LADY LARISA
SANLORENZO SX88 Built by Sanlorenzo in 2018, LADY LARISA combines contemporary Italian design with versatile living spaces and a seamless connection to the water. Exterior
THE EYB COUNTRY GUIDES · Italy
Check ownership, your proposed base and La Maddalena permission before arranging the sea trial and handover.
Planning buying a boat Sardinia should connect the yacht inspection with the place you intend to keep and use it. Viewings around Olbia, Cagliari and La Maddalena still need ownership, technical-paper and berth checks before completion. This guide adds verified northern-island examples to the national purchase framework: Palau's municipal allocation procedure and La Maddalena National Park's authorisations. It does not invent market prices, vacancy rates or typical paperwork delays for the island.
Use the guide to prepare enquiries for the seller, harbour office, trial skipper and registration desk. The advice covers a private purchase and distinguishes a marina place from protected-area permission. Tax status, survey scope and any proposed commercial operation need their own documented checks before you commit to the boat. For anything this guide does not cover, email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information.
Key facts at a glance
Palau allocates staying and temporary users chronologically after resident and nautical-operator allocations, subject to availability in each category.
Comune di Palau, updated 27 Apr 2026 ·Codice della nautica da diporto, article 19, requires the ownership title, EU conformity declaration and power declaration for the installed engine or engines for its standard imbarcazione registration route.
Normattiva, Codice della nautica da diporto, article 19, updated 22 Dec 2020 ·Codice della nautica da diporto, article 17, requires registered-unit ownership transactions to be recorded in ATCN and annotated on the navigation licence within 60 days of the deed, or 120 days if the interested party resides abroad.
Normattiva, Codice della nautica da diporto, article 17, updated 10 May 2026 ·La Maddalena's official tariff platform lists €3.00 per linear metre for a 1-day recreational permit for boats from 10.01 m to 24 m.
La Maddalena National Park, permit tariffs ·La Maddalena National Park states that payments to the authority are accepted only through PagoPA.
La Maddalena National Park, authorisations ·Section 1
Assess the yacht and its proposed base together. A boat in Olbia, Cagliari or La Maddalena can be viewed where it lies, but that does not establish a new owner's berth allocation. Ask the harbour or marina for a written offer naming the boat, its dimensions and your dates. This is a practical purchase check, not a claim about regional vacancy rates. Keep the offer separate from the seller's berth bill so you can see which arrangements actually apply to you.
Palau's municipal harbour illustrates why a local allocation process matters. It reserves places for residents and nautical operators, then addresses staying and temporary users after those allocations. The published process is not a guarantee that a buyer who can pay a tariff will receive a place. Read the application category before treating a harbour as your intended long-term base. If the sale depends on keeping the yacht there, seek the office's explicit decision before fixing the completion and delivery arrangements.
Resident arrangements at Palau also have a length restriction and a defined submission route. The municipality requires a complete request through certified electronic mail, or posta elettronica certificata (PEC), to its protocol address. It excludes applications sent early or to other email addresses. Prepare the documents before the applicable opening time and follow the current notice. A useful base plan is a confirmed local offer with its conditions, rather than an assumption that buying a yacht transfers someone else's position in the allocation process.
Broker tip: Ask the proposed base for an offer in your own name, with your yacht's dimensions and intended stay. Keep the harbour's allocation or reservation confirmation alongside the purchase planning rather than relying on the seller's account. Our guide on how to buy a boat in Italy covers a related point.
Boat on a marina berth being prepared for sale.
Choosing a base
Section 2
Sardinia uses the national recreational boating framework; it does not replace the title and registration checks with a separate island purchase document. Start by asking the seller for ownership evidence and the boat's current navigation and technical papers. For an Italian registration application, the Codice della nautica da diporto, Legislative Decree 171/2005, article 19, identifies the ownership title, conformity declaration and installed-engine power documents. Ask the handling office which route applies to an already registered yacht versus one entering Italian registration.
