Olbia

Olbia taxis are white with a TAXI roof sign and a taximeter that the driver is legally required to use. Tariff 1 is the standard daytime rate; Tariff 2 (approximately +25%) applies nights 22:00–06:00, Sundays, and public holidays. Extra charges apply for luggage and additional passengers. The known scam is drivers refusing the meter and quoting a 'fixed price' for short trips into town. Insist on the meter before the doors close. Short hops into town should land around €10–15; Porto Cervo is roughly €70–90 one-way; the airport is a €15–20 ride.

Italy is on the euro. Contactless and chip-and-PIN cards work in restaurants, supermarkets, museum ticket offices, taxis, and at ARST bus-ticket vendors (most tabacchi). Carry €30–60 in small notes for beach concessions in cash-only mode, rural bars, parking pay-stations that reject foreign cards, and the occasional taxi reader that has 'just broken'. Use bank-branded ATMs (Intesa Sanpaolo, BPER, Unicredit, Banco di Sardegna) for fee transparency, and always decline the dynamic-currency-conversion prompt.

The Maddalena archipelago — Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria, and the inhabited island of La Maddalena — is the marquee day trip from Olbia. Practical realization: book a tour that picks up at Olbia or Molo Brin and bus-transfers 40 km north to Palau, where the boat departs. Roughly 9 hours total with 3–4 swim stops in protected anchorages. Tour cost is generally €100–130 per person including lunch onboard. Independent option (bus to Palau, ferry to La Maddalena, taxi/scooter around the island) is cheaper but eats half the day in transit.

Cruise ships dock alongside at Isola Bianca, the same long pier used by the Tirrenia, Moby, and GNV ferries to the Italian mainland. No tendering. The terminal has a covered waiting room, a bar, a small shop, and restrooms. The town center sits about 1.8 km west across a causeway-style road; a free port shuttle covers that gap during call hours. Walking is flat, fine in shoulder season, hot in summer.

The Area Marina Protetta di Tavolara - Punta Coda Cavallo sits just south of Olbia and runs around the dramatic limestone bulk of Tavolara island. Operators based in Porto San Paolo (~15 km from Olbia) run dive boats and snorkel tours into the protected zone. Permitted diving is regulated by the marine park; book through a licensed center the day before, and confirm pickup timing fits your all-aboard. Visibility is best in early summer and September.

The big public beaches on the Costa Smeralda — Liscia Ruja, Spiaggia del Principe, Capriccioli — are free to access by Italian law. Beach concessions on Liscia Ruja rent sunbed-plus-umbrella sets in roughly the €30–60 range per day in season; the higher-end clubs around Cala di Volpe and the Romazzino frontage run well above that. Cheapest move: bring a towel, walk 50 meters past the concession line, swim for free. Costa Smeralda is 25–35 km north of Olbia — taxi, rental car, or bus-then-walk.