iGV Club Santaclara

English, German, French and Italian are spoken by the hotel team, so you can deal with the practical details in English from the start. That matters when the question is about a transfer, a late meal or where to find the beach towels, rather than the finer points of Sardinian small talk.

iGV Club Santaclara is a resort for a stay built around the coast rather than a small-town hotel routine. You have a direct sandy beach, outdoor spaces, a pool with its own bar and an all-inclusive formula. Families have plenty laid on, while couples can keep the day simple: breakfast, water, a few hours outside, then dinner on the terrace.

The resort has 162 rooms, a wellness centre and a gym, with entertainment ranging from live music and film nights to themed dinners and evening activities. It is a fairly sociable setup, not a hideaway where the loudest event is a spoon landing in a coffee cup.

You stay in Porto Pollo, Italy, on Sardinia’s northern coast, with direct access to a sandy beach equipped with sun loungers and parasols. The resort is around 5 miles from Palau, so you are close enough for a trip into town without being based in its streets.

The coastline does the heavy lifting here. Porto Pollo Beach is about 1.2 miles away, Spiaggia Residence Blue Corner around 0.7 miles, and the Parco Nazionale Arcipelago della Maddalena roughly 4.3 miles away. Boats for the Maddalena Islands leave from Palau harbour, making the town useful for more than an evening wander.

You have a few places to eat nearby, including Il Maestrale at about 1 mile, while a bar or café requires a little more movement, with options around 2 to 3 miles away. Surrau railway station is roughly 3.4 miles from the resort; for most dive-and-beach stays, a car will be the more practical tool.

The rooms are Mediterranean in style, with tiled floors, air conditioning, a private bathroom and a large balcony. Some look towards the swimming pool, while others face the surrounding countryside. After a day in a wetsuit, that balcony gives you somewhere to sit, let the day cool down and deal with the ordinary business of drying clothes without turning the room into a laundry cupboard.

For two adults, the Double Room with its king-size bed is the straightforward choice. Families can move up to the larger quadruple arrangement, while the triple option is shaped around two adults and one child. The family rooms, children’s pool, kids’ club, playground equipment and babysitting service make the resort easier to manage when the whole household is travelling, although there are no extra beds available.

Inside, you have a wardrobe, clothes rack, seating area, desk, flat-screen television and a minibar. Air conditioning is the useful detail when Sardinian heat has followed you back from the sea. Daily housekeeping, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer are also covered, and room service is available when the sensible evening plan is to stay put.

The all-inclusive formula covers breakfast, lunch and dinner, with drinks included in the full-board arrangement. Breakfast comes as a buffet with pastries, cereals and fruit juice, served on a terrace overlooking the sea. It is the sort of start that lets you build a proper plate before heading out, rather than discovering halfway through the morning that one croissant was optimistic planning.

The Main Restaurant works in an air-conditioned indoor dining room and serves international dishes at all three meals. For something more recognisably Italian, the Pizzeria serves pizza and other Italian specialities at an outdoor terrace during lunch and dinner. The choice is therefore not just buffet or starvation: you can change the setting and the style of the meal.

There is one named bar, the Pool Bar, beside the main outdoor pool. Cocktails and other drinks are served there, while the resort also has a snack bar, a coffee house and a minibar in the rooms. Special-diet menus, children’s meals and a child-friendly buffet are available, and dinner on the terrace can be arranged through reception.

The main outdoor pool comes with a bar in the water, which is a useful arrangement when your ambitions for the afternoon stop at sitting down without sand sticking to everything. There is also a children’s pool, pool and beach towels, sun umbrellas and loungers. The direct beach access gives you a second place to spend the day, with kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing, windsurfing and other water sports available on site.

When dry land wins, you can use the gym, join fitness classes, play tennis or table tennis, try archery and hire a bicycle. Walking, cultural excursions and boat trips to the La Maddalena Archipelago are also part of the programme. Some activities, including bicycle hire and certain water sports, are chargeable; the important point is that you have options beyond the same sunbed becoming a permanent address.

The Wellness Center offers massages and beauty treatments, with body treatments, facials, manicures, pedicures and a sauna also available. Evenings can bring live music, film nights, comedy, broadcasts of live sport or a themed dinner, while the shared lounge and games room cover the less energetic version of post-dive recovery.

Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport is about 25 miles away, with a driving time of roughly 44 minutes. An airport shuttle is available as a paid service and should be arranged with the hotel. Car hire is also available, which is useful if you want to reach Palau, explore the surrounding beaches or make the most of the island beyond the resort.

Check-in starts from 17:00 and check-out runs until 10:00. The front desk operates around the clock, with concierge service, a tour desk, luggage storage and private check-in and check-out. Nearby public parking is free, and the resort also has laundry and ironing services for the practical aftermath of several days beside the sea.

Wi-Fi is available at the resort, and Visa and Mastercard are accepted; cash is not accepted. Children of all ages are welcome, with cots available on request, subject to the selected accommodation. Pets are not allowed.