Foreign registration changes the document discussion. Article 19 addresses CE-marked craft arriving from another European Union state and the deregistration evidence needed for Italian entry. Where that country does not provide registration, the owner's specified declaration replaces the cancellation certificate. A boat without CE marking follows the applicable technical-attestation route. Give the office the yacht's actual history and documents before agreeing that its paperwork is complete. Do not equate a convenient Sardinian viewing location with an Italian flag or verified tax history.
Arrange responsibility for recording an Italian registered sale before the parties sign. Article 17 requires the ownership transaction to be recorded in the central telematic archive and annotated on the navigation licence within the applicable deadline. The archive is the Archivio telematico centrale delle unità da diporto (ATCN); submissions are handled through a Sportello telematico del diportista (STED), the boating administrative desk. A locally qualified lawyer can advise on the deed and liabilities, while the handling office confirms the registration formalities for this transaction.
Broker tip: Ask the handling office to identify the paperwork route using the yacht's current flag and conformity papers. Agree who submits the signed transaction and obtains its receipt before scheduling the buyer's departure from the island. A related question is answered in our guide on whether you need a boat survey in Italy.
Mooring line and fenders on a marina berth.
Papers and recording
Looking at a boat in Sardinia and want a second opinion before you commit? Speak to one of our brokers.
Section 3
Cruising around La Maddalena brings a local permission question into the buying plan. The national park's authorisations page explains the relevant permit, and its linked tariff platform publishes recreational charges by boat length and duration. This is a park-access cost, not a marina berth payment or a boat-purchase tax. Ask the skipper where the sea trial and first cruise will take place before deciding whether this item belongs in the immediate handover budget. Keep the permit confirmation separate from the harbour agreement.
The published tariff has daily and longer-duration products. Use the actual yacht length and intended permit duration rather than dividing an annual marina bill into a supposed daily park cost. The worked example below uses a motorboat in the published daily length band without applying any discount. It demonstrates the base calculation only, not a quotation for a particular yacht or a total ownership budget. Obtain the platform's final payable amount before purchase when a reduction or a different period is being used.
The platform lists reductions for electronic purchase, sailing boats and specified neighbouring residents. Do not invent a rule for stacking them: the opened information does not explain how every combination is calculated. Compare the relevant permit product and the final platform amount, then budget separately for the berth, insurance, survey and maintenance using written offers. Conflicting payment-period wording on the park's two tariff platforms is recorded as a gap here rather than converted into an unsupported statement about when access is free. Regional prices, berth vacancies, Olbia and Cagliari berth prices, VAT treatment, survey charges and insurance premiums are not covered here: email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information.
Broker tip: Obtain the permit platform's final total for your boat and dates. Treat harbour charges and park permission as separate items, and ask the park about any unclear reduction rather than guessing how discounts combine. See also our guide on whether you pay VAT on a boat in Italy.
Boat keys and documents handed over on a chart table.
Park permit budget
La Maddalena's official tariff platform lists €3.00 per linear metre for a 1-day recreational permit for boats from 10.01 m to 24 m.
Source: La Maddalena National Park, permit tariffsLa Maddalena's official tariff platform lists €101.00 for a 7-day recreational permit for boats from 10.01 m to 13.99 m.
Source: La Maddalena National Park, permit tariffsLa Maddalena's official tariff platform lists reductions of 5% for electronic purchase, 40% for sailing boats and 50% for residents of Palau, Arzachena and Santa Teresa Gallura; combination rules are not established here.
Source: La Maddalena National Park, permit tariffsWorked arithmetic from La Maddalena's published daily rate: an illustrative 12 m motorboat × €3.00 per metre = €36.00 for 1 day, before any applicable reduction and separate berth charge.
