Wild Boar Beach, a secret cove near Cala Longa
There are beaches everyone knows by name and others that you eventually end up naming yourself. Ours lies just north of Cala Longa, in the countryside around Bonifacio. On the maps, it is difficult to find an official name for it. To us, it will always be Wild Boar Beach. We first discovered it one August day when the sky was grey and the atmosphere felt almost autumnal. We had the beach almost entirely to ourselves, apart from a few wild boars that had decided to keep us company. The nickname has stayed with us ever since. Over the years, this little cove has become one of our favourite places to put on a mask and snorkel and discover the underwater world, far from the bustle of the better-known beaches of Southern Corsica.
A tiny hidden beach in the Cala Longa area
To understand the charm of this beach, you first have to forget the image of a vast stretch of perfectly smooth white sand. The scenery here is much more rugged. The sand is not particularly fine, rocks are an important part of the landscape and the Corsican maquis comes almost all the way down to the sea. That is precisely what gives the place its character. It belongs to the Cala Longa area, where a series of small beaches and coves follow one another along the coastline. The Bonifacio Tourist Office lists five beaches in the area and describes a coastal path running between the Mediterranean Sea and the maquis. This coastline also lies within the Bouches de Bonifacio Nature Reserve, helping to explain why it remains so remarkably unspoilt.
Access to our “Wild Boar Beach” is via a small path that can be spotted fairly easily by studying the coastline on Google Maps. You have to be prepared to search a little and walk for a few minutes, which probably discourages some visitors. Even in the middle of August, we have never seen more than four or five families there at the same time. A few beautiful houses can be glimpsed through the vegetation above the cove, but once you reach the water, what you notice most is the silence, broken only by the regular sound of the sea against the rocks and the wind moving through the maquis.
Mask and snorkel: one of our favourite spots in Southern Corsica
It is probably underwater that this little beach reveals its greatest appeal. The rocks may seem less inviting if all you are looking for is perfect sand, but they become fascinating the moment you put on a mask. We regularly return here for snorkelling in Southern Corsica, with nothing more than fins, a mask and a snorkel, and there is no need to swim very far from the shore. The rocks create small areas, crevices and passages where it quickly becomes addictive to watch the marine life moving around you.
Some days inevitably remain more memorable than others. In the summer of 2026, we spotted a moray eel, rays and even a grouper, alongside all the smaller Mediterranean fish that you gradually learn to recognise after spending enough time in the water. Seeing a grouper while snorkelling, only a few dozen metres from your beach towel, is one of those small moments that immediately makes you want to put your head back underwater.
That is also what distinguishes this cove from more conventional beaches. You do not necessarily come here to spread your towel over perfect white sand. You come to explore, swim between the rocks, follow a fish for a few metres, get out of the water and then jump back in twenty minutes later because someone thinks they have spotted something. Being within the Bouches de Bonifacio Nature Reserve makes the experience even more meaningful and is also a reminder of how important it is to respect this fragile environment.
A beach that reminds us why we love staying in Sotta
The story of this beach sums up quite well the way we like to discover Southern Corsica. The first time we came here was in August on a rather gloomy day. Not exactly the weather you dream of for a day at the beach. And yet, it was precisely those conditions that gave us one of our favourite memories: an empty cove, an unusual grey light over the Mediterranean and those famous wild boars that gave the place its name in our family vocabulary.
From Bella Sotta, Cala Longa is one of those outings we particularly enjoy because we can reach the Bonifacio coastline without having to cross Porto-Vecchio. We head south towards Bonifacio before turning towards the countryside and the eastern coast. The contrast is part of the pleasure: we leave the peaceful maquis around Sotta and, not long afterwards, find ourselves beside a coastline that feels completely different from the large beaches around Porto-Vecchio. This is also one of the advantages of choosing a villa rental in Southern Corsica located between Porto-Vecchio, Figari and Bonifacio: you can easily explore different stretches of coastline and completely different atmospheres without turning every outing into a full-day expedition.
There is one practical consideration to keep in mind during summer: parking around Cala Longa can be difficult. There are relatively few spaces along the road and in the small parking areas. This is exactly the kind of place where leaving Sotta early in the morning can completely change the experience. Once you have found the little path and settled down by the water, the atmosphere bears little resemblance to the crowds found on the most famous beaches of Southern Corsica.
And if you feel like extending the day, the main Cala Longa beach is just nearby. A new restaurant, La Crique de Cala Longa, has replaced the much simpler, slightly bohemian atmosphere we remember from years ago. The place is now considerably more sophisticated. We have not tried it yet, so we cannot give a personal recommendation, but it could be worth discovering after a morning spent snorkelling around the coves.
Getting there from Bella Sotta
From Bella Sotta, allow approximately 36 minutes by car, plus a few minutes to park and walk down to the cove. In July and August, we recommend going in the morning, both to make parking easier and to enjoy a sea that is often calmer and particularly pleasant for snorkelling. Outside the peak season or towards the end of the day, the atmosphere becomes even more peaceful and the light falling across the rocks is reason enough to make the trip.
It is one of the outings we particularly enjoy from our villa in Sotta: close enough to visit without planning an entire day, yet discreet enough to retain that feeling of discovering a little corner of Southern Corsica away from the most obvious tourist routes. And if you happen to spot a wild boar at the edge of the maquis when you arrive, you will now understand why, for us, this beach has a name.