Crystal clear emerald green water, countless gleaming white coves and bays, unique granite rock formations carved out over millennia by the wind, craggy mountains overgrown with primeval vegetation, plus the aromatic and omnipresent maquis: that's Costa Smeralda, one of the world's most exciting natural environments. This coastal resort area has been renowned as a haunt of the wealthy and beautiful international jet-set since the 1960s when this unspoiled, pristine region was discovered and popularized by Aga Khan. A vigilant consortium ensures that luxury resort hotels, yacht marinas and villas with security guards do not overrun the natural beauty of the landscape but instead harmonize with it. Nearly all buildings on Costa Smeralda are made of indigenous materials such as granite and other rock.

Porto Cervo, Costa Smeralda's nerve center, offers large parks, elegant boutiques and exciting nightlife. A stroll down to the marina to gawk at the Mediterranean's most lavish yachts is de rigeur as is a visit to Stella Maris, a church containing a painting that is thought by many experts to be an El Greco. Just a twenty minute drive south of Porto Cervo lies the exquisite bay of Porto Rotondo, which is a small but well known tourist center. The coastal road offers incomparably beautiful panoramic views of the bluish green shimmering sea, steep cliffs, offshore islands and the spectacular forms of antediluvian mountains.

Whether you're looking for peace and quiet in spectacular natural surroundings, or excitement, luxury and entertainment, Costa Smeralda has just the right mix, made of the choicest ingredients!