Asinara Marine Park

Asinara Island spent over a century as a maximum security prison, leaving its waters among the least disturbed in the Mediterranean. Visibility regularly exceeds 30 metres over granite boulder fields where dusky groupers approach divers without hesitation and European lobsters retreat into deep crevices at 15 to 25 metres. The Posidonia oceanica meadows stretching between Cala d'Oliva and Cala Reale shelter critically endangered Pinna nobilis fan mussels — some reaching 80 cm — alongside Mediterranean seahorses and moray eels. All dives require a licensed park guide; Zone A is permanently closed. The western side faces the mistral and requires advanced experience; the sheltered eastern coast is the standard route.