"Il Poetto" IS Cagliari's beach, and a long strand at that, and many city bus lines run alongside it, so getting here is easy. The layout reminds me of L.A.'s strand of beaches. This long strand is anchored at its southern end by la Sella del Diavolo (the Devil's Saddle) which is a promontory, though not as imposing and extensive as Palos Verdes. The beach continues as a strand for miles, without any foothills behind it, and then makes a bend which is backed by foothills, the same way that the Palisades and Malibu do along Pacific Coast Highway in L.A. The difference is that the layout is a mirror image, or reversed. There's a lot of space at lengthy Il Poetto. It does not feel crowded. The water is warm, the surf is mild, and the color is appealing and clear, though not crystalline. Again, if you are doing the real tourist thing in search of crystalline coves and a tourist scene, you'll be on a ferry or a low-cost flight to northeastern Sardinia, at the Costa Smeralda, where Porto Cervo is the feather in its cap. But, if you are in low-key Cagliari, the island's capital in Sardinia's south, you will find that this a great beach in a city that has everything you need and very little hype, thus making it very relaxing. read more

This is the main attraction beach for Cagliari with a long boardwalk and beach club restaurants. The sand is smooth and comfortable on the feet, the beach is clean and the water beautiful blue and clear. It's a pretty large beach so lots of places to spread out. The beach itself is fabulous. The amenities, like the beach clubs and restaurants were not impressive. Food and service were not great at any the places we tried. The other issue is that, like all the beaches we went to in Sardinia, there are lots of people walking around selling things, which is fine.. great and convenient even. This was the first beach we felt harassed every couple minutes. You'd barely close your eyes to nap and someone was coming by to wake you up pushing an item for sale into your face. It was so much more aggressive than the other beaches throughout Sardinia and even if you politely said no, the individual wouldn't always leave. They came up in the beach club restaurants too and go table to table while you're eating. So overall, the beach is lovely and spacious. The restaurants and beach clubs are average. But the beach experience was more stressful than any other beach we visited in Sardinia. If I was going back, I'd skip this beach and explore the city instead. read more

Spiaggia del Poetto - View of the beach from our hotel across the boardwalk. - Beaches Near Me - Cagliari, California