Golfo di Orosei

The Gulf of Orosei is located on Sardinia's eastern coast. It is a symmetrical arch extending from Capo Nero on the north to Capo Monte Santo on the south.

In their Guida alla Natura della Sardegna (Natural Guide to Sardinia), Fulco Pratesi e Franco Tassi call the Gulf of Orosei "...probably the most beautiful stretch of Italian coast and without a shadow of a doubt, the wildest and steepest."

The coast presents a series of beaches, small inlets, cliffs rising steeply out of the sea, rocky spires and pinnacles, small ravines and large caves. The holm oak forests and Mediterranean vegetation of the interior extend down to the sea.

Centuries-old junipers bent by the wind dot the steep limestone walls. The bays are often outlets to the sea for narrow gorges (called codula in Sardinian) set into the mountains and penetrating inland. On the bottom of the codula is a stream, often dry in summer: along its banks or sides, beautiful oleander and elder groves extend down to the beach, as at Cala Luna.

The Gulf of Orosei is the seafront of the Supramonte: a vast, wild mountain region full of woods and lunar landscapes. On the high, overhanging cliffs, numerous birds of prey make their nests: the rare Eleonora's falcon, the peregrine falcon and the extremely rare Bonelli eagle. Just north of Orosei, the Cedrino River empties into the deep Gulf waters, teeming with fish.