The name comes from the residence of the Savoy royalty, who sometimes visited the isolation hospital next to the bay. Cala della Reale, better known as Cala Reale, is a large harbour that meanders into the central-northern part of the eastern coast of Asinara. Here, there is a little port, a docking place for motorboats and vessels arriving from Porto Torres and Stintino, and a village dating back to the 19th century. The buildings, once a criminal colony, isolation hospital, hospital and quarantine station, became headquarters of the managing authority of the Asinara national park (residing in the former royal palace) and of the tourist services. Nearby, the church and the recently restructured little Austrian-Hungarian chapel are worth visiting.