Lessons from Cala Nord
07 July 2010
Our first destination was Cala Nord, on the east side of Isola Budelli.
Isola Budelli is one of the three larger northern islands, the others being Razzoli and Santa Maria. The big bay between the other two, and the tiny passage where the three meet are all no-go areas. The latter is called Dead Man's passage, and with good reasons for the shallow water over treacherous, sharp rocks.
Cala Nord lies south east of this passage. It has mooring buoys, which implies anchoring is banned (except for local residents), but we did see boats at anchor. Some, but not all left at sundown. First of all we took a bouy very close to (but far enough from) some rocks at the eastern edge of the bay. We weren't sure that it wasn't a park buoy though and we moved to another one after the teatime rush had ended.
Mistake! Never take the buoy nearest the beach! (In this case the most northerly buoy in the cala.)
If you ever come here, know two things about this buoy. To reach it from the east, you must cross a plateau of rock that gets as shallow as 2.2m. It's the first time we've heard our depth alarm for a long time, and at least we know it still works! More importantly, it's club central at lunch time.
We went off to explore this wonderful area in Bridgit and had a fantastic snorkel in a tiny, empty cove. When we came back, a large tripper boat was sharing our bouy! At least he had lots of fenders out. And behind us were two chartered ribs, anchored very badly and unaccustomed to the fact that boats swing as the breeze shifts, putting them very close to us.
Ah, well! We had lunch and sought to be stoical about the loss of peace, whilst eyeing our first, uncrowded bouy nostalgically. Till all the other boats around us left, it was impossible to move Roaring Girl safely!
Having said all that, it's a magical spot once the hordes have left. At night there are no lights save the distant loom of the La Maddalena town, and the sparkles of lighthouses fringing the peripheral rocks. There are no howling birds, loud clubs or swell.
Note that once you have your permit, the Park-administered buoys are free. Wardens come round every day and check the validity (by date) of your paperwork. There are about 120 buoys in the archipelego, and if there is one available you should always use it.