An Undiscovered Paradise
Doesn’t that look great? Well, that’s not what I’m experiencing right now. Wow, what a day! Here we are, mid-March, and our third Nor’easter in 2 weeks! Ok, I have to be honest here. First, the picture below is from a storm we had around the Christmas holidays. However, it represents what I imagine are the conditions in Maine at present. Second, I’m not actually in Maine right now – 
I’m in NYC…and while we are getting a little bit of snow, it’s nowhere near to being a Nor’easter. But given the general conditions, I thought it might be fun to do a post on somewhere warm (especially for my friend, Jim, who hates the cold weather) – in this case, Cavallo Island. You’ve never heard of Cavallo Island? I thought so…and up until a few years ago, neither had I. So, refill your coffee, and read on – I’ll tell you a bit about an amazingly undiscovered little slice of paradise.
A few years ago, we were thinking about what we would do for the summer. Our usual pattern was to visit Europe – picking a few places, trying to spend at least a few days on or near a beach, and trying to limit the number of places so that we didn’t spend all our time getting from place A to place B. We knew we would spend a week with some good friends who own a fantastic converted farmhouse in the Loire Valley. But what to do after that? Originally, the plan was for Greece – neither of us had been to Greece; we love the food and culture; and we really wanted some beach time. However, as we started to plan for the trip, the refugee crisis had hit the Greek islands particularly hard. One of my Greek acquaintances had suggested that it probably wasn’t the best time to explore the Greek islands. Disappointed, I started to research alternatives to Greece that would give us what we wanted – crystal clear, warm Mediterranean waters; access to good food; quiet and relaxing. There were a few candidates, ranging from the Balearic Islands in Spain, to the Croatian coast, to the little islands making up Malta in the south. But nothing seemed quite what we were looking for.
During a weekend of furious googling, I came across an old article about this little island. Located in the Lavezzi Archipelago, between Corsica and Sardinia, Cavallo (pronounced kah-Va-lo, with an emphasis on Va) is the only inhabited
island in the tiny, protected collection of granite islands and reefs. At less than half a square mile in area, Cavallo is only 1.25 miles end to end, and less than 1 mile at its widest. The initial description didn’t sound so great – rocky, few trees, tiny, dry – but the pictures drew me in. The history was interesting – known since Roman times, it was mined extensively for the beautiful granite (used for many statues and buildings in Rome). Over the years, it was variously part of France, and part of Italy. These days there is a kind of truce – it is technically under the jurisdiction of the French (through its territorial region, Corsica), but owned by Italians.
It enjoyed some notoriety in the 70’s as a playground for the rich and famous, then fell out of favor until the last 10 years or so, when new ownership and investment on the island made it attractive once more. While I’m not sure about Europe, it is very un-marketed here – there was almost no information 
about the island, and in part, that’s what attracted us. An undiscovered (well, at least this decade) paradise. We were very intrigued…or at least, I was. My wife loves to travel, but she doesn’t get into the planning process as much as I. Not that she can’t plan – she’s great at it. But Paula is slightly more “go with the flow” than I am. Does it tick her minimum boxes? Yes? Ok, book it. Whereas I like to spend hours comparing different places; reading reviews; considering all the alternatives; and then make what I always believe (in my own mind!) is the best selection one could make! But the searching and planning are all part of the fun for me. After further research we discovered that there was one hotel on the island, one small port, a couple of additional small restaurants, and various villas and homes (some of which could be rented). So not a huge selection for accommodation. But the hotel looked nice (and had good reviews), and the 
beaches…ah the beaches looked stunning… and solitary. This was not a place to “do things”. This was a place to relax, unwind, eat, drink wine, and…just do nothing. In fact, this was exactly what we were looking for. I quickly booked a week, and we started to think about other arrangements. This was not, as we would find, an easy place to get to – and perhaps why it has remained relatively undiscovered.
