At a glance, if you are in a hurry
Cagliari is one of the few European cities with eight kilometres of beach inside its own boundaries, served by public buses. If you have an afternoon, go to the Poetto and stop thinking about it. If you have a day and a car, an hour gets you to the dunes of Chia to the south-west or Porto Giunco to the east. If you have no car, the good news is that since 2026 Mari Pintau and Kal'e Moru have a summer bus too. Everything is in the table below.
| Beach | What it is like | Best for | From the centre | Car needed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poetto | Pale sand, shallow water, facilities everywhere | Anyone, even half a day | 15-20 min by bus | No |
| Marina Piccola | The end of the Poetto below the Sella del Diavolo | Sunsets, watersports | 15 min by bus | No |
| Calamosca | Small sheltered bay at Sant'Elia | Families, windy days | 15 min | Easier |
| Cala Fighera | Rocks and deep water | Snorkelling, not small children | 20 min plus a path | Easier |
| Margine Rosso | The Poetto continuing into Quartu | Families, quieter than the Poetto | 25 min | No, the bus goes |
| Mari Pintau | White pebbles, very clear water | Photographs, snorkelling | 25-30 min | Summer bus since 2026 |
| Kal'e Moru | Wide and breezy | Windsurf, space | 30 min | Summer bus since 2026 |
| Chia | Dunes, junipers, Spanish tower | A full day out | about 1 hour | Yes |
| Tuerredda | White sand, islet offshore | Anyone who books ahead | about 1 hour 20 | Yes, and booking |
| Villasimius | Porto Giunco, Simius, Punta Molentis | Postcard water | about 1 hour | Yes |
Before choosing a beach, look at the wind
This is worth more than all the other advice put together, and in Cagliari it works especially well because the city has coasts facing different directions within a few kilometres.
The Poetto faces south-east: when the mistral blows, which covers most windy days in a Sardinian summer, it stays relatively calm and the wind comes off the land. With a sirocco, on the other hand, the swell builds and the sand flies. On those days it is better to move to Calamosca, tucked into a bay and sheltered almost always, or over to the Quartu coves.
The reverse applies to the south-western beaches such as Chia and Tuerredda, which suffer more in a strong mistral. Before driving an hour it is worth checking the wind direction: it is the one gesture that separates a good day from a wasted one.
The Poetto: a beach that is also a neighbourhood
Around eight kilometres, from Marina Piccola below the Sella del Diavolo to the Margine Rosso in Quartu. The sand is pale and fine, the seabed shelves gently for tens of metres, and behind it lies the Molentargius wetland with its flamingos, which in summer you genuinely see rather than just read about.
What strikes visitors is that the Poetto does not close with the summer and does not close in the evening. From May to September the kiosks stay open late, people run there at dawn, friends meet for a drink after work. It is not a tourist beach: it is part of the city.
The end towards Marina Piccola is the liveliest, with the marina, the sailing schools and the bars. Heading towards Quartu it grows steadily quieter and there are wide stretches of free beach. Paid lidos alternate with free sections along the whole length, so you can always find a spot without paying.
Calamosca and Cala Fighera: the city's hidden side
Behind the Sant'Elia district lies Calamosca, a small bay of golden sand closed in between the lighthouse headland and the Sella del Diavolo. It is the right choice on windy days, because the water stays almost flat, and it works well with children. The downside is that, being small, it fills up early in August: come in the morning.
From there a path leads in about twenty minutes to Cala Fighera, a rocky cove under the Sella del Diavolo. It is not a beach for small children, but for snorkelling it is the best spot reachable on foot from the city. Bring water shoes: you get in over the rocks.
The Sella del Diavolo is worth the walk for the view alone. You start from Marina Piccola, it takes under an hour, and from the top you see the whole gulf. Go early or late in the day, because there is no shade.
The Quartu coast: Mari Pintau, Kal'e Moru, Geremeas
Leaving Cagliari eastwards the landscape changes quickly. Past the Margine Rosso the coast turns rocky and coves open one after another along the coastal road.
Mari Pintau, which in Sardinian means "painted sea", is the best known: white pebbles instead of sand and water that on calm days is as clear as anywhere in the gulf. Precisely because it is small and heavily photographed, in summer it is under pressure and the council of Quartu regulates access: check before you go in peak months.
