Île de Booty: Corsica Gay Sailing (August 14-21, 2027)

Description

Starting Port City: Ajaccio, Corsica

Ending Port City: Ajaccio, Corsica

Travel advice: fly into Ajaccio Napoléon Bonaparte Airport (AJA), then taxi (~5-6km, 15-20min) or bus into central Ajaccio (~20-30min) with a short hop to the marina from there.

Planned Itinerary

(subject to change, for example due to weather)

Day 1 (SAT): Ajaccio

• Embarkation: After 18:00 at a marina in Ajaccio. Welcome drinks and safety briefing with the Bare Waves crew.
• Attractions: Stroll Ajaccio’s old town, birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, past the citadel and harbourfront cafés.
• Evening/Night: dinner in old town, drinks at cosy café-bar near the old town, popular with Ajaccio’s queer and creative crowd. Spend your first night on board.

Day 2 (SUN): Ajaccio to Cala di Conca via Cala d’Orzu

• Sail south past Capu di Muru to Cala d’Orzu, a wild, pine-backed cove reachable only by sea, for a lunch stop and the trip’s first swim. The coves along this stretch see so few visitors that bare sunbathing goes largely unremarked.
• Continue to Cala di Conca, a secluded anchorage tucked into the unspoilt Sartenais coastline.
• Evening/Night: sundowners on deck and dinner/night on anchor.

Day 3 (MON): Cala di Conca to Cala di Stagnolu via Cala d’Argent

• Sail on to Cala d’Argent in the Golfe de Murtoli, a quiet silver-sand cove with no road access, for a lunch stop away from the crowds.
• Continue to Cala di Stagnolu, a sheltered bay held behind a dune line just short of Bonifacio.
• Gay/Nude Beaches: Stagnolu is one of the south coast’s known naturist anchorages, popular for its calm, sandy-bottomed water. Night on anchor.

Day 4 (TUE): Cala di Stagnolu to Bonifacio

• A short morning sail into Bonifacio’s spectacular fjord-like harbour, limestone cliffs rising straight from the sea.
• Attractions: Spend the afternoon exploring the citadel, the Bastion de l’Étendard, and the King of Aragon’s Staircase cut into the cliff face.
• LGBTQ+ Friendly Spot: Bonifacio’s harbourfront bars for a lively night out beneath the old town walls.

Day 5 (WED): Bonifacio to Tizzano

• Optional Activity: Early risers can hike the Cap Pertusato trail before casting off — an easy cliff-top walk from Bonifacio’s old town to the lighthouse, with views over the strait to Sardinia.
• Sail back west along the coast to the bay around Tizzano, a small, sheltered fishing hamlet known for some of the best sunsets on this stretch of coast.
• Gay/Nude Beaches: The quieter southern end of the bay is popular for bare sunbathing, away from the handful of day-trippers.

Day 6 (THU): Tizzano to Portigliolo

• Short sail north to Portigliolo, one of southern Corsica’s longest beaches at nearly 4km of fine sand in the Gulf of Valinco.
• Gay/Nude Beaches: Portigliolo has its own naturist area toward the mouth of the Rizzanese river, an easy stretch of sand to call your own.
• Evening: Optional dinner ashore in Propriano’s harbour town, or stay aboard for a relaxed dinner on deck.

Day 7 (FRI): Propriano to Ajaccio via Plage du Ruppione

• Sail north toward Ajaccio, stopping at Plage du Ruppione for a lunch break and one last skinny dip before the ride home.
• Continue into the Gulf of Ajaccio, retracing the wake of your first day out.
• Evening/Night: Wind down with sunset drinks in Ajaccio’s marina before the final night aboard.

Day 8 (SAT): Disembarkation in Ajaccio

• Before 09:00: Disembark after breakfast.
• Exchange contact info with your new besties and head off with a week of stories.

What’s Included?

About this Trip’s Catering

For this trip, we will collect a kitty and ask each person to make an initial contribution of €350 upon arrival – we will either top it up along the way if we need, or we will refund any remaining balance at the end to everyone.  The caterer will also be the “minister of finance” and manage the kitty on this trip.  We’ll send a food & drink preferences questionnaire prior to the start of the trip, so we can ensure we stock up on items you like and take any dietary restrictions into consideration.

What’s paid out of the kitty:

• Meals on board (catered) and ashore (3 dinners planned at restaurants ashore*) + supplies for our trip (eg: cleaning items, trash bags, etc.)
• Beer, wine, spirits, water, juice, and soft drinks
• Marina fees for any visits along the way (Saturday and Friday nights in the “home” marina are already included in the trip cost)

What’s not included in the kitty:

• Shore excursions or entertainment
• Personal items not intended for the use of the whole group

*We plan to enjoy three meals ashore during the trip. If the group prefers a lunch ashore instead of dinner, or if weather or harbor conditions require it, we may adjust the plan accordingly.