La Pelosa's sand shelves so gradually into the Golfo dell'Asinara that the turquoise water looks lit from below even on an overcast day, with the small 16th-century Aragonese watchtower on its offshore islet completing a view that regularly tops lists of Italy's best beaches.
That fame is exactly the problem: unmanaged crowds and erosion pushed the comune of Stintino to cap daily access with timed, numbered reservations, a system considered a model for other overwhelmed Italian beaches. The uninhabited island of Asinara, a former penal colony turned national park, is visible just offshore, its wild horses and abandoned prison buildings a striking contrast to the beach's manicured turquoise.
