Fine, white sand as soft as talcum powder, crystal-clear turquoise water, a little corner of paradise that you can only reach by boat (with limits) to protect and safeguard both the environment and its very survival. This is the spectacular Cavaliere beach, or Cavalieri, in Maddalenean dialect. It is less celebrated but just as marvellous as the ‘prohibited gem’, the adjacent Spiaggia Rosa, or Pink Beach, the setting for the 1964 Michaelangelo Antonioni movie Red Desert, which helped bring fame to Budelli, an enchanting island in the Maddalena Archipelago National Park.

The beach sits on the north-eastern side of the island, has an almost oval shape and faces the Porto della Madonna, a gorgeous stretch of water between Budelli and the nearby twin islands of Razzoli and Santa Maria. Its location between the three islands shields it from strong currents and thus creates a natural pool of an amazingly transparent emerald colour.