Asinara Island National Park
The island of Asinara is located in the north-western tip of Sardinia, between Punta Colondri to the south (40°59’ N), Punta dello Scorno to the north (41°07’ N), Punta Salippi to the west (4°15’ E) and Punta Sabina to the east (4°06’ E).
The island has a surface area of approximately 52 km² and a length of approximately 17.5 km in a straight line. The width varies from 290 meters at Cala di Scombro to 7 km in the northernmost part, from Punta Grabara to Punta Sabina. The coastal perimeter measures approximately 110 km.
Asinara is characterized by large surfaces of exposed rock, with a vegetation cover dominated by Mediterranean scrub. The area of Elighe Mannu, located in the northern part of the island, represents the largest woodland formation, consisting of a holm oak forest (Quercus ilex) and affected in the past by reforestation interventions.
The island is made up of four small mountain reliefs connected by isthmuses.
The northern relief is the largest and highest, including the peak of Punta della Scomunica (408 m above sea level), which joins the plain of Campu Perdu to the south.
South of this plain is the schist complex of Monte Ruda (215 m above sea level), which covers a hilly area of about 2 km², delimited by the underlying isthmus of Punta Marcutza (195 m above sea level).
In the central-southern part of the island, south of the area called Stretti, there is another group of reliefs, including Punta Tumbarino (241 m above sea level), Punta Romasino (215 m above sea level) and Guardia del Turco (128 m above sea level). The crest line of this relief is oriented in a NW-SE direction, similar to the reliefs of Capo Falcone and Monte Forte in Nurra. This area is delimited by the two rias of Cala Scombro di Dentro and Scombro di Fuori and represents the narrowest point of the island.
The southern nucleus is mainly made up of the granite intrusion of Punta Maestra Fornelli (265 m above sea level) and grey schists similar to those of the Stintino peninsula. The connection between this area and Isola Piana is interrupted by the Strait of Fornelli, whose depths do not exceed 5 metres.
A different erosive action can be seen along the coasts, reflecting the exposures of its lithotypes. The western coast is steep and rocky, almost completely inaccessible from the sea due to the cliffs that in some places reach 200 metres. This coast, influenced by sea currents and the waves of the winds of the IV quadrant, is characterised by the absence of sandy deposits and by furrows that deepen for a few metres.
The eastern coast, on the other hand, is generally low and rocky, with beaches located mainly at Fornelli, Sant’Andrea, La Reale, Trabuccato, Punta Sabina and Cala Arena, where there are also retro-dune ponds.
Climatic Factors
Precipitation on the island is among the lowest in all of Sardinia, influenced by its insular position, and rarely reaches an annual average of 500 mm.
Average monthly temperatures vary, with February being the coldest month, recording around 10 °C, and August being the warmest, averaging 23 °C.
The predominant winds are the ponente, which blows for around 35% of the days, and the mistral, present for around 13% of the days. Together, these north-westerly winds blow for around half the year. The levante blows around 20% of the time, making it difficult to land on the island and navigate to Stintino and Porto Torres when it is present.
The climate of the island is considered semi-arid. The available water is little but sufficient, with a small water surplus during the winter.
Geological Conformation
The geological structure of Asinara is similar to that of the Stintino peninsula, with which it formed a single large peninsula before the Flandrian transgression.
This structure influenced the shape and evolution of the island, constituting the western closure of the large tectonic-morphological structure of the Gulf of Asinara.
The notable difference between the western side, which overlooks the "outer sea", and the eastern side, which opens onto the gulf, is the result of structures that guided the modeling of the coast.
The western side is almost everywhere high and inaccessible; remains of ancient Tyrrhenian beaches are rarely found, which indicate the existence of sandy shores and coastal bars of the Upper Pleistocene, signs of a situation very different from the current one.
The eastern side of the island is characterized by low coasts, shaped by the hydrographic evolution of the Pleistocene, which created a rias coast, due to marine ingression in the small valleys carved during the glacial periods in the large hydrographic basin that flowed in the current submerged area of the gulf.
The only area of the island where this coastal asymmetry is absent is the Campu Perdu plain, where the difference in height is limited to a few dozen meters; this sub-flat area was the site of lagoonal and lacustrine sedimentation during the Quaternary, giving rise to calcareous deposits.
The geolithological structure of Asinara is therefore mainly made up of metamorphic rocks and granite outcrops from the Carboniferous, which create morphological similarities with the coastal territory of Gallura, interrupting the affinity with the nearby territory.
Water on Asinara Island
The particular morphological conformation of the island creates small hydrographic basins, with different lithological characteristics: some have low permeability, while others have higher levels of cracking, favoring the circulation of water.
The sources, historically documented, are today often reduced to simple traces.
Attempts to extract water from the wells over the years have shown that the aquifers are superficial and not very powerful. To meet the water needs, small superficial reservoirs were created in Fornelli and Santa Maria in the southern part of the island, initially for agricultural and livestock use and then transformed for drinking use in prisons.
In the central part of the island, in Campu Perdu, a hilly reservoir supplies water to the entire plain up to Trabuccato. The use of water is multiple and, through a system of reservoirs and pumping stations, the water of Campu Perdu is distributed for civil and agricultural purposes. In the northern part, the town of Cala d'Oliva is autonomous in terms of water supply: the water from the Pecorile reservoir, made drinkable downstream of the dam, is pumped towards the main tank of the village and distributed to all the houses by gravity. The wastewater is collected in a tank near the port and sent to the purifier. The purified water, after a further phytodepuration treatment, is distributed in the Mediterranean scrub and in the vegetable gardens.
HALF DAY
TRIP
TO ASINARA
Half Day
09:30 - 13:30
14:15 - 18;15
From May 1st to June 30th
Exclusive dinghy €480
per person €40
From July 1st to July 20th
Exclusive dinghy €540
per person €45
From July 21st to August 31st
Exclusive dinghy €600
per person €50
From Sept 1st to Oct 15th
Exclusive dinghy €480
per person €40
GUIDED TOUR TO ASINARA BY CATAMARAN
Full Day
09:45 - 17:30
From May 1st to June 30th
Catamaran exclusive €1200
per person €100
From July 1st to July 20th
Catamaran exclusive €1320
per person €110
From July 21st to August 31st
Catamaran exclusive €1440
per person €120
From Sept 1st to Oct 15th
Catamaran exclusive €1200
per person €100