Sardinia is never banal. This time I left for a trip planned long time before, and not on short time forecast. And yet, it was a trip full of emotions and intense days.

Windsurfing, report: Sardinia, March 2025

And it was also the first time I traveled with my newly camperized van. So, this report will also be full of reflections on this new adventure of mine.

Arrived at Golfo Aranci (in the North) on the morning of the 19th, after a brief meeting with Adriano, heading to Porto Pollo, I started driving, crossing the whole island, to reach Chia, in South. 
In fact, there was the opportunity to try this spot with east wind for several days in a row.

Arriving at the spot in the early afternoon, I chose to park along the dirt road that leads to the beach of Sa Campana. Several kiters in the water, but also some fellow windsurfers, some foreigners (even in this period several Germans reach the island in camper/van, to enjoy its wild charm), and some Italians (some locals, and three nice - and skilled - Romans).
From the beach, the conditions seemed almost banal, with side-on wind, foamy waves, not too high.
And instead...
To judge the conditions of a spot, you have to get into the water. I rigged the Guru X 4.7 (which I continue to enjoy...) and set the JP Magic Wave Pro 89, as a quad with K4 Leon in the center, and I got into the sea around 2:00 pm.
Wednesday's session was really fun. East wind, side close to the shore, and side-on offshore, nice and strong to fill the 4.7, apart from a few lulls, now and then, near the shore. And good waves of a couple of meters, surfable, quite far from each other, with some bombs in the center of the bay, and other steeper ones, in front of the reef at the eastern end of the bay.

I had a lot of fun: I got familiar with the spot, and I started to dare and try a few different solutions in surfing. It's really nice when the conditions allow it. Worth mentioning, a semi-backloop I almost closed.

I got out of the water around 4:30 pm and went back to the van.
I was shocked by the cold at the parking! The overcast sky and the wind, still strong at that hour, made the temperature uncomfortable (while in the water, all in all, with the 5/4, it was fine, even if I also put on my surf boots).
I put a towel on the seat of the van and got in with my wetsuit on, to go and look for a place a little more sheltered from the wind, where I could undress and take a shower. Hot shower…. I took advantage, for the first time, of some of my brilliant ideas to take a hot shower inside the van…. (first of all, the electric boiler). On an occasion like that, the solutions I studied proved to be fundamental! I then moved to the near parking lot of Su Giudeu beach, to cook myself some pasta with tomato sauce, inside the van, and spend the first night in my van: what better baptism?

The next day, Chia promised ESE wind, less intense than the day before, and rougher sea. I returned to the access road to Sa Camapana, in the central hours, and after an exchange of opinions with the guys from Rome, I rigged the Banzai 5.3, and set the JP Magic Wave with the standard fins (so as a thruster).

It was a very physical session, with decidedly more tricky conditions.
The 5.3, both near and off the shore, was often at its limit, making it difficult to get out to sea, with close-packed breakers, sometimes even bad ones (almost 2 meters). But riding in the open sea was also tiring, often floating, and with really huge seas, with waves of 3-4 meters, sometimes breaking even offshore. The conditions were rather treacherous, also because, on the way out, the weak and side-on wind, induced us to head towards the center of the bay, and not far upwind of the Su Giudeu rock. And on the way back, the huge and breaking waves pushed right towards it, and we had to resist not going down them to facilitate planing, so as not to end up too close to the rock. After I rode a good wave, in which, obviously, I lost water, and ended up in the middle of the bay, and going out to sea again from there, required a lot of experience, and also created some apprehension.
Thursday I did not remain in the sea too much. Not feeling too comfortable, I did not insist too much, and after two sessions, I returned to the van. I started taking photos: I have to compliment the two Roman riders with the Hot Sails Maui (see images in the gallery at the end of the article), who went to surf the steep and high waves right in front of the reef.

I also tried to go back to sea in the afternoon, but I was spat out, and I decided not to insist.
Thursday, I met Luigi (old acquaintance from Oman), and went to his apartment in Pula for dinner, entertaining us with windsurfers' (and surfers') chatter.

On Friday in Chia the wind was expected to be less strong than the previous days (and the sea, however, still rough). It fooled us in the morning, showing conditions at least similar to those of Thursday. But then, in mid-morning the wind dropped a bit. Not wanting to do another physical session, I decided to try to go and see Porto Pino and Porto Botte spots, if only to understand the conditions offered by these two spots with wind from the East. Arome gave a much stronger wind there.

