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On board Cassiopea in the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Asinara National Park
Asinara Island is in the North-west side tip of Sardinia. Its surface is 52 km² of uncontaminated nature.
Thanks to its fascinating variety of flora and fauna species Asinara National Park was established in 1997 and the Marine Protected Area in 2002. For this reason there are some areas named “Zone A” where the access is absolutely forbidden for the species protection.
Flora and Fauna
You will see everywhere the only inhabitants of the island: white and grey donkeys, mouflons, horses and wild boars. Among the birds the most symbolic are the Audouin’s Gull, the Peregrine Falcon, the Shag, etc.; with massive migratory birds in Spring and Autumn.
In relation to the Flora, the most typical plants of the island are the Centaurea Horrida, Limonium, Euphorbia, Erodium Corsicum, Juniper, etc. According to the season, they completely change the landscape and the colours of the island.
In the clear waters of the marine area there is a big expanse of Posidonia Oceanica (sea grass meadow) which provides an ideal habitat for the Noble Pen Shell (Pinna Nobilis) and for hundreds species of fish (Dusky Grouper, Snapper, Sea Bream, Pike, etc.). Besides National Park is part of the Cetacean Sanctuary, you can see very often common dolphins, fin whales and sperm whales.
Because of its strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea, the island has always been a dock and a rest area, but also a place conquered by many coming from every part of the Mare Nostrum. A lot of archaeological monuments tell us about these ( a Domus de Janas in Campo Perdu, the Castellaccio near to Fornelli, a Roman shipwreck in Cala Reale,…) and you can still visit them.
For centuries shepherds and fishermen lived in the island until 1885, when the King Umberto I established a penal colony and a quarantine station for infectious diseases. However, the island became famous in the Seventies when the high security prison was established. For more than thirty years, different kind of prisoners were brought there: terrorists, politicians, members of Camorra and Mafia.
For that reason the natural beauties and the specific biodiversity of the island are, absurdly, still preserved.
With Cassiopea, a sailing boat completely made by wood, you can sail along the Asinara coasts to discover its shapes, colours, fragrances and its landscapes.
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