As the summer vacation neared, we began to get more excited. The first week would be, as I mentioned, with our friends Andy and Jayne, staying at their place in the Loire. We had vacationed with Andy and Jayne before, and
always had a great time. The week at their place was active, and fun. Visiting chateaus, sampling wines, going to country markets – not overwhelmingly busy, but each day had an activity planned. By the end of the week, while we were sad to say goodbye to our friends, we were really looking forward to doing nothing…on the beach. As I mentioned, the logistics of getting to Cavallo were a little more challenging than a direct flight, short cab ride, unpack. We made our way back to Paris by train, then took a relatively short flight to Olbia, the largest city (town?) on Sardinia. From there, we were originally supposed to be flown, by helicopter, to Cavallo. Yes…that’s right – helicopter. Now, before you start thinking that you’ve stumbled across some jet-setting couple that frequently get whisked to their hotels by helicopter, let me explain. You see, the island runway wasn’t quite large enough for our private jet, so…I’m kidding!! Ok, a little more explanation. There are only two ways to get to Cavallo – either by boat, or by helicopter. When we first booked the hotel, the concierge outlined the two 
options. When I inquired about the cost, it turned out that the helicopter charter was offering a discount – $400 per person, including taxi transfer to the heliport at Olbia. The boat option was somewhat less expensive, but not by a lot – $300 per person, including the taxi transfer. So, for an extra $200, we could arrive via helicopter (sounded very “Bond-ish”), and shorten our transfer time by a few hours – yes! we were in! Keeping in mind that the airline cost from Paris to Sardinia was extraordinarily cheap ($50 per person – unbelievable), we quickly rationalized the all-in cost of $450 per person from Paris as being reasonable. Done. Our dreams were, however, dashed a week before our arrival. I hadn’t heard from the helicopter charter we had booked, so called the hotel. “Oh, they stopped doing flights to Cavallo”…What!?? It’s a good thing I called, because nobody thought to tell us of the cancellation. “Not to worry”, she said, “we have an alternative helicopter charter” – $900 per person! Well, there go the jetsetter dreams (and don’t tease me about “someday” and actuating my dreams!). We opted for the taxi/boat transfer. It didn’t turn out so bad – a pleasant 1-hour taxi ride from 
Olbia to the north Sardinian port town of Santa Teresa Gallura, and then an 45-minute boat ride to Cavallo. The taxi driver spoke no English, but Paula understands Italian well, and we enjoyed a pleasant chat, with Paula translating, while he told us about Sardinia. It’s a beautiful island in its own right – rocky, dry, with significant terrain – mountainous areas that plunge to the sea. We both noted that it’s a place worth further exploration (although, sadly, we haven’t returned). We had time to have a lovely drink at the port while waiting for the boat, and a pleasant boat ride to Cavallo. Our week of relaxation was about to begin.
Cavallo turned out to be as good, or even better, than we expected. The one 
hotel, Hotel des Pecheurs, is open seasonally, May through September. It is situated right on the water, with its own beach. Most of the rooms have sea views; a few even have terraces right on the water. The rooms are small, but 
nicely appointed. The hotel itself is well maintained – there is a beautiful beach, a pool, two restaurants (only one open for dinner), and a spa. It is a bit pricey, but you have to realize that, in part, you are paying for the outstanding location. This isn’t a place we would splurge for every year – but it’s worth a splurge for a special occasion. Our bags were picked up at the 
small port, and we were taken to the hotel via golf cart. Oh, I forgot to mention…there are no cars on Cavallo – bikes and golf carts only. Given the small size of the island, it’s not surprising – and it makes the place seem even more remote and quaint. There is a meandering perimeter road around the island, and while much of the island is relatively flat, there is a hill that rises in the center of the island to about 100 ft. We quickly settled into a daily routine. Up early, full breakfast in the hotel dining area (open air, and overlooking the water). Head to the Hotel beach – lounge around, snorkel, enjoy the water – then lunch at the beach café, followed by a bike ride, walk, or golf cart ride to one of the other beaches (there are six on 
Cavallo); back to the Hotel for a nap before dinner; dinner al fresco by the water; early night to bed – then repeat with slight variations. We rented a golf cart one day to explore all the beaches (one of the beaches, Rose beach, was inaccessible to all but residents of the area); we had a couple’s massage outside, in an open-air tent by the pool – but really, it was all 
about…doing nothing. Now for us, that was great – its what we wanted. It’s not for everyone – several of my friends would be climbing the walls – they aren’t good at just relaxing. But we loved it.
The people, as well, were very interesting. Most of the clientele are Italian or French – I think we saw one British couple; and no Americans. From my perspective that was fine – don’t get me wrong, I love Americans (I am one!). But when I’m on vacation in other countries, I’d much rather interact with other cultures, and other people. I remember once I inadvertently booked into a hotel in Europe that turned out to be on the Rick Steve’s itinerary. Who knew this guy has “groupies”! Almost everyone at breakfast were American, clutching their Rick Steves guidebooks and wearing their Rick Steves money wallets, and discussing their itineraries. While it is far afield from what I am sure Rick Steves was trying to encourage (which is – live like a local for a little while), he unfortunately has created these 
trips where, I believe, everyone is living within a Rick Steves bubble. I quickly got out of there. But back to Cavallo. One morning we met this Italian couple at the beach. They seemed interesting, although I noticed he walked a bit awkwardly. “Hi, I am Marco” he said as he smiled and shook my hand. We had a drink with them and learned that they were from northern Italy; that they were staying in Sardinia; and that they decided to come over to Cavallo for part of their trip. Very pleasant chap. The next morning, I was in the water, getting ready to put my snorkeling mask on, and I noticed Marco wading nearby. I smiled at him, and just as I was about to say, “Good morning, Marco”, he smiled, shook my hand, and said “Hi, I am Marco”… hmmm – didn’t we do that yesterday? Was this Groundhog Day? Oh well, perhaps he was a bit tipsy yesterday, met a lot of people, and forgot. The following day we were lounging on the beach, and Marco and his girlfriend took the loungers next to us. He walked over, shook my hand, and said…you guessed it…” Hi, I am Marco”, and proceeded to tell me, once again, about himself. Seeing the look on my face, his girlfriend confided in Paula while we were in 
the water. Apparently, Marco had had a severe skiing accident the winter before; he was recovering, but it was partially a head injury and the result was a loss of short term memory. This explained the odd behavior- and then I began to look forward to meeting Marco again each day, anew – despite the short-term memory loss and recovery, he was always in good spirits and loved to tell me about his life.