To reach Porto Pino, I took the coastal road that from Chia heads towards the West (SP71), which is panoramically amazing.

Porto Pino in the morning showed really strong wind, side/side-on. Porto Botte side wind of similar intensity, but I didn't like the context of the spot at all (a dirt road close to the shore, almost without beach). I returned to Porto Pino, and, since it was now lunchtime, I went to look for a sheltered location with a sea view, to stop with the van to eat. And here another magic happened: thanks to the sun that finally illuminated the Sardinian coast there, I enjoyed a sunny break, tasting a tuna, tomato and onion salad, accompanied by a nice Karmis – Contini (fantastic wine).

After lunch, I went to see Porto Pino again, with the possibility of also returning to Chia (50 minutes by car between the two spots). But a German guy I met in Chia, came from there, and confirmed to me that Chia was not working. We rigged the 4.2, and entered the water (with another foreign guy). For the occasion, I used the Tabou 3S 96 with standard fins (thruster).

The first 30-40 minutes were also fun, with a fairly steady wind. Then, the wind started to drop and become unstable, and, together with the rather choppy sea, made the session less pleasant.
I decided to leave the water around 4:00 pm, to calmly head towards Villasimius and reach it by evening, wanting to see again those places where I had been on holiday with my family in 2010, and also to enjoy some surfing sessions, taking advantage of the residual swell from the East, in the next days.

After a quiet Saturday morning, spent shopping and stocking up on water, in the early afternoon I went to Porto Giunco ​​beach, parking in the pleasant parking lot behind it, in the company of other vanlife lovers, and some surfers. And another magic happened. The spot, on Saturday afternoon, as predicted by surf-forecast, had excellent conditions for surfing: fairly tidy waves of 1.5-2 meters, a beach break on a sandy bottom, truly exciting. I watched the other surfers present, who entered the sea from the south side of the bay, close to the rocks, under the Porto Giunco ​​tower, to take advantage of a rip curl to exit, and I did the same (in fact, halfway through the session, I took advantage of it too much, and ended up 50 meters further out from the waves peak). Thanks to the fresh energy, I immediately caught a good wave and got excited. I caught other waves, but as time passed, fatigue emerged, it was the waves that started to catch me…. Surfing is a wonderful sport, but it is physical… (even if technique, as always, helps you get less tired…).

After a little less than an hour I came out of the water satisfied and happy (by now, I prefer not to exagerate ...). In Villasimius, finally, I found weather conditions truly worthy of the South of Sardinia, and I was able to take a hot shower, outdoors, in my swimsuit.

On Sunday, Porto Giunco ​​offered an encore, in the morning, with spectacular waves, very smooth and spaced, 1-1.5 meters, even if a little more difficult to catch for me, because they were less high and steep. But not for the local surfers, who had a great time (mostly with comfortable longboards).
After a pleasant lunch break sitting at the table near the van, in the sun (what a pleasure), in the afternoon I went for a nice trek from Porto Giunco ​​to Capo Carbonara (see link to the slide gallery at the end of the article), which turned out to be more fascinating than expected, even if with some problems with missing signs (but in Sardinia it's a classic ...). It was worth it, even if the day was really full, and a little tiring.

On Monday 24th, I ended my short trip, first by enjoying the spectacular beach of Punta Molentis, a sheltered bay with turquoise waters, surrounded by granite boulders, another cult place of my 2010 holiday, even more beautiful out of season, because not invaded by the summer crowds; and then I began the return journey to take the ferry in the evening at Golfo Aranci. I traveled the legendary eastern Sardinian road (SS125), arriving at the Genna Silana pass, at 1000 meters above sea level, where it was only 6 degrees and with rain! In Villasimius, I had left 21, with a beautiful warm sun!

In short, Sardinia really has many faces, but I have now understood that I love almost all of them.

Hang loose!

Click here for Chia's slide gallery of 19

Click here for Chia's slide gallery of 20

Click here for the slide gallery of the Surf sessions in Villasimius on the 22nd and 23rd

Click here for the slide gallery of the excursion to Capo Carbonara