Anchorage

Cala di Giunco

Shelter: N, NE, E, SE
Seabed: sand
Anchoring: Allowed

Sand-bottomed cove on Île Lavezzi, off the south tip of Corsica, within the Réserve naturelle des Bouches de Bonifacio.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Anchoring is confined to a zone marked by large yellow buoys, on sand in 4 to 7 metres. Reserve wardens check daily and send off boats lying outside it. The buoys are markers only, not for lying to, and the white buoys are kept for the excursion boats. Watch an unmarked rock about 0.5 metres deep near the entrance at 41 20.072 N 09 15.280 E, invisible from the boat and already struck, and rocks on the western side. It sits more open than Cala Lazzarina and rolls at times.

Practical

No services on site. The cove fills fast in season and a large excursion boat lands day trippers around midday, so it is quietest before 9am or after 6pm. Closest refuge at Sant'Amanza 4.4 NM north, commercial port of Bonifacio 5.2 NM to the north-west for fuel, water and shops.

Ashore

Land the dinghy at the small jetty below the lighthouse. The island is a nature reserve with marked paths that walkers must keep to, and seabirds nest in spring. Walk up to the lighthouse and to the cemetery holding victims of the frigate La Sémillante, wrecked on these rocks in 1855. The next cove is Cala Lazzarina, though dinghy landing on its beach is not allowed. No shops or facilities on the island.