The Best Beach Clubs in Sardinia
Phi Beach is the clubbiest beach club in Sardinia and it isn't close. It sits inside a Genoese fort on a headland at Baja Sardinia, the sunset is the main event, and people arrive at six and stay until two. Nikki Beach at Cala Petra Ruja is the expensive one and behaves exactly as you'd expect. But the thing worth knowing before you plan a trip around this is that Sardinia is not really a beach club island. The scene is concentrated in about twenty miles of the Costa Smeralda and on Poetto in Cagliari, and most of the island's best beaches are wild, capped, protected, or reachable only by boat.
Sardinia has the best beaches in the Mediterranean and one of the smallest beach club scenes of anywhere with that claim. That’s because most of the island's coastline is protected. La Pelosa at Stintino caps daily numbers and charges for entry. Cala Goloritzé and Cala Mariolu on the Golfo di Orosei have visitor limits and are boat-access only. Whole stretches of the west and the Sinis peninsula have nothing built on them at all, and the sand at Is Arutas is quartz that you're forbidden from taking home. Many of the best options are associated with hotels, and you can find our full list of best hotels in Sardinia here.
So the beach club culture that runs the length of Puglia or blankets Mykonos exists here in two places: about twenty miles of the Costa Smeralda in the north-east, and Poetto, the eight-kilometre city beach at Cagliari. Everywhere else you bring your own umbrella or you take a boat.
Phi Beach — Baja Sardinia
Phi Beach occupies Forte Cappellini, a Genoese fort on a rocky headland west of Porto Cervo, with terraces cut into the granite and the sea on three sides.
It works as a beach club in the afternoon and becomes something else entirely at sunset, when the DJ starts and the whole place turns to face west. People arrive at six for aperitivo, stay for dinner on the rocks, and are still there at two in the morning.
The setting does most of the work and it is genuinely spectacular. Nowhere else in Sardinia has anything like the position.
The honest caveat: the actual beach is small and rocky, so this is not where you spend a full day on the sand. Come in the late afternoon. Prices climb steeply through the evening and the sunset tables need booking well ahead in August, when the crowd tips heavily toward Porto Cervo yacht season.
Best for: Sunset, aperitivo, one big evening in the Costa Smeralda.
Nikki Beach Sardinia — Cala Petra Ruja
The international one, on a genuinely beautiful cove south of Porto Cervo, doing the same thing Nikki Beach does everywhere: white beds, champagne service, a DJ, and a crowd that came to be seen. The beach itself is excellent, which is not always true of this brand. Cala Petra Ruja is a real cove with clear water and proper sand.
The honest caveat: it is expensive in a way that catches people off guard, with bed minimums running into the hundreds and food priced accordingly. It's also not remotely Sardinian. You could be at any Nikki Beach in the world, which for some people is the appeal and for others is the reason to go elsewhere.
Best for: Groups, a party day, anyone who already knows they like this format.
Cala di Volpe Beach Club — Costa Smeralda
The hotel's private beach club, reached by shuttle boat across the bay from the main property, and the most polished beach service on the island.
It is quiet, immaculate, and about as far from the Phi Beach energy as you can get while staying in the same twenty miles. Lunch is very good.
The honest caveat: it's primarily for hotel guests, and access for non-guests is limited and expensive when available at all. This is worth knowing as a reason to book the hotel rather than as a day out you can plan. The hotel is also excellent and takes a spot on our list of best hotels in Sardinia.
Best for: Guests of Cala di Volpe, anyone who wants the beach without the scene.
Verde Beach Club
Located 10 minutes from Porto Cervo thsi has calm water, sunbeds, a decent kitchen, and a crowd that skews Italian and family rather than international and glossy. The bay is protected, so it's one of the better spots on this coast when the mistral is blowing.
Best for: Families, food and design-lovers.
La Cinta beach clubs — San Teodoro
Forty-five minutes south of Olbia, La Cinta is a five-kilometre stretch of white sand with a lagoon behind it, and a row of concessions along it that are the most straightforward beach clubs on the island. Sunbeds, umbrellas, a bar, and a kitesurfing scene at the southern end where the wind funnels. Nothing fancy, all of it good.
The honest caveat: San Teodoro in August is one of the busiest places in Sardinia, packed with Italian domestic holidaymakers, and the town itself is unremarkable. Come in June or September.
Best for: Value, families, a proper long sandy beach rather than a cove.
La Palmette— Cagliari
The other beach club culture on the island and the one almost no visitor sees, because it's in the south and most people fly into Olbia.
Poetto is eight kilometres of city beach running from Cagliari out to the Devil's Saddle promontory, lined with lidos and bar-restaurants that fill with locals from May through October. Flamingos in the salt lagoon behind it. Sunbeds are a fraction of Costa Smeralda prices.
The honest caveat: it's a city beach, so the water is good rather than extraordinary and the backdrop is Cagliari rather than granite coves. If you've come for the postcard, this isn't it.
