San Pietro Island: Carloforte and the Ligurian Soul of Sardinia

Carloforte, Liguria transplanted to Sardinia

Off the south-western coast of Sardinia, San Pietro island is a place where geography and history conspire to confuse the senses. Here they speak Tabarchino, a Ligurian dialect; the houses are coloured like those in Camogli; pesto is made as in Genoa; and bluefin tuna is caught with the mattanza, a millennia-old tradition that survives into the third millennium. And yet we are in Sardinia, in the Sulcis-Iglesiente, an hour's ferry ride from Calasetta.

The only inhabited centre is Carloforte, founded in 1738 by a community of Ligurian fishermen from the Tunisian island of Tabarca. This double migration — from Genoa to Tabarca, from Tabarca to Sardinia — created a hybrid and fascinating culture that has survived intact for almost three centuries.

Getting there

From Calasetta (on the island of Sant'Antioco, connected to Sardinia by a bridge) Delcomar ferries depart every 30–60 minutes. The crossing takes approximately 30 minutes. From Portovesme the ferries are less frequent (approximately 40 minutes). Cars can be taken on board, but the island is small and the summer roads are narrow: a bicycle or hired scooter is a better choice.

Carloforte: the borgo

Carloforte is a borgo of around six thousand inhabitants that unfolds around the seafront and the caruggi — the narrow Ligurian-style alleys — of the historic centre. The façades are painted in the pastel colours typical of the Riviera, with wrought-iron balconies and green shutters. The main piazza, overlooking the harbour, is the heart of social life.

Accommodation is varied: hotels, B&Bs, farm stays and holiday homes. In summer, especially during the Girotonno (the bluefin tuna festival, late May to early June), booking well in advance is essential.

Bluefin tuna and Tabarchino cuisine

The mattanza bluefin tuna hunt is Carloforte's defining ritual. The tonnara at Capo Altano is one of the last still active in the Mediterranean. The Girotonno celebrates this tradition every year with tastings, cooking competitions and the extraordinary opening of the tonnara.

Dishes to try:

• Tuna in all its forms — raw, alla carlofortina, lattume (the sperm sac, a local delicacy), bottarga
• Cascà — Tabarchino couscous with vegetables and pulses, a Tunisian inheritance
• Carloforte focaccia — the local variation of Genoese focaccia
• Carlofortino pesto — made with local basil, more intense than the Genoese version

The beaches and the cliffs

The island has two faces: the eastern coast, gentle and accessible, with the most comfortable beaches; the western coast, wild, with cliffs up to 100 metres high and coves reachable only on foot or by boat.

• La Bobba — the most famous beach, with its sea stacks and emerald-green water. Accessible by car, with some facilities.
• Girin — a small bay close to the village, ideal for families.
• Cala Fico — a narrow inlet between the cliffs, reachable with a short walk. Crystal-clear water, few bathers.
• Capo Sandalo — the westernmost point of the island, with a lighthouse and vertiginous panoramas over the sea cliffs. Not a beach: a viewpoint that is worth the journey in itself.

Eleonora's falcon and the natural world

The western cliffs of San Pietro host one of the most important colonies of Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae) in the Mediterranean. These migratory raptors nest on the rock faces between July and October before departing for Madagascar. Observation is possible from the coastal path at Capo Sandalo with a good pair of binoculars.

The interior is covered in low Mediterranean scrub: mastic, myrtle, cistus. In spring asphodel blooms and the landscape fills with yellow and white.

When to go

The best months are May, June, September and October. May is the time of the Girotonno: the island is lively but not overcrowded. September offers the warmest sea and days that are still long. July and August are busier and more expensive, but the island remains manageable.

Practical tips

• Hire a bike or scooter to explore the island freely
• Book a boat trip along the western coast for the coves inaccessible from land
• Bring closed shoes for the coastal paths (rocky terrain)
• Taste tuna in all its variations, including the more unusual ones
• Visit the Museum of the Sea to understand the history of the mattanza

Carloforte in the evening

In the evening, Carloforte's seafront comes alive with the passeggiata — the nightly ritual shared by all Italian fishing communities. Families come out after dinner, children run between the tables of the outdoor bars, the elderly exchange the day's news in Tabarchino. The harbour restaurants light up the moored boats and the air carries the scent of grilled tuna and fresh basil.

The charm of Carloforte lies in this layering of worlds: Ligurian architecture framed in Sardinian light, the Genoese dialect mixed with the Arabic words of the cascà, the African sea before a borgo that could sit on the Riviera di Levante. It is a place where identity is not a tourist concept but a daily reality, lived with ease by those born here, who carry three centuries of dual belonging within them.

San Pietro is an island that defies all classification: it is neither Sardinia nor Liguria, but a place unto itself, born from the improbable encounter of two maritime cultures. For those in search of an authentic and culinarily irresistible Mediterranean, Carloforte is a discovery that leaves its mark.