Corsica · Practical

Three Boats Out of Corsica, and What They Actually Sell

Scandola is skirted, not entered. Lavezzi gives you thirty minutes ashore. And one of our three boats did not sail at all, which turned out to be the most useful of the three.

Boat trips are the largest single line in most Corsican budgets after the accommodation, and they are sold with a vagueness that would not survive in any other category. Here is what we paid, what was on board, and what each formula does and does not include.

Lavezzi, half a day from Bonifacio — €190 for two

Corse Nautic Escape, booked a week ahead, August 2026. €190 for two, drinks included. Twelve passengers on board. Three anchorages — Piana, Lavezzi, and one near Sperone — and thirty minutes ashore on the Lavezzi beach.

The parking arrangement, stated exactly. The operator has a negotiated parking rate, and it is usable on the return from the trip. Not on arrival. That is a meaningful difference in a town where parking is the hardest part of the day, and it is not the same thing as “parking included”. Do not book on the second understanding.

What the formula sells is the sea, not the island. Half a day buys you three swims and a beach. The Sémillante cemeteries, the lighthouse and the paths across Lavezzi stay out of reach at that duration. If what you want is the island, this is the wrong product and no amount of good weather will fix it.

What the law actually says about going ashore there

This is worth knowing before you choose an operator, because it explains why every itinerary looks the same.

The Bouches de Bonifacio reserve was created by a decree of September 1999, and that decree bars going ashore, or moving about on foot, inside its reinforced protection perimeters.

Three places are excepted: Lavezzi, the Pyramide islet and the island of Piana. Even on those, you are held to the beaches and the waymarked paths. The Bruzzi peninsula is a narrower case again — you may move about and stop there on the same terms, but landing is not one of the exceptions. Diving anywhere inside the reserve needs an individual authorisation, on terms the maritime prefect sets.

So going ashore at Lavezzi is a regulated exception rather than a right, and staying on the beach and the marked paths is the condition attached to it. Operators are not being unimaginative when they all put you on the same sand. That is the sand you are allowed on.

Porto to Girolata — €75 a head, and a language problem

Porto Aventure Évasion, from Porto, August 2026. €75 per person. Ten passengers and the captain. The route runs past the foot of the Capo Rosso cliffs, stops to swim, works along the Scandola coast, and puts you ashore at Girolata for thirty minutes. It moves fast and it is genuinely exhilarating in places, and it was fine for a six-year-old on board.

Scandola is skirted, not entered. We are writing that in plain words because a great many operators leave it ambiguous, and the ambiguity is commercially useful to them. The boat runs the cliffs closely enough to see the rock and the nesting sites properly. What you are buying is a viewpoint from the water. You are not buying access to the reserve, and nobody sells that.

Now the part that matters if you are reading this in English. Our captain did not speak English well. There was some English — a few of the stories, an eagle’s nest pointed out — but not much of it, and there was nothing in German for a German family who were also on board. The commentary is essentially in French.

That is not a reason to avoid the trip, which was excellent. It is a reason to ask which language the commentary is in before you book, and to weight the answer according to whether you are there for the coast or for what is being said about it. Operators along this coast differ on this, and the difference is invisible on a booking page.

The counterweight, because it is also true: our captain handed round Saint Lucy’s eyes she had found in the water herself. It is a small boat run by somebody who cares about it, and that came through the language barrier without difficulty.

The boat that did not sail

The third one. Cap Agriates, Saint-Florent to Saleccia, cancelled at short notice for sea state. Not a marginal call — the sea was genuinely up.

The refund landed straight back on the card, with no phone call and no argument, because the booking and the payment had both gone through online.

That is the rule to take from this page. Book the boat online and pay online. Crossings on this coast are cancelled regularly through the summer, and the channel you booked through is what determines whether the money comes back by itself or becomes your problem on a Tuesday morning in a foreign language. It is a risk decision dressed up as an administrative one.

Four questions before you book any of them

How long are we ashore? Thirty minutes and an hour are different products at similar prices. This is the single question that most changes what you get.

What language is the commentary in? Ask directly. “English spoken” on a listing is not an answer.

Does the boat enter Scandola or run along it? The honest answer is: run along it. If an operator implies otherwise, that tells you something.

Is there a parking arrangement, and when does it apply? On arrival, or on return, are not the same offer.

Method. Fares, passenger numbers and timings above were paid and recorded in August 2026 and are not quoted as current prices. The reserve regulations are taken from the decree of 23 September 1999 creating the Bouches de Bonifacio nature reserve, checked on 15 August 2026; access rules on this coast are reissued and amended, so confirm the current position before you travel.