Eighty-eight (88) kilometers of picturesque coast in northern Sardinia between
Olbia and Arzachena,
including numerous inlets, promontories, many islands and grandiose hotels: this is the
Costa Smeralda
[Emerald Coast], so named for the color of the sea, which here is uncommonly beautiful.
The idea of creating the Costa Smeralda began to take form in the late 1950's and early 1960's when a
group of international businessmen and financiers decided to invest in this territory, which had
attracted in particular the attention of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV,
then a 22 year old student in an
American college. Soon the prince and his friends bought up more than 3000 hectares along the Gallura Sea,
providing remarkable support for the Sardinian holiday industry and transforming this piece of land into
an exclusive, famous resort area. Development was rapid, but carried out with respect for the landscape,
which was considered a treasure to be protected.
Specific regulations were established to maintain the perfect environment and keep it free from the transient whims of society.
The beaches here are the pride of Gallura and all of Sardinia in general.
Cala dei Ginestri, Cala Bitta, Baia Sardinia
are the outposts of the fashionable social world that extends gradually towards
Poltu Quatu,
the nucleus of Liscia di Vacca and, finally,
Porto Cervo, the heart of the Costa Smeralda, the exclusive area
for the cream of international high society. The village near Porto Vecchio
is the heart of the social life of
Porto Cervo, whereas the Yacht Club is the place, very famous, for the immensely luxurious boats that cross
the Mediterranean. Porto Cervo is called 'la città invisibile' [the invisible city] because of the
architecture that is in such fine syntony with the landscape. Not far away are other attractive places,
such as the Spiaggia del Pevero and
Cala di Volpe, comprising the most beautiful and famous beaches of all
the Costa Smeralda.
