Grand Sperone Beach (Bonifacio): tips and photos

Why go to Grand Sperone

Grand Sperone is a curve of white sand about 200 m long, facing due south, on the southern shore of the Sperone headland, at the far south-eastern tip of Corsica. Reddish rocks close it off on both sides. Ahead of you lie the open sea and the coast of Sardinia; to your left, the Lavezzi archipelago.

No road goes down to it. You park at Piantarella, then walk about 25 minutes along the coastal path, passing Petit Sperone on the way. The Bonifacio tourist office says you have to “earn” this beach a little. In return, it gives you more room than its neighbour.

Type of beach: sand, water and swimming

The sand is white and very fine. According to the tourist office, the Sperone beaches have no Posidonia: no banks of dead leaves on the sand. The downside of such fine sand: in an easterly wind it blows everywhere, and you are better off choosing another beach.

Facing south, the beach is in the sun all day. Bring your own shade: the pines that keep the walk cool line the path, not the sand.

Recent averages (2023-2025) from the Open-Meteo Marine dataset, for the grid cell covering Sperone point, give a sea temperature of about 22 °C in June, 25 °C in July, 26 °C in August and 24 °C in September, and still 22 °C in October.

No lifeguard station is listed at Grand Sperone for 2026: the tourist office map shows supervised swimming only at Balistra beach. For the swimming rules, check with the commune. The beach is smoke-free.

The parts of the beach

Grand Sperone is a single curve of sand running from west to east. A narrow path runs along the back of the beach and joins the coastal path coming from Petit Sperone. Above the western end, a green of the Sperone golf course overlooks the sand.

To the east, a cliff runs to Sperone point, about 500 m away, where an old stone navigation marker stands. To the west, bare rocks separate the beach from a tiny unnamed sandy cove, about 150 m away: that is no longer Grand Sperone.

Petit or Grand Sperone beach: which should you choose?

The two beaches are less than 600 m apart as the crow flies, 15 minutes on foot along the path. They have the same fine white sand, but they differ in size and in the direction they face.

Petit Sperone beach faces east, towards the island of Piana. It is a cove about a hundred metres long, ten minutes or so from Piantarella. Grand Sperone faces due south, towards Sardinia, stretches for about 200 m and takes about 25 minutes to reach on foot.

Choose Petit Sperone if you want a short walk, Grand Sperone if you are looking for space and a view of the open sea. The path goes through the first one anyway: you will see it before you decide. And if you would rather not walk at all, Piantarella beach, at the end of the road, lines a shallow lagoon facing the island of Piana.

A beach on the edge of the nature reserve

The sea in front of the beach belongs to the Bouches de Bonifacio nature reserve, and the tourist office counts the Sperone beaches as part of the reserve. The water is also within two Natura 2000 sites, Bouches de Bonifacio, îles des Moines and Îles Lavezzi, Bouches de Bonifacio. Finally, the area is listed in the ZNIEFF inventory of natural areas of ecological interest (Étangs de Piantarella et de Sperono).

The decree that created the reserve forbids leaving litter outside the places provided, damaging the vegetation or collecting minerals. Flying over it below 150 m requires a special permit, and the tourist office’s 2026 map classes the reserve as a no-drone zone. There are bins on the beach; otherwise, take your rubbish away with you.

If you come by boat, anchoring in the reserve is regulated by the maritime prefecture: read its orders before dropping anchor. The tourist office encourages visitors to come on foot instead, to spare the seabed.

When to go

June and September give you a warm sea and days that are less scorching for the walk. In July and August, the car park at the end of the road has few spaces: come early, and walk in the cooler hours.