Budelli Island’s Pink Beach is a true masterpiece of nature, a symbol of the La Maddalena Archipelago Nature Park, of which the island is a part.
Recently purchased by the state and completely uninhabited, Budelli reveals a wild and unspoiled charm of its own, with rich and articulate contrasts of land and sea.

Spiaggia Rosa is located in Cala di Roto, on the southeastern side of Budelli Island, a few hundred meters south of Santa Maria and Razzoli Islands, and just over a mile north of Spargi Island. Recreational boats must maintain a distance of at least 300 meters from the shore. During the summer, buoy fields are set up between Spiaggia Rosa and Spiaggia del Cavaliere (located a little further east). There are no other recreational facilities.

It gets its name from the distinctive coral-pink color of the sand along the shoreline, which is caused by the presence of calcareous shells from *Miniacina miniacea*, a protozoan that inhabits *Posidonia oceanica*, a plant that abounds on the seabed in this area and throughout the Mediterranean. When the shells disintegrate, they are carried by the currents to the beach.

Famous since Michelangelo Antonioni set “Red Desert” there in the 1960s, the beach over the years has been plundered by tourists and bathers taking sand as a souvenir of the island.

To protect the beach, restore its natural features, and preserve the landscape that is now renowned worldwide, the park designated it a strictly protected area, prohibiting access, transit, parking, and swimming since the 1990s. According to the Marine Traffic Regulations approved by the Park Authority, the following are also prohibited: “commercial and recreational fishing, as well as scuba diving; swimming in the area between the shoreline and the yellow spherical buoys located approximately 70 meters offshore; walking on the sandy beach is not permitted. Boats and recreational craft, as well as authorized commercial vessels, are permitted to transit along routes parallel to the coast at speeds not exceeding 3 knots, exclusively outside the spherical boundary buoys and in compliance with the authorities’ regulations. It is strictly prohibited to remove or take away any rock formations or minerals, as well as to collect fossils, concretions, or minerals, including sand.”

Today, it is possible to drop anchor or moor to a buoy in the nearby anchorage of Spiaggia del Cavaliere, which offers good shelter from all winds except those from the east. From here , you can visit Spiaggia Rosa on foot via a wooden walkway that allows you to walk above the beach without trampling it. The trail leading from Cavaliere to Cala di Roto is surrounded by Mediterranean scrub and offers beautiful panoramic views of Budelli and Spargi. On the beach, in a wooden structure set slightly back from the shore, lives Mauro, the island’s caretaker for the past 25 years and its sole inhabitant. It’s well worth visiting Mauro to hear his stories and his vision for the island’s future.

Budelli Island is part of the La Maddalena Archipelago National Park, and therefore permits and authorizations are required for various recreational boating activities, including anchoring in anchorages. These permits can be obtained through the Park’s website or at one of the Park Authority’s offices on the island of La Maddalena or in Palau. We recommend consulting the Park Authority’s website (www.lamaddalenapark.it) to check for updates on procedures and costs for obtaining permits and authorizations.