Source: La Maddalena National Park, permit tariffsSection 4
Arrange park permission before entering the waters covered by the authorisations guidance. The park page says the ticket allows the relevant navigation, mooring, anchoring and stopping close to the coast according to the rules. Buying the boat nearby does not remove that local check. Give the trial skipper the intended route and the permit details before leaving the berth. This is also a useful moment to compare the boat's safety inventory with the actual voyage and the number of people joining it.
The published payment route is PagoPA, the electronic system used for public-administration payments. Non-resident private users can obtain the permit online or use the physical-office procedure described by the park. A berth or yard-storage holder within the park area is directed to the public-relations office to request the relevant reduction. Keep the confirmation with the voyage papers. Do not confuse a receipt for a marina booking with permission from the park, because those documents answer separate operational questions.
If a buyer intends to operate rentals or charter after the purchase, put that business use into a separate permission enquiry. The private recreational ticket described here is not evidence that a commercial operation has been authorised. Ask the park and competent maritime office to identify the appropriate current procedure before assigning value to a seller's proposed business plan. For a private buyer, the immediate steps remain straightforward: establish title, confirm the base, arrange the trial checks and obtain the permission required for the planned route.
Broker tip: Before the trial, ask the skipper to confirm the route and permission arrangements. If your purchase plan includes rentals or charter, obtain a separate current commercial-permission answer rather than relying on a private recreational ticket. Readers often go on to our guide on how to register a boat in Italy.
Boat registration at a marina office.
Trials and use
Practical support
Peter Mattey is a yacht broker at European Yacht Brokers with a BA in Law. He is not an Italian lawyer: for Italian law and tax we refer you to a locally qualified adviser. What we can do is help you plan the purchase, put the right questions to the seller and spot gaps in the paperwork before you commit.
If you are buying or selling a boat in Italy, tell us the type of boat, your budget and the area through the enquiry form on this page and a broker will reply. For anything this guide does not cover, email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information.
The handover of a boat at the dock.
Your questions
Do not assume it does: Palau publishes an application and allocation process with user categories and availability conditions. Obtain the harbour's written position for your own name, yacht and intended stay before relying on the place in a purchase plan. The fact that a seller previously berthed there does not answer your own allocation question. (Comune di Palau)
The cited national recreational boating provisions apply to the registration and recording questions covered here. Article 19 sets the relevant registration-document routes, while article 17 sets recording and annotation requirements for registered ownership transactions. The yacht's flag, conformity status and transaction still need individual checking; a Sardinian viewing location does not establish those facts. (Normattiva, Codice della nautica da diporto, articles 17 and 19)
Treat park permission and the berth as separate checks. The park publishes its own authorisation and tariff procedures, while Palau publishes a municipal berth-allocation process. Ask for the documents establishing each arrangement and do not substitute a harbour booking receipt for park permission. Budget the final permit amount alongside the confirmed berth offer. (La Maddalena National Park, authorisations; Comune di Palau)
The undiscounted base example is €36.00 for a 12 m motorboat for one day. It uses the published €3.00-per-linear-metre recreational rate for the applicable length band. That calculation excludes any reduction and the separate berth charge. Check the platform's final payable amount for the actual yacht, dates and eligibility rather than treating the illustration as a complete trip bill. (La Maddalena National Park, permit tariffs)
No: the park instructs users to obtain authorisation before entering the relevant waters. Its guidance identifies the permit scope and published surcharge for obtaining it through control personnel. Give the skipper the route and permit confirmation before departure, and keep that permission separate from the yacht's navigation papers and harbour booking. (La Maddalena National Park, authorisations)
This guide does not set berth prices, survey charges or insurance premiums, because they depend on the boat and the harbour. Email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information, and ask each operator for a written quotation.
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Check it yourself
Municipal harbour allocation categories, priorities and certified-email submission.
National registration documents and foreign-EU deregistration cases.
Current ownership-recording deadline and navigation-licence annotation.
Official tariff platform linked from the park permit page; local recreational permit rates and discounts.
Permit scope, obtaining permission before entry, payment and physical-office route.
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