Sardinia, my natural recharge. A short but intense trip, with windsurfing sessions at Cala Pischina and Funtana Meiga, surfing at S'Archittu, and a healthy immersion in the magical atmosphere of this wonderful island.

 

Windsurfing, report: Sardinia, October 2025: my natural recharge....

 

To describe these trips to Sardinia, I've already exhausted almost every possible adjective in previous reports. It's therefore not easy to find others. In short, let's just say this one was improvised, but it was nonetheless very beneficial for my state of mind.

On Saturday morning, October 25th, I decided to embark in the evening after a final check of the forecast. Here's my report...

I arrive in Olbia and it's already 20 degrees Celsius at 8:00 in the morning. It takes me a while to leave behind the problems and fatigue of these last two months, filled almost entirely with various commitments.

But then, driving along the roads that lead me to Cala Pischina (read spot review), my mind relaxes and I become in tune with the island.

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, we ride at Pischina. It is not the best Pischina, but I have fun, especially the first hour. The west wind is a bit side-on, unstable, at 4.2, and it's getting stronger as the hours go by. The wind direction, and the fact that it's the first day it's been blowing, make the sea a bit chaotic, with waves that are close together and sometimes overlap. I rig a 2019 Ezzy Elite 4.2, saved especially for Pischina... and the JP Magic Wave Pro 89 set up as a quad with two K4 Leons in the middle. I want to test the board further in significant wave conditions.

There's a rider in the water with a North Sail, who I'll later discover is an old acquaintance: Michael from Bozen. But there's also Marco, also from Bozen, equipped with Simmer gear, and a regular at Fuerte (see first photo above).

I calmly rig up and enter the water as second rider, around 10:30.

Pischina is "easy" today, although it still requires a bit of caution. I catch a few good waves, although I struggle to get out fast of the bottom. I'll later realize that with this wind direction, it's pointless to sheet in and lay the sail. You have to bear away, opening it, to let it push, and go out to the lip, almost clew first. Seeing me doing something, the others start to enter the water too. There are several Germans, Swiss, and Austrians, and a few French with vans and campers, as is typical here in the off-season.

In a few wipe-outs, I feel the bottom of the reef in front of the promontory with my feet, but by now I'm starting to get familiar with the spot, I don't panic, and I know how to get out of the potentially tricky situation. I take a break to eat something and rest a bit, and then head back for another hour. Gradually, I find myself increasingly overpowered, the board feeling harder and harder underfoot, and I get out of the water when I realize the effort outweighs the fun.

I should change gear, but I prefer to save it for tomorrow, which promises to be a great day. I take a hot shower inside the van (a system I invented...), eat a sandwich, and put away my gear.
As I'm about to leave, I notice a rider in the water doing wave 360s, making everything look easy. It's Jacopo Testa (an italian Pro rider), and I stop to take some photos and videos.

Then, I set off for the Sinis and cross the interior of Sardinia, which brings me rain and 9°C (49°F). Here too, it's late October.

I set up camp for the night at Funtana Meiga, heat up a hearty soup, and enjoy the vanlife...

 

 

 

On Monday, Funtana gives us a really great day. Conditions aren't perfect, but they are a lot of fun.

When we wake up, the sea is formed with bars along the entire coast. From land, it looks small, but from the water, it isn't at all...

The wind is light. The Omanis arrives... Luigi and Giangi, old acquaintances since Oman 2019.

Luis enters first as usual with the 4.2, and he does well. He enjoys the spot all to himself for a while, before it gets crowded. It's incredible how Funtana gets sold-out even on weekdays, almost every time of year. But Funtana offers plenty of space and waves for everyone.

I enter with the Ezzy wave 4.7 2025, and the JP 89 set up as a thruster with standard fins.

It takes me a moment to get the hang of it, but then I start having a lot of fun, as always happens here. Smooth waves of about two meters to surf, and a side wind, a bit unstable, but increasing. Finally, there's no need to exit the bottom in switch stance... I catch some wonderful waves, but I also have to watch out for some crossings with other riders. Right of way is important in waveriding!

I leave the water after two hours, when I start to feel overpowered and, consequently, starting to get tired. How nice to know the spot will have wind all day... Meanwhile, Alessio arrives from Stintino... and enters the water at 4.2, around noon.

The best is yet to come...

 

 

After a break of about an hour and a half, I return to the water around 2:00 PM with the Ezzy Elite 4.2, but since the wind has significantly increased, I switch boards and go straight to my old and trusty Tabou Da Curve 80 2016, which I've had so many battles with... (South Africa, Oman, Morocco...). The board feels good underfoot and handles the water and wind well, but the sail is unmanageable because the wind has become really strong. I head out after a few minutes and go get the Ezzy Elite 3.7.

And Funtana treats us to a memorable sunset! The wind gets a bit lower, and the waves, while still high (sometimes around 3 meters), become cleaner. Funtana becomes the usual playground. On a bigger wave, I get greedy and look for the vertical lip, but it punishes me, and I end up with a wipe-out that tears my gear. I stay underwater for a few seconds, and when I resurface, I see my equipment about thirty meters away. A Sardinian boy, standing in the water, is kindly holding the top of my sail, preventing the breaking waves from carrying it even further away. What a nice gesture! I set off again, and then I'll return the favor... by being downwind on the same wave he's riding.... I try to get out of the way, but I knock him over. I apologize to him. I didn't see him when we caught the wave.

I catch countless more waves, and with a flurry of bottoms and cutbacks, I end up well downwind of the spot, like many others. We recover by patiently sailing upwind, aided by the strong wind. I start thinking about returning, but the problem with Funtana is that on the way back, you catch more waves, which are hard to leave unridden, and so it's off to another round of surfing. At 4:30 PM (after almost 4 hours of waveriding), I force myself to head back before the fatigue becomes dangerous. I ride a wave at a speed worthy of Matteo Iachino, and I get out from the water happy. A pornographic end to the day in Funtana..... An evening at a pizzeria with the others, and then we head to Mandriola for the night, in the van, hoping for a Capo (Mannu) session the next day.

But Capo Mannu, on Tuesday the 28th, will offer conditions exploitable only by wingfoilers. Minicapo doesn't convince me for surfing, so I return to S'Archittu, which I discovered in November 2024 and really liked. S'Archittu offers fun conditions for surfing, although not as good as the previous time (November 2024). There's still some residual wind chopping the sea, and the waves have a short period.

 

 

Anyway, I actually have little energy left after two intense days of windsurfing. So, I only spend a little less than an hour in the water, catch a couple of waves, and head back to shore to spend the rest of the day resting and relaxing. It's hot, so I can stay in a T-shirt and shorts. I go for the beautiful walk to the natural arch in the cliff that gives the place its name, and I even find a moment to pick up a Tabou Da Curve 88 2025 from Matteo Spanu... which I'm thinking of taking to Chile...

Marco from Bozen, then, on the ferry that evening, tells me that Pischina has delivered a great day, with smooth, good-sized waves on residual swell, and a strong wind until midday (and then floating conditions). I had guessed it, but I would have had to drive another three hours on Monday evening after the session in Funtana. Sardinia is too big, and some opportunities just have to be missed.

But I have no regrets. Sardinia, once again, revitalized me, and not just thanks to windsurfing..., but also thanks to its tranquility, its landscapes, and its people.

I'll stop here, even though I'd have so much more to tell you.

Bye, Fabio

Click here, for the slidegallery of Cala Pischina

Click here, for the slide gallery of Funtana Meiga 

Click here, for the slide gallery of S'Archittu

 

Videos of the sessions, below