Best for: Anyone basing in Cagliari, value, seeing how Sardinians actually spend a summer evening.
Chia Laguna beach clubs — Chia
The south-west coast, an hour from Cagliari, with dunes, a lagoon with flamingos in it, and a handful of resort-run beach clubs along Su Giudeu and Campana.
The beaches here rival anything in the north and the crowds are a fraction of the Costa Smeralda's. It's also the windsurfing coast, which means some days are blustery.
Best for: Combining beach club comfort with beaches that don't feel developed.
When there isn't a beach club, which is most of the time
The beaches Sardinia is famous for don't have clubs, and several don't have anything at all. This is the part worth planning around.
La Pelosa at Stintino, in the north-west, is the most photographed beach on the island. Daily numbers are capped, you book and pay in advance, and you must bring a mat to lay under your towel to stop sand loss. No club, no service, and worth every bit of the administration.
The Golfo di Orosei on the east coast holds Cala Goloritzé, Cala Mariolu, and Cala Luna, which are among the most beautiful beaches in Europe and are boat-access only. Goloritzé and Mariolu both cap visitors. You charter from Cala Gonone or Santa Maria Navarrese for the day.
La Maddalena archipelago off the north coast is the other boat day, and the better one if you're based in the Gallura. Seven main islands, water that doesn't look real, and Spiaggia Rosa on Budelli, which is pink and which you can look at but not walk on.
If you're only doing one thing in Sardinia that isn't a beach club, make it a boat day. Charters run from around €150 per person for a group trip up to several thousand for a private skippered day, and it's the single best way to see the island.
Where to stay for this
The Costa Smeralda beach clubs are all within twenty minutes of Porto Cervo, so anywhere in the Gallura works. For the Chia and Poetto side you want a southern base near Cagliari.
Our full picks are in our guide to the best hotels in Sardinia.
If you're weighing Sardinia against elsewhere in Italy, our guides to the best hotels in Puglia and the best hotels on the Amalfi Coast cover the mainland alternatives, both of which have more beach club culture and less spectacular water.
WHEN TO GO AND WHAT IT COSTS
The season runs May through early October, and most of the Costa Smeralda beach clubs open around June and close in September.
June and September are the two best months. Warm water, everything open, and a fraction of the August crowd. September in particular is the local's answer, with the sea at its warmest.
July is busy and expensive. August is the Italian holiday peak and Sardinia is close to capacity, with Porto Cervo turning into a yacht scene and prices at their annual high. Ferragosto in the middle of the month is the worst of it.
May and early October work for beaches but the sea is cool and several clubs aren't open yet or have closed.
One thing that will shape your days more than the calendar: the mistral. It blows from the north-west and it can turn a beach day into a sandblasting. The east coast and the sheltered bays around Cannigione and the Golfo di Arzachena are the fallback when it's up, which is worth knowing before you drive an hour to an exposed beach.
Prices: sunbeds run €50 to €100 at Phi Beach, well into the hundreds for a bed with minimum spend at Nikki Beach, €25 to €50 at San Teodoro and Cannigione, and €15 to €30 on Poetto. Compared with Puglia or Mykonos, the middle of the market here is good value and the top is not.
Rent a car. Sardinia is the third largest island in the Mediterranean and there is no version of this trip without one.
FAQ
What is the best beach club in Sardinia? Phi Beach at Baja Sardinia, in a Genoese fort on a headland, and it's the sunset that makes it. Nikki Beach at Cala Petra Ruja is the expensive alternative.
Does Sardinia have a lot of beach clubs? Fewer than you'd expect. The scene is concentrated in the Costa Smeralda and on Poetto in Cagliari. Most of the island's best beaches are protected, capped, or boat-access only, with nothing built on them.
How much do Sardinia beach clubs cost? €50 to €100 for a sunbed at Phi Beach, considerably more at Nikki Beach, and €15 to €50 at San Teodoro, Cannigione, and Poetto. The mid-market is better value than Puglia or Mykonos.
Where are the best beaches in Sardinia? La Pelosa at Stintino in the north-west, and Cala Goloritzé, Cala Mariolu, and Cala Luna on the Golfo di Orosei, which are boat-access only. Several cap daily visitors and need booking ahead.
Do you need to book beaches in Sardinia? Some, yes. La Pelosa, Cala Goloritzé, and Cala Mariolu all cap numbers and require advance booking and a fee. Check before you drive.
When is the best time to visit Sardinia? June and September. July is busy, August is the Italian holiday peak and the most expensive week of the year is Ferragosto.
What is the mistral and does it matter? A north-westerly wind that can make exposed beaches unpleasant. The east coast and the sheltered bays around Cannigione are the fallback. It's worth checking before committing to a beach an hour away.
Do you need a car in Sardinia? Yes. It's the third largest island in the Mediterranean and the distances are real.