Since coming to live in Sardinia, we have both taken up sea kayaking, mainly due to the beauty of the coastline and the fabulous places you can reach using this relaxing and clean form of transport! But another major factor has been the enthusiasm and fun-loving spirit of Francesco Muntoni, our friend and local Kayak Guru, who runs the Cardedu-Kayak club.

Often, we paddle out of the beach called ‘La Spaggietta’, at the Marina di Gairo and normally go to one of the beaches south of there. Francesco helps beginners by giving them a short lesson before we set off and we paddle for anything between 20 minutes and two hours. We stop at a couple of beaches and have a swim in summer, in winter we go for short walks off the beach. All the equipment you need, the kayak, paddle, life jacket and dry-bag, is included in the price – currently €25 per person for a short session.

This is Anne’s favourite video of us kayaking in just that usual excursion that we can go on with beginners.
Francesco offers many other tours as well as these short excursions. You can paddle out of Santa Maria Navarrese north towards Pedra Lunga, like Peter in the photo right, or out to the L’Isolotto d’Ogliastra or even as far as Cala Goloritzè, weather and experience permitting. He can also organise the logistics for anyone who has experience and would like to arrange a longer tour staying in tents on the quiet beaches, hiring his kayaks and all the equipment you need for ‘nautical camping’ as he calls it! See his website for further details and and his marvellous photos on flikr.