{
  "id": "italy",
  "destination": "italy",
  "name": "Italy",
  "route_label": "north Sardinia and Bonifacio",
  "kind": "classic",
  "question": "What is a good 7-day sailing itinerary in Italy in north Sardinia?",
  "answer": "A classic 7-day sailing itinerary in Italy in north Sardinia starts and ends in Portisco and goes Portisco → Costa Smeralda (Porto Cervo) → La Maddalena → Caprera → Bonifacio (Corsica) → Budelli / Santa Maria → Portisco: 6 legs and about 61 nautical miles in straight lines between the stops (our calculation; you will sail further). By our rules the best month for it is September, when the mean wind at Portisco, Sardinia is 8 knots (our calculation from NASA POWER data); from 1 June to 30 September La Maddalena allows anchoring only on sand or mud, according to a news report on the harbour office's ordinance.",
  "answer_markdown": "A classic 7-day sailing itinerary in Italy in north Sardinia starts and ends in Portisco and goes Portisco → Costa Smeralda (Porto Cervo) → La Maddalena → Caprera → Bonifacio (Corsica) → Budelli / Santa Maria → Portisco: 6 legs and about 61 nautical miles in straight lines between the stops (our calculation; you will sail further). By our rules the best month for it is September, when the mean wind at Portisco, Sardinia is 8 knots (our calculation from NASA POWER data ([NASA POWER](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/monthly/), checked 28 Oct 2026)); from 1 June to 30 September La Maddalena allows anchoring only on sand or mud, according to a news report on the harbour office's ordinance ([L'Unione Sarda (newspaper)](https://www.unionesarda.it/news-sardegna/gallura/la-maddalena-stretta-su-navigazione-e-ancoraggi-per-tutelare-lambiente-marino-aks58wdj), checked 28 Oct 2026).",
  "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/itineraries/italy/",
  "markdown_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/itineraries/italy.md",
  "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/itineraries/italy.json",
  "destination_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/italy/",
  "best_time_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/best-time/italy/",
  "true_cost_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/true-cost/italy/",
  "licence_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/licence-by-country/italy/",
  "book_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/go/samboat?dest=italy&pos=api",
  "checked": "2026-10-29",
  "basis": {
    "status": "editorial",
    "note": "The La Maddalena archipelago is a national park with its own rules and fees.",
    "sources": []
  },
  "stops": [
    {
      "index": 0,
      "name": "Portisco",
      "lat": 41.0336,
      "lon": 9.5247,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 1,
      "name": "Costa Smeralda (Porto Cervo)",
      "lat": 41.1319,
      "lon": 9.5354,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 2,
      "name": "La Maddalena",
      "lat": 41.2128,
      "lon": 9.4055,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [
        {
          "text": "La Maddalena (1 June–30 September): anchoring only on sand or mud, banned outright in some areas; 7 knots within 500 m of the coast (L'Unione Sarda, April 2026).",
          "status": "secondary",
          "sources": [
            {
              "id": "dive_it_maddalena",
              "name": "L'Unione Sarda (newspaper)",
              "title": "La Maddalena, stretta su navigazione e ancoraggi per tutelare l'ambiente marino",
              "url": "https://www.unionesarda.it/news-sardegna/gallura/la-maddalena-stretta-su-navigazione-e-ancoraggi-per-tutelare-lambiente-marino-aks58wdj",
              "checked": "2026-10-28",
              "note": "News report dated 17 April 2026 on a Capitaneria di porto ordinance drawn up with the national park and the town. We could not open the ordinance or the park's site (lamaddalenapark.it refused our connection on 28 Oct 2026).",
              "tier": "secondary"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "fees": [
        {
          "item": "La Maddalena park permit for a charter boat",
          "amount": "Not verified",
          "status": "not_verified",
          "note": "The park's site refused our connection.",
          "sources": []
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "index": 3,
      "name": "Caprera",
      "lat": 41.2071,
      "lon": 9.4649,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [
        {
          "text": "La Maddalena (1 June–30 September): anchoring only on sand or mud, banned outright in some areas; 7 knots within 500 m of the coast (L'Unione Sarda, April 2026).",
          "status": "secondary",
          "sources": [
            {
              "id": "dive_it_maddalena",
              "name": "L'Unione Sarda (newspaper)",
              "title": "La Maddalena, stretta su navigazione e ancoraggi per tutelare l'ambiente marino",
              "url": "https://www.unionesarda.it/news-sardegna/gallura/la-maddalena-stretta-su-navigazione-e-ancoraggi-per-tutelare-lambiente-marino-aks58wdj",
              "checked": "2026-10-28",
              "note": "News report dated 17 April 2026 on a Capitaneria di porto ordinance drawn up with the national park and the town. We could not open the ordinance or the park's site (lamaddalenapark.it refused our connection on 28 Oct 2026).",
              "tier": "secondary"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 4,
      "name": "Bonifacio (Corsica)",
      "lat": 41.3877,
