Arriving for the first time on Coccorrocci beach may leave you bewildered.
You get the impression that you’ve been catapulted into one of Jules Verne’s volcanic islands, and that Captain Nemo’s Nautilus is about to appear from the waves. In the distance to the south, the horizon is dominated by the high bastion of Punta Cartucceddu, its precipitous wooded slopes adding to the sensation that you’re not in Sardinia but have suddenly found yourself shipwrecked on some island in the far south.
As the clamour of mass tourism fades around you, you become aware that you’re alone, and focus on the constant, muted noise that accompanies your steps, the ceaseless percussion of porphyry pebbles tumbled by the tide. The rattle of these stone eggs creates a background that has something ancestral and magical about it, evoking the rhythms of ancient Pagan Sardinian dances, the beating of tumbarinos drums and the rhythmic leaping of the mammuthone dancers.
Coccorrocci is absolutely the best place for visitors seeking a Sardinia that’s different from the racket of sandy beaches crowded with sun umbrellas.
Marina di Gairo, off the beaten track of mass tourism, offers visitors seeking to discover and be amazed a unique landscape, which even in high season can provide the wonder of a sunrise over the sea contemplated in silence and solitude, or the gentle heat of sun-warmed pebbles underfoot. In low season, when August’s baking heat is a faraway memory, the feeling of complete isolation and solitude is even more acute.
The thousand greenish reflections of the sea - no longer warm - invite you to take a last swim, and then another, until fear of the cold water gets the better of you. But this beach of countless secrets can amaze you still, and walking towards the north of Coccorrocci you can find cliffs of red porphyry that hold natural pools in their sinuous embrace.
Swimming in these you’re pleasantly surprised to discover the gentle warmth of water heated by the sun; here you can relax and enjoy all the peace and enchantment of the Coccorrocci coast.
