The La Maddalena Archipelago became a protected national park in 1994, enclosing sixty-two islands and islets across fourteen thousand hectares of pink granite, white sand beaches, and cobalt water between Sardinia's northeastern coast and the southern shore of Corsica. Seven principal islands anchor the chain: La Maddalena, Caprera, Santo Stefano, Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria, and Razzoli. Each rises from submerged granite shelves that drop to depths exceeding one hundred metres within half a kilometre of shore, creating underwater visibility that regularly reaches thirty metres and sustains posidonia meadows classified as priority marine habitat under European Union conservation directives. Most la maddalena boat tour from olbia departures follow a western route through the Strait of Bonifacio, calling at Spargi's Cala Corsara, Budelli's Spiaggia Rosa—closed to landing since 1998 to protect its rare pink-hued sand—and the narrow anchorage between Santa Maria and Razzoli known as the Piscine Naturali. The tours operate under strict park regulations: vessels must remain in designated navigation corridors, anchoring is permitted only in marked zones with sea-grass-free seabeds, and all visitors contribute a three-euro environmental fee per person that funds marine monitoring stations and anti-poaching patrols. Caprera, the archipelago's second-largest island, preserves the final residence and tomb of Giuseppe Garibaldi, who retired there in 1855 and constructed a single-storey stone farmhouse that remains open to the public as a museum of Italian unification. The archipelago's strategic position made it a contested naval outpost for centuries. The Kingdom of Sardinia fortified La Maddalena town in 1767 after Corsica passed to French control, and Admiral Horatio Nelson anchored his Mediterranean fleet in the natural harbour from 1803 to 1805 while blockading Toulon. American submarine and naval forces maintained a base on Santo Stefano from 1972 until 2008, when the installation closed and the island reverted to park authority jurisdiction. Archaeological surveys conducted since 2010 have catalogued forty-three underwater sites, including Roman amphorae fields off Spargi and medieval anchor stocks near Barrettini, though public diving access remains limited to six permitted zones to prevent looting and anchor damage to submerged cultural layers. The park's 2026 management plan restricts daily visitor numbers to twelve thousand across all islands during peak summer months, enforced through a digital booking system that allocates berths and landing permits to licensed tour operators holding current environmental compliance certificates.