Alghero
Alghero Geography & Climate
Geography
Alghero sits on a wide bay on the north-west coast, with a sheltered harbour and some of the most dramatic coastline on the island immediately north of it.
The bay and the headland
The town occupies a low rocky promontory on the southern side of its bay. North of it the coast swells out into Capo Caccia, a mass of white limestone dropping vertically into the sea for well over a hundred metres, and encloses Porto Conte, a bay so deep and sheltered that the Romans called it the Port of Nymphs.
Limestone and caves
Capo Caccia is riddled with caves, formed when sea levels were lower and now partly flooded. Neptune's Grotto is the famous one, entered at sea level, with a salt lake inside it. Divers use several others, including the Nereo cave, among the largest submerged sea caves in the Mediterranean.
Coral
The rocky shelf offshore supports Corallium rubrum, the red coral that gave this coast its name and the town a craft. It grows slowly on shaded rock at depth and is now tightly regulated, having been heavily over-fished.
Birds and a lake
The cliffs of Capo Caccia hold one of Italy's last colonies of griffon vultures. Inland, Lago di Baratz is the only natural lake in Sardinia — every other one on the island is a reservoir.
Offshore and north
Two islets sit under the headland: Foradada, pierced by a natural tunnel, and Isola Piana. North of Capo Caccia the coast runs on past Argentiera, a silver-mining village abandoned in the 1960s and left standing — washhouses, winding gear and workers' rows above a beach, one of the strangest places on the island.
Behind the coast
The Nurra, a low plain of vine, olive and scrub, runs inland towards Sassari.
Climate Patterns
Alghero has a mild Mediterranean climate, moderated by being on the west coast of an island and exposed to the open sea.
Summer
July and August are warm and dry, with highs usually between 29 and 32°C — a degree or two below Cagliari and noticeably less oppressive, because the sea breeze here is constant and the humidity lower than on the eastern side of the island.
Winter
Winters are mild and wet. January highs run around 14 to 15°C, frost is rare on the coast, and the countryside is green from November to May.
Wind
The maestrale off the north-west dominates. It blows hard and often, and the whole coast is shaped by it — the trees lean, the cliffs are scoured, and the sea can turn over very quickly. It is why Capo Caccia boat trips are cancelled as often as they are, and why this coast is good for sailing and hard for swimming on the wrong day.
Rain
Around 550 millimetres a year, concentrated October to March, with summer effectively dry.
Spring and the light
April and May are the best-kept part of the Alghero year: the Nurra is green and flowering, the maestrale eases, and the light on the west-facing walls in the evening is the reason people photograph this town rather than any other in Sardinia.
The sea
Swimmable from late May into October. The bay is sheltered and shallow at the northern beaches; the water off the cliffs is deep and cold by comparison.