Another interesting event happened one day while we were on another one of the beaches – called Greco Beach. It’s a stunning beach set in a wide cove of crystal clear turquoise water – land on three sides. You can see Corsica from the beach. There were only a handful of people on the beach (we found this to be the case with all of Cavallo’s beaches – very few people; you sometimes feel like you have your own private island). I noticed that there was a very large sign indicating, in French and Italian, that this was a protected area, and 
that boats were prohibited from anchoring within the cove. While we were sunbathing, a boat approached, and anchored right in the middle of the cove. There were about 4 people on board – they anchored, broke out the snorkels, and started swimming around the boat. One of the ladies was preparing some lunch. I noticed a couple of people came out of their villas and shouted something at the boat – which was met with casual indifference by the boat people. About 10 minutes later the cops (in this case, the French Gendarmes) showed up at the beach. They were armed with…a whistle. They began shouting and whistling at the boat, pointing out the large sign which clearly prohibited anchoring. The boat people just waived the cops off – again, 
a casual indifference – they were clearly not going to respond to the threat of a whistle. The cops, visibly pissed, left. But about 15 minutes later I spied a boat rapidly approaching on the horizon – the Gendarmes were back, but this time with their own boat! That got the attention of the partygoers – they quickly scrambled back to their boat, but by now, the police boat was alongside. The Gendarmes boarded, and searched the offending boat. I figured the people would get away with a warning, and just be told to push off. But to my surprise, the Gendarmes took the boat people away (To booking? To jail? Sadly, I never found out the end of the story), leaving the offending boat anchored where it was. This little event made my afternoon – a little drama played out as I lazily enjoyed the beach, and a little Schadenfreude.
And so, the week went by, far too quickly. We discovered the “pizza restaurant” towards the end of our trip. La Ferme, situated on the peak point of the island, was a jewel, and way more than a pizza restaurant. We booked a 
late lunch there one day to just get a change from the hotel restaurants. The restaurant sent someone in a golf cart to pick us up. The setting is outstanding – with a magnificent view of the entire island. The food was also outstanding – simple seafood and pasta, with pizza as well (although to be clear, this is more than just a pizza place). We were disappointed that we didn’t discover this place earlier in our trip, as we would have spent more time here. The snorkeling on Cavallo is awesome – crystal clear, warm Mediterranean waters, with many rocky grottoes. It’s very shallow all around the island, making for a pleasant experience for novice snorkelers like me. Before we knew it, the week was at an end and we were headed back to 
Sardinia to begin our trip home. Recently, I came across several articles about an amazing fellow named Mauro Morandi. He is the sole inhabitant of a small island (Budelli) that is very close to Cavallo. Travel and Leisure has an interesting article about him – or just google his name to find more. All in all, one of our most memorable and relaxing trips. Even today, when we talk about our trip to Cavallo with people, the universal response is “Where?”. So, while I do want to keep this place undiscovered (in case I ever go back, I don’t want another Rick Steves groupie experience!), I’m happy to let you in on our little secret.
Where to Stay
This is an easy one, as there is just one hotel on the island, Hotel des Pecheurs (). That said, there are a number of villas and homes scattered around the perimeter of the island, and many of these can be 
rented. There are some apartments near the port that are clearly holiday rentals – while these won’t be expensive, they are not, by any stretch, luxurious. However, Cavallo is one of those places that would be great for a large group of people – chip in and rent one of the villas right on the water – it truly will be memorable. The hotel, however, is great – highly recommended. For villas and rentals, check the usual places (Airbnb, etc.).
Where to Eat
This is another easy one – there are only three restaurants on the Island (not 
counting the little gelato shop near the port) – the hotel restaurants, and La Ferme. All three places, though, are fine. A combination of French and Italian cuisine at the hotel restaurants, with fresh seafood and pasta a specialty. Don’t miss La Ferme – we would have had more meals here if we had known how good it was.
How to Get There
As I said – Helicopter or Boat! Seriously, to get here isn’t easy, and one reason it’s not overrun with tourists. You either make your way to Corsica (Figari Sud Airport) or Sardinia (Olbia Airport). From there you would take a taxi to either Bonifacio (Corsica) or Santa Teresa Gallura (Sardinia). You would then take a boat from either of these ports to Cavallo. If you stay at the hotel, the concierge can make arrangements for you from either Figari or Olbia. I’m sure the helicopter option is still available for you Bond types!
