Rock Climbing and Sport Climbing in Cala Gonone

Cala Gonone has long been established as one of the main sport climbing areas in Sardinia and as such attracts many International visitors. Nestled along the rugged coastline of Sardinia, this picturesque seaside town is a paradise for rock climbers. With its towering cliffs and crystal-clear waters, Cala Gonone offers a wide variety of sport routes to suit climbers of all abilities. The majority of the climbing here is single pitch sport routes, offering many different styles from slabs, steep walls and fierce overhangs on hard limestone rock.

There is also some climbing close to the sea at places such as Biddiriscottai, Grotta dei Colombi, Millennium and Cala Luna. Millenium is a huge, impressive cave full of tufas that has been likened to the Grande Grotta on Kalymnos. Here the routes range from F6a to F8c+, though the majority of the routes are in the F6’s and F7’s.

There is also some multi-pitch rock climbing to be found in Cala Gonone. Grotta dei Colombi crag has fully bolted multi-pitch routes up to 210m long in the F6b to F6c grade range. La Poltrona and Biddiriscottai are both popular crags where all the routes are fully bolted across a wide range of grades.

What rock climbing guidebooks are available for Cala Gonone? There are 3 very different guidebooks available covering the rock climbing at Cala Gonone.

The Supramonte rock climbing guidebook is a selective guidebook covering 12 of the best crags in Cala Gonone. It also covers some single pitch crags around Urzulei, Oliena, and Lanaitto in the Supramonte Mountains that are quieter than those in Cala Gonone, but the quality is just as good.

The Eastern Sardinia Crags Guidebook is a selective guidebook covering 15 of the best crags in Cala Gonone. It also covers many more crags around Baunei, Jerzu, and Ulassai.

The Sardinia Trad and Multi-Pitch Rock Climbing Guidebook is a selective guidebook covering some of the bolted multi-pitch routes around Cala Gonone. It also covers many bolted and trad multi-pitch routes across the whole of Sardinia, including big routes in the Supramonte Mountains that are close by.

Buy all of these guidebooks for Cala Gonone from our shop.

When is the best time to climbing at Cala Gonone?  The best time to go rock climbing in Cala Gonone is from the autumn through to the spring as it is just too hot in the summer months.

What gear is required for climbing at Cala Gonone?   For the majority of the single pitch sport routes a single 60m rope and up to 16 quickdraws will be sufficient. For the bolted multi-pitch routes a single 70m rope plus a few extra slings will usually be sufficient, though some routes do require double ropes.

There are many other excellent rock climbing areas near Cala Gonone such as the granite bouldering near Nuoro and big wall multi-pitch routes up to 400m long in the Supramonte Mountains just to the west of Dorgali.