Here’s a recap of our visit to Carloforte, Sardinia via Explora II. We did a hike, shopping, and two amazing meals. Check out my Explora II cruise post here.
Carloforte, Sardinia
Carloforte is a fishing town located on San Pietro Island off the southwestern coast of Sardinia. We happened to be the first-ever cruise ship to stop there! We learned San Pietro is known for tuna, fishing, and wooden boat making. Carloforte translates to “red tuna!” I brought back several hand-made purses with fish on them as gifts.
It was THE CUTEST downtown area. It reminded me of a coastal California town with the sailboats and palm trees, but with the historic charm of a European city. We also had the best food of our trip in this stop!
Hiking + Swimming
My main goal for our stop here was to swim in crystal clear water, so we booked a destination experience through Explora that took us on a short hike down to a swimming cove. We had thought the hike would be cliff-side, but our guide told us that storms had washed out the mountain path, so we took an easier route through the valley instead.
Once we arrived at the water, I was eager to get in because it was quite hot!
It was hard to capture just how clear the water was, but it lived up to its reputation! We swam out as far as your eye can see there. The water was so salty that swimming was very easy. It was probably the farthest I’ve ever swam in open water! (And I wouldn’t have swam at all if that water had been brown and cloudy – eeek!)
Shopping and Lunch
I absolutely LOVED this meal!! It was like a cheese board but with lunch foods: roasted eggplant, zucchini, peppers; a caprese salad; meats; and two kits of focaccia pizza. Aperol spritz because why not?!
Naturally, I had lemon gelato for dessert. Normally I would choose more dessert-y flavors like vanilla or coffee, but this trip I could not get enough lemon! (Probably because it was hot too.)
We were quite tired at this point, so we took the tender boat back to our ship and rested for a while before dinner.
Cabana nap!
Carloforte Dinner
After a rest and showers, we dressed in dinner clothes and took the tender boats back to shore!
At the recommendation of an Explora staff member, we went to Pomata Bistro for dinner.
We loved the vibe!
We also loved our meal. We started with focaccia topped with smoked bluefish and burrata. We both agreed this was just sooooo good!
I also loved my pasta with tuna (of course!), mint, lemon, eggplant, and pecorino. I want to recreate this dish at home!!
Thomas also had tuna (on tuna island!) but his was seared and came with a tomato salad.
