Geographical location of the Scandola nature reserve
The Scandola nature reserve is situated on the west coast of Corsica, roughly 15kms to the north of Porto (above the gulf of Girolata). Only accessible by the sea, the Scandola nature reserve is a wild and totally protected site.
Tourist attraction of the Scandola nature reserve
It’s part of the UNESCO world heritage. The richness of its flora and fauna is exceptional...and much protected. It’s strictly forbidden to walk,
fish, dive and cut plants. This site can be seen only by boat which is quite expensive (26€). The boat gets quite close to the coast in order to see curious
geological formations : strange cliffs, upside down volcanic rocks…on the animal side, there are supposed to be fishing buzzards
, the largest bat in Europe, the Audouin seagull, the European shag and lots of other birds species that we didn’t get a chance
to see during the boat trip ! In fact the boat trip, after an hour or so becomes quite tedious...it actually lasts for 3h30 !!! On the return journey, there is a 30 min
stop at the village of Girolata. Nothing special here apart from its isolated nature (no roads, only access via a footpath and from the sea). From the
sea, you are welcomed by lots of souvenir sellers in small wooden boats on the beach, selling t-shirts and all sorts of other bric a brac. A real tourist trap !!!
To resume, I was really disappointed by this sea trip for several reasons. The price is excessive, it’s boring (contemplating rocks for 3 hours is a bit much !)
and to crown it all the famous village of Girolata isn’t particularly interesting and only serves to help us spend more money...