The nightlife here has a reputation, and the reputation is accurate, and it is also only half the story.
There are clubs on this coast where a table costs more than a week’s accommodation somewhere sensible. That is real and I am not going to be coy about it. But the best part of a Costa Smeralda evening happens between seven and nine, costs the price of two drinks, and is available to anybody who drives up and parks.
So this splits into two questions. What is the good version, and what does the expensive version actually cost.
The good version: the sunset bars
The signature evening here is not a club at all. It is a bar built into the granite rocks above the sea, on the coast between Porto Cervo and Baja Sardinia, where the tables are set among the boulders on different levels and the whole thing faces west.
You go at about seven. You order a drink, you sit on warm rock, and you watch the sun go into the sea while somebody plays music at a volume you can still talk over. The light does something to the granite in that last half hour that is genuinely worth planning your evening around.
A drink at that hour costs €15 to €25, which is a lot for a drink and a bargain for the seat. There is generally no cover charge before the club part of the night begins, and there is no dress code beyond looking like you made an effort.
Then, at some point between ten and midnight, the same venue turns into something else: the DJ arrives, the volume goes up, tables get sold rather than seated, and the economics change completely.
The move, and it is not a cynical one, is to leave before that happens.
How the evening actually runs
The clock here is later than you expect and it is worth knowing the shape of it.
Seven to nine. Sunset bars. Aperitivo. The best hours of the day and the cheapest part of the night.
Nine to eleven. Dinner. Nobody eats before nine in high season and restaurants on the quay are still seating at half past ten.
Eleven to one. The clubs open properly and fill slowly. Arriving at eleven means standing in a mostly empty room.
One to four. The actual night. This is when the famous places are what they are famous for.
If you are trying to do all of that in one evening you will be finishing at four in the morning and losing the following beach day, which on a short trip is a bad trade. Most people pick the sunset or the night, not both.
What it costs to sit down
Here is the honest mechanics of the expensive version, because published prices essentially do not exist and that is not an accident.
The famous clubs on this coast do not really sell entry. They sell tables, and a table comes with a minimum spend, which you meet by buying bottles at prices that bear no relationship to what the bottle costs. There may be a door price for standing entry, often somewhere around €50 or more with a drink, and the standing area is deliberately not where anybody wants to be.
Table minimums in the well-known venues in August start in the several hundreds and go up without a ceiling worth naming. Whether that is outrageous or simply the price of the thing depends entirely on your circumstances, and it is not for me to be sniffy about how other people spend money.
What I will say plainly is this: if you are wondering whether you can afford it, you have your answer, and you are not missing very much. The music is not better than the music elsewhere. What you are buying is the room, and the room is other people who also paid.
Rates in June and September are noticeably softer than in the first three weeks of August, when everything peaks.
Where the nightlife actually is
Baja Sardinia and the rocks nearby hold the best-known open-air venues, including the sunset bar built by an old fort that most people mean when they talk about this coast at sunset, and a club cut into the rock a little further along.
Porto Cervo has the famous dinner-then-dancing venues, including the one founded by a certain motorsport impresario, plus the after-dinner bars around the square. It is the smartest and the most expensive part of the night.
Porto Rotondo is quieter and more restrained, and better if you want a good evening rather than a big one.
Baja Sardinia town and Cannigione have ordinary bars at ordinary prices, which after three nights of the other thing is a considerable relief.
The season is short: the big venues open from around the end of May and close in September, with the peak weeks either side of Ferragosto in mid-August.
Doing the night for very little
This is entirely possible and quite a lot of people do it.
Buy a bottle of Vermentino and go to a beach for the sunset instead of a bar. Several of the west-facing bays are spectacular at that hour and there is nobody on them by then. Take the glasses back to your car afterward, obviously.
Or take the free option in Porto Cervo: the marina walk at dusk, the terrace by the church above the harbour for the view, and one drink in the square while the evening passes in both directions. Two hours, one bill, and the best people-watching on the coast. That evening is set out properly in the Porto Cervo guide.
The practical bits
Drive carefully, or do not drive. This is the serious one. The coast roads are dark, winding and unlit between the bays, and the Italian drink-drive limit is 0.5, lower than many visitors are used to, with heavy penalties. Taxis are scarce and expensive at night and need booking ahead. If you are going out properly, work out how you are getting back before you leave.
Dress the part. Nobody will stop you at a sunset bar for being in beach clothes, but you will feel it. The evening standard here is genuinely smart.
Book a table at the well-known venues in August, through the venue or a concierge, or expect to be standing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to go out on the Costa Smeralda?
An early-evening drink at a sunset bar runs €15 to €25 and needs no cover charge, which is the good-value version of the night. The famous clubs work on table minimums rather than entry prices, starting in the several hundreds in August, with standing entry sometimes around €50 with a drink.
What is the best nightlife on the Costa Smeralda?
The open-air sunset bars built into the granite between Porto Cervo and Baja Sardinia are the highlight, best between about seven and nine when the light goes. After midnight, the clubs at Porto Cervo and near Baja Sardinia are the well-known names, and they are considerably more expensive.
What time does nightlife start on the Costa Smeralda?
Late. Sunset bars run from about seven to nine, dinner is nine to eleven, clubs fill from around midnight and the real night runs from one until three or four. Arriving at a club before eleven means an empty room.
Do you need to book a table at Costa Smeralda clubs?
At the well-known venues in August, yes, either directly or through a hotel concierge. Tables carry a minimum spend met by buying bottles. Standing entry exists at some venues but is deliberately the less appealing option.
Can you enjoy the Costa Smeralda without spending a fortune at night?
Easily. The marina walk at Porto Cervo, the terrace above the harbour and the evening passeggiata in the square all cost nothing. A bottle of Vermentino on a west-facing beach at sunset beats most bars. And the towns just off the resort coast have ordinary bars at ordinary Italian prices.
Read also: Porto Cervo: What to Do in a Village Built in 1962 | What the Costa Smeralda Actually Costs | The Complete Guide to the Costa Smeralda
