italian state each hold parts, and access differs.³⁰

Does anyone live on Tavolara?

Sources differ. The protected area says the last residents left after the NATO base was built in 1961; the regional tourism board says the Bertoleoni descendants still live there.⁶ ⁵⁰

Can I climb the cliffs?

Not freely. A 2025 ordinance bans climbing except for qualified mountain guides, for study and science.²⁴

Is there food on the island?

At the landing. Spalmatore di Terra has places to eat beside the little port.⁵

Can I swim anywhere around it?

Not in zone A. Swimming is forbidden in zone A and allowed in zones B and C.⁵¹

Which town is it part of?

Olbia. Tavolara, Molara and Molarotto lie in Olbia's municipal territory.⁸

Sources