Olbia is the practical gateway to the Costa Smeralda, a working port city with an international airport that makes embarkation straightforward and a marina capable of receiving larger motor yachts that cannot be accommodated at Porto Cervo’s more selective berths. Charter guests arriving in Olbia have immediate access to the Gulf of Olbia’s calm anchorages before heading north toward the Costa Smeralda and La Maddalena, or south along the less-visited eastern Sardinian coast. Nineteen motor yachts operate in the Sardinia region, and Olbia is a common embarkation point for charters throughout the summer season.
The Gulf of Olbia itself offers a protected day-sailing ground, with islands like Tavolara, one of the Mediterranean’s most striking table-top rock formations, rising abruptly from the sea twenty minutes south by motor. Tavolara carries its own unusual history, having been classed as a private kingdom in the nineteenth century. Its northern coast offers anchoring in transparent water with the cliff face as a backdrop, and the protected marine area on its southwest corner is closed to anchoring but open for snorkelling from a tender.
Weekly charter rates for motor yachts departing Olbia range from approximately 30,000 to 250,000 euros, with the advance provisioning allowance adding thirty percent. Olbia’s position as an embarkation port rather than a resort destination keeps marina fees competitive relative to Porto Cervo. June and September are generally the most cost-effective months, with the coast north toward La Maddalena accessible without the July and August berthing pressure.
Crew familiar with the Olbia base often plan the first night’s anchor in the lee of Tavolara, clear of the ferry traffic in the main gulf.
