Santa Guilia

The plan was to go to Rondinara Plage as it is reputed to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. However, after a long and tortuous drive along a road full of potholes (one that was large enough to be a well or a tunnel to Australia!), we were confronted with a barrier and a demand for 3.50€ for parking and very quickly decided to head to Santa Guilia instead!



I love Santa Guilia. Coming from Propriano I normally arrive from the north and arrive at the port end. This time as we were was approaching from the south, we ended up at the beach end where I was relieved to find that the parking was free and there were plenty of spaces – hurrah! I also discovered that there is a little market just behind the beach and loungers and caribbean style parasols for hire.



The beach this side had a bit of seaweed on it – perhaps because it was out of season as the beaches are cleaned during the summer, so I headed to the port area. I was glad I’d parked the other side as the road leading down to the port is virtually completely taken up by privately owned parking spaces, so the small free area right in front of the beach was packed.



From here, there is access to two distinctly different beaches. To the left is a sandy beach with a paillote (snack bar) right on the sand serving salads, pizzas, pannini and drinks. The sand here is very fine and the water shallow, and an amazing turquoise blue, so there were lots of families with small children in the water.



To the right is the main beach area and pontoons for the colourful fishing boats and small motorboats. The Restaurant de la Plage lives up to its name sitting directly on the sand. They offer loungers for hire and cocktails on the sand as well as delicious smelling lunches and dinners with a view to die for...