      "lon": 9.1686,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [
        {
          "text": "Bonifacio is in Corsica, France, so the leg to it crosses from Italian to French waters.",
          "status": "secondary",
          "sources": [
            {
              "id": "it_osm_nominatim",
              "name": "OpenStreetMap (Nominatim geocoder)",
              "title": "Nominatim search API: coordinates of each itinerary stop",
              "url": "https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/",
              "checked": "2026-10-29",
              "note": "Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright). One query per stop, run by scripts/fetch-stop-coords.mjs; the queries are in src/data/itinerary-stops.json. Community map data, not an official gazetteer.",
              "tier": "secondary"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 5,
      "name": "Budelli / Santa Maria",
      "lat": 41.2826,
      "lon": 9.3463,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [
        {
          "text": "La Maddalena (1 June–30 September): anchoring only on sand or mud, banned outright in some areas; 7 knots within 500 m of the coast (L'Unione Sarda, April 2026).",
          "status": "secondary",
          "sources": [
            {
              "id": "dive_it_maddalena",
              "name": "L'Unione Sarda (newspaper)",
              "title": "La Maddalena, stretta su navigazione e ancoraggi per tutelare l'ambiente marino",
              "url": "https://www.unionesarda.it/news-sardegna/gallura/la-maddalena-stretta-su-navigazione-e-ancoraggi-per-tutelare-lambiente-marino-aks58wdj",
              "checked": "2026-10-28",
              "note": "News report dated 17 April 2026 on a Capitaneria di porto ordinance drawn up with the national park and the town. We could not open the ordinance or the park's site (lamaddalenapark.it refused our connection on 28 Oct 2026).",
              "tier": "secondary"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "fees": []
    }
  ],
  "legs": [
    {
      "day": 1,
      "from": "Portisco",
      "to": "Costa Smeralda (Porto Cervo)",
      "distance_nm": 5.9
    },
    {
      "day": 2,
      "from": "Costa Smeralda (Porto Cervo)",
      "to": "La Maddalena",
      "distance_nm": 7.6
    },
    {
      "day": 3,
      "from": "La Maddalena",
      "to": "Caprera",
      "distance_nm": 2.7
    },
    {
      "day": 4,
      "from": "Caprera",
      "to": "Bonifacio (Corsica)",
      "distance_nm": 17.2
    },
    {
      "day": 5,
      "from": "Bonifacio (Corsica)",
      "to": "Budelli / Santa Maria",
      "distance_nm": 10.2
    },
    {
      "day": 6,
      "from": "Budelli / Santa Maria",
      "to": "Portisco",
      "distance_nm": 17
    }
  ],
  "total_distance_nm": 60.6,
  "distance_method": "Great-circle distance between OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) coordinates, Earth radius 6,371.0088 km, 1 nm = 1.852 km. Straight lines: the sailed distance is longer.",
  "weather": {
    "reference_point": {
      "place": "Portisco, Sardinia",
      "lat": 41.176,
      "lon": 9.526,
      "elevation_m": 187.05
    },
    "months": [
      {
        "month": 1,
        "name": "January",
        "mean_temp_c": 9.9,
        "mean_wind_kn": 11
      },
      {
        "month": 2,
        "name": "February",
        "mean_temp_c": 10.6,
        "mean_wind_kn": 9.8
      },
      {
        "month": 3,
        "name": "March",
        "mean_temp_c": 11.8,
        "mean_wind_kn": 10.3
      },
      {
        "month": 4,
        "name": "April",
        "mean_temp_c": 14.4,
        "mean_wind_kn": 9
      },
      {
        "month": 5,
        "name": "May",
        "mean_temp_c": 18,
        "mean_wind_kn": 8.7
      },
      {
        "month": 6,
        "name": "June",
        "mean_temp_c": 23.5,
        "mean_wind_kn": 7.6
      },
      {
        "month": 7,
        "name": "July",
        "mean_temp_c": 26.6,
        "mean_wind_kn": 7.9
      },
      {
        "month": 8,
        "name": "August",
        "mean_temp_c": 26.6,
        "mean_wind_kn": 7.4
      },
      {
        "month": 9,
        "name": "September",
        "mean_temp_c": 22.8,
        "mean_wind_kn": 8.3
      },
      {
        "month": 10,
        "name": "October",
        "mean_temp_c": 18.9,
        "mean_wind_kn": 8.7
      },
      {
        "month": 11,
        "name": "November",
        "mean_temp_c": 14.3,
        "mean_wind_kn": 9.9
      },
      {
        "month": 12,
        "name": "December",
        "mean_temp_c": 11.3,
        "mean_wind_kn": 10.2
      }
    ],
    "source": "NASA POWER monthly, 2016–2025 means (our calculation)"
  },
  "best_months": {
    "best_weather": [
      "June",
      "July",
      "August",
      "September"
    ],
    "sweet_spot": [
      "September"
    ],
    "families": [
      "June",
      "July",
      "August"
    ],
    "windiest": [
      "January",
      "March",
      "December"
    ],
    "rules": {
      "best_weather": "Warm (≥ 20 °C) and outside the Atlantic hurricane season (1 June–30 November, NOAA) or Tahiti's wet season (November–April, Tahiti Tourisme). Not given where we have no season or rainfall source.",
      "sweet_spot": "Best-weather months that are not among the 3 priciest months (our rule).",
      "families": "The calmest best-weather months by mean wind (our suggestion; mean wind is not gusts or sea state).",
      "wind": "The windiest months by mean wind speed at our reference point (our ranking)."
