Sardinia has some of the world’s most idyllic beaches. Mile upon mile of pearly-white sands dip into waters of dazzling shades of aquamarine and emerald green. Elsewhere, rugged cliffs plunge into the sea and tiny coves and picturesque harbours beg to be explored. The waters really are swimming-pool-blue — and the sandy coves are often deserted.

Locals says that God created Sardinia by stepping on it with his sandal — and ‘Sandalyon’ (sandal) was the ancient name given to it by the Greeks and Phoenicians. The coastline of almost 1250 miles (2000 km) equates with a quarter of the total Italian coast, indented by tiny coves and picturesque harbours.

Equidistant between the Italian and North African mainlands, Sardinia has always had a distinctive off-shore character. This second-largest island in the Mediterranean (after Sicily) was described by DH Lawrence as ‘lost between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere’, but in high season it is notorious as the HQ of the star-spangled set and their attendant paparazzi on the Costa Smeralda.

For many the ‘Emerald Coast’ is the reason that Sardinia is famous and this is the siren of the beaches. But it remained very neglected until the 1960s when a certain sailor, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, dropped anchor here during a storm. When the skies cleared he was spellbound by the translucent sea and romantic little coves and decided to turn it into one of the most élitist resort in the Mediterranean. But this is only a tiny area of the island’s treasure trove of beaches.

Great swathes of coast remain uninhabited with pines, juniper and prickly pears encircling sandy beaches, sea and granite rocks — just as the Costa Smeralda once was. Paradoxically, for the Sardinians the sea was traditionally synonymous with those who came to plunder – ‘furat chi beit dae su mare’ (‘he who comes from the sea comes to rob’).

Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Catalans, mainland Italians and droves of tourists have all left their mark. But the President of Sardinia, Renato Soru, has made it his task to protect the coastline and the islanders’ traditions and customs from the modern plunderers. His first act was to freeze all building within two kilometres (1.25 miles) of the coast.

Everywhere you go in the Med’s answer to the Caribbean a thick mantle of aromatic herbs, ‘macchia’ (Mediterranean maquis), covers the land and perfumes the air. From top to toe of this ‘sandal’ each area of coast has its own gems. Some are reached by little more than mule tracks, others by car or boat.

1 Spiaggia della Pelosa (Northwest)

Guarded by a Spanish watchtower, La Pelosa is on a headland near Stintino — at the northwestern tip of Sardinia. Flour-fine white sand is lapped by crystalline shallow water in every shade of turquoise and hue of electric blue. Yes, it’s busy in high season, especially with preening Italians who like their beaches sociable.

Drink in the views across to the tiny speck of Piana island and its bigger sister, Asinara — now a national park — but once the site of a high-security jail where bandits and Mafiosi were confined. ‘Asinara’ is named after the island’s unique population of miniature albino donkeys. They, along with falcons, pigs, goats and mouflons (wild sheep) are the only inhabitants on 10-mile long ‘Donkey Island’. The white sandy beaches are beautiful and they are uncrowded as the Parco Nazionale regulates access.

Reach the beach

Spiaggia della Pelosa is one mile north of Stintino with a car park which fills up quickly in high season. Visits are permitted on organised boat tours to Asinara Parco Nazionale.