The east coast of Corsica gets a bad press from sailors, and it is half deserved. The middle of it is a long, low, harbourless plain with little to anchor behind, which after the drama of the west coast can feel like a transit rather than a cruise. But that judgement misses the two ends. The north, around Cap Corse, is some of the best sailing on the island, and the south, around Porto-Vecchio, holds gulfs and anchorages that rival anything in the Mediterranean. Bastia to Porto-Vecchio is roughly 65 to 70 nautical miles direct, and the trick is to treat the dull middle honestly: bank the miles in one or two longer days and save your time for the ends.
I sail this coast when the west is being hammered by a westerly swell, because the east is in the lee and stays calm when the other side is unworkable. That alone makes it worth knowing.
Start at Bastia or push to Cap Corse first
Bastia is the practical start. It has the old Vieux Port, full of character but tight, and the modern Port Toga marina to the north, which is easier for a visiting yacht. From here you have a choice. Either head south straight away, or go north first to explore Cap Corse, the long finger of mountains that points at the mainland.
I always recommend the northern detour if you have the days. Macinaggio, the main port of Cap Corse, sits about 17 nautical miles north of Bastia and is well sheltered from the west and from the sirocco, though a strong easterly makes the entrance awkward. Beyond it the Iles Finocchiarola and the wild eastern tip of the cap give some of the prettiest anchorages on the island. The Macinaggio and Cap Corse marina guide covers the harbour and the coves, and Erbalunga, a stone fishing village 4 miles north of Bastia, makes a charming first or last stop.
The long plain: Bastia to Solenzara
South of Bastia the coast flattens out. This is the agricultural plain of the eastern shore, long beaches backed by lagoons and vineyards, with few natural harbours. The honest advice is not to fight it. Plan a longer day, 30 to 35 miles, and run down to Solenzara, which is the one good marina in the middle stretch.
Solenzara sits where the plain meets the foothills of the mountains and makes a comfortable overnight with fuel, water and provisions. The sailing here is straightforward because the coast is steep-to in deep water offshore and there are few hazards to thread, which is a relief after the rock-strewn west. Use the wind: the morning is usually light and the sea breeze fills from the east or south-east by afternoon, the mirror of the west coast pattern. The Corsica weather for visitors guide explains the daily cycle and why the east coast can be a bolthole when the mistral is blowing.
Into the southern gulfs
South of Solenzara the coast comes alive again. You pass Pinarello with its watchtower and long beach, a fine settled-weather anchorage, and then the coast begins to fold into the gulfs that make the south of the island famous. This is where the east coast earns back everything the plain took from you.
Porto-Vecchio sits at the head of a deep, sheltered gulf, the third gulf of southern Corsica, and the marina is a good base with the medieval upper town a steep walk above. The gulf itself is large enough to anchor in several places out of the marina, and the water turns the pale turquoise that southern Corsica is known for. From here you are within a short sail of the Golfe de Santa Giulia and the bays towards the Bouches de Bonifacio, and the southern Corsican gulfs in depth guide picks up the anchorages and coves that ring the bottom of the island.
The Rondinara, the jewel near the end
If you do one thing in the south, sail to the Rondinara. It lies between Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio, a near-circular bay enclosed by two headlands with a beach of white sand and water so clear you can see your anchor on the bottom in several metres. It is among the most photographed anchorages in the Mediterranean and deserves the fame. Anchor in sand, watch your swing, and avoid the seagrass beds where the holding is poor and the law increasingly protects the posidonia. It can get crowded in August, so arrive early or come in the shoulder season.
The whole south is worth lingering in, and if your cruise has time to spare, the Corsica best-kept anchorages roundup points to the quieter coves where the day-boats do not reach.
Carrying on, or turning round
Porto-Vecchio is a natural end to an east-coast cruise, but it is also a doorway. From here the Bouches de Bonifacio and the Lavezzi islands are within easy reach, and many crews carry on round the bottom of the island towards Bonifacio rather than stopping. If that is your plan, treat the Bouches with respect: it is a strait littered with rocks and reefs where the wind funnels and accelerates, and the Bouches de Bonifacio strait guide covers the passage in detail.
Why the east coast is the weather bolthole
The single best reason to know this coast is shelter. Corsica's dominant strong wind is the mistral, which sweeps down from the north-west across the western Mediterranean and slams the west and south coasts of the island. When it blows hard the west coast anchorages become a lee shore and the Bouches de Bonifacio turn dangerous, but the east coast, in the lee of the mountain spine, often stays workable. I have crossed to the east deliberately to sit out a three-day mistral in flat water while sailors on the west coast were pinned in harbour.
That said, the east has its own weather. The sea breeze fills from the east or south-east in the afternoon, and an easterly swell can roll into the harbours and anchorages that open that way, Macinaggio's entrance among them. A sirocco from the south-east is the wind that makes the east coast uncomfortable, the mirror of what the mistral does to the west. The discipline is the same as everywhere on the island: read the synoptic picture, watch for the afternoon build, and pick anchorages sheltered from the quarter the wind will come from. The Corsica weather for visitors guide is the one I would read twice before committing to either coast.
Provisioning and the practical gaps
The east coast plain is long and the services are concentrated at the ends, so plan provisioning around Bastia, Solenzara and Porto-Vecchio rather than expecting to top up in the middle. Bastia has full supermarkets and chandlery, Solenzara covers fuel, water and a decent shop, and Porto-Vecchio has everything you need including good restaurants in the upper town. Between them the coast is thin, so leave Bastia or Solenzara with full tanks and a stocked galley.
Water discipline matters less here than on the dry west coast because the harbours are closer to towns and the plain is fed by rivers, but in the August heat a full crew still drinks a lot, so top up whenever you are alongside. The fish is excellent all down this coast, landed at the small ports, and the vineyards behind the plain produce wine you can buy cheaply ashore if you hire a car for an afternoon at Porto-Vecchio. Treat the middle as a transit and stock up at the ends, and the practical side of the cruise looks after itself.
The honest verdict
The east coast is a cruise of two good ends and a dull middle, and the way to enjoy it is to accept that. Spend your time on Cap Corse in the north and the southern gulfs around Porto-Vecchio, and run the plain in one or two efficient days without apology. The reward is calm-water sailing when the west is unworkable, the turquoise gulfs of the south, and the Rondinara at the end, which on its own justifies the whole trip. Bastia to Porto-Vecchio is the cruise to keep in reserve for when the weather closes the rest of the island.