A little further on are Kal'e Moru, wider and more exposed to the wind, and the beaches of Geremeas and Torre delle Stelle, which mark the approach to Villasimius territory. These are beaches where you can breathe even in July, because people spread out.
Getting to the beach without a car: what changed in 2026
Until recently the answer was simple: without a car, from Cagliari, you went to the Poetto and that was that. Since 2026 that is no longer true.
For the Poetto there are still CTM lines PF and PQ, which leave the centre and run the whole seafront to Quartu: a shade under fifteen minutes. The PF continues to Flumini, so it also covers the Margine Rosso.
The new part is the summer line to the Quartu coves, funded by the council: from 4 July to 13 September 2026 it links the via Beethoven terminus in Quartu with Mari Pintau, Kal'e Moru and Geremeas-Marongiu, with departures at 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16. The final leg to Geremeas-Marongiu runs on request with an eight-seat shuttle. Current times and stops are on the CTM website and the Busfinder app.
| Ticket | Price | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| Standard ticket | €1.30 | 90 minutes across the network |
| Carnet of 12 journeys | €13.00 | 90 minutes per journey |
| Integrated ticket | €2.00 | 2 hours, metro included |
| Integrated day ticket | €3.30 | 24 hours, metro included |
| Integrated weekly card | €12.00 | 7 days, metro included |
If you are staying a few days and plan to use the bus for the beach and for getting around, the integrated weekly card at €12 pays for itself quickly. Tickets are sold at CTM Points, licensed shops, machines and in the app.
The day trips: Chia, Tuerredda, Villasimius
About an hour from Cagliari, in two opposite directions, are the beaches that end up on the covers.
To the south-west lies Chia, in the municipality of Domus de Maria: a system of dunes, junipers and coves beneath a Spanish tower, with shallow water and flamingos in the lagoon behind. A little further on is Tuerredda, with its islet offshore, among the finest on the island and also among the most regulated: in 2026 it has 1,100 places a day with a €3 contribution, from 2 June to 15 October, and online booking for the following day opens every morning at 8. Late risers do not get in.
To the east, at the same distance, is Villasimius: Porto Giunco between the sea and the salt lagoon, the long beach at Simius, Campus and Punta Molentis. The last of those takes 150 people a day by land with a €10 contribution in 2026, from 6 June to 31 October, booked on the council portal. On the way you pass Solanas, a good fallback if you have not booked.
One practical tip: for these trips, leave early. Not so much for the beach as for the parking, which in August is the real bottleneck everywhere.
When you can actually swim
The season runs from late May to early October. The Poetto has an advantage: being shallow and sheltered, the water warms earlier than on exposed coasts, and on sunny days in May people are already swimming. June and September are the best months overall, with warm water and a liveable beach. In August the sea is at its warmest, and so are the crowds and the prices.
Off season the Poetto remains a place people go: to walk, to run, to have a drink looking at the sea. It is one of the things that makes Cagliari different from resort towns, which shut down in winter. If you want to work out which period suits your trip, we cover it in the guide on when to visit Sardinia.
Two rules worth knowing
First: you take nothing home. Sand, pebbles and shells are protected by regional law, checks at the airport and port are real, and the fines are heavy. The white pebble at Mari Pintau is beautiful and has to stay where it is.
Second: access rules change every year. Caps, contributions and dates are revised each season, so the figures on this page should be checked on official channels before you travel. We would rather tell you than have you find a closed gate.
Where to stay to be near the sea
If the sea is the priority, the right area is between the centre and the Poetto: from there the beach is a fifteen-minute bus ride and you are still in the city in the evening. Anyone who wants to wake up with the beach outside can look towards the seafront or the shoreline of Cagliari and Quartu, where houses have more outdoor space.
We manage houses in both areas and the question we get most often is exactly this one: centre or sea? The answer depends on how long you are staying and who is travelling with you. Send us your dates and we will tell you straight.
Where the figures on this page come from
This guide was last updated in August 2026. Fares, timetables and beach access rules change every season, so rather than asking you to take our word for it, here is where we checked: CTM Cagliari for tickets and fares, the CTM notice on the new summer line for the times and dates of the bus to Mari Pintau and Geremeas, the Tuerredda booking service and Villasimius council for Punta Molentis. If you find a figure that no longer holds, tell us and we will correct it: we would rather have a page that is right than one that looks complete.