    }
  },
  "marina_examples": [],
  "rules": [],
  "fees": [],
  "not_verified": [
    "La Maddalena park authorisation fee for charter boats.",
    "Bonifacio harbour fees and the Bouches de Bonifacio nature reserve rules.",
    "Landing rules on Budelli (the \"pink beach\" ban is widely reported but we read no official text)."
  ],
  "status_legend": {
    "official": "Read in an official text: government, park or port authority, or an operator's own published price list.",
    "secondary": "From a newspaper, NGO, guide, charter company or community map; not official.",
    "not_verified": "We could not confirm it. We leave it open rather than guess, and never add it to a total."
  },
  "source_counts": {
    "official": 0,
    "secondary": 2
  },
  "derived": "distance_nm, total_distance_nm, catamaran_eur_by_month and best_months are our calculation; weather means are our calculation from NASA POWER data.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "dive_it_maddalena",
      "name": "L'Unione Sarda (newspaper)",
      "title": "La Maddalena, stretta su navigazione e ancoraggi per tutelare l'ambiente marino",
      "url": "https://www.unionesarda.it/news-sardegna/gallura/la-maddalena-stretta-su-navigazione-e-ancoraggi-per-tutelare-lambiente-marino-aks58wdj",
      "checked": "2026-10-28",
      "note": "News report dated 17 April 2026 on a Capitaneria di porto ordinance drawn up with the national park and the town. We could not open the ordinance or the park's site (lamaddalenapark.it refused our connection on 28 Oct 2026).",
      "tier": "secondary"
    },
    {
      "id": "it_osm_nominatim",
      "name": "OpenStreetMap (Nominatim geocoder)",
      "title": "Nominatim search API: coordinates of each itinerary stop",
      "url": "https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/",
      "checked": "2026-10-29",
      "note": "Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright). One query per stop, run by scripts/fetch-stop-coords.mjs; the queries are in src/data/itinerary-stops.json. Community map data, not an official gazetteer.",
      "tier": "secondary"
    },
    {
      "id": "nasa_power_monthly",
      "name": "NASA POWER",
      "title": "Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources: Monthly API (T2M, WS10M)",
      "url": "https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/monthly/",
      "checked": "2026-10-28",
      "note": "Monthly point data for 2016–2025 pulled on 28 Oct 2026 with scripts/fetch-weather.mjs (API v2.10.0, community RE, parameters T2M = temperature at 2 m in °C and WS10M = wind speed at 10 m in m/s; meteorological grid ½° × ⅝° per https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/methodology/). One request per reference point, in the form https://power.larc.nasa.gov/api/temporal/monthly/point?parameters=T2M,WS10M&community=RE&longitude=<lon>&latitude=<lat>&start=2016&end=2025&format=JSON (coordinates in src/data/weather.ts). Route points for the Dubrovnik and Cyclades itineraries are in src/data/weather-routes.ts (scripts/fetch-route-weather.mjs, pulled 29 Oct 2026). Credit: https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/referencing/ . The pages we opened did not state a licence; NASA data is described to us as free for any use. Palma (Mallorca) reference point for the Mallorca vs Ibiza comparison in src/data/weather-routes.ts (scripts/fetch-route-weather.mjs, pulled 29 Oct 2026)."
    },
    {
      "id": "k12_italy",
      "name": "12 Knots",
      "title": "Catamaran charter in Italy",
      "url": "https://12knots.com/en/yacht-charter/countries/italy/catamaran-charter/",
      "checked": "2026-10-27",
      "note": "Page states \"Updated October 2026\"."
    }
  ],
  "attribution": "Cite \"Catamaran Index\" with a link to the canonical_url of the page the figure comes from, and name the original source listed with it.",
  "coordinates_licence": "Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright).",
  "affiliate_note": "book_url links go through /go/samboat, an affiliate link: Catamaran Index may earn a commission on bookings, at no extra cost to the traveller. It never changes the data."
}