Ferry to Corsica (1 Viewer)

[Steve Babbs]

Hi all

I'm going to take my car on the ferry across to Corsica this summer. I'll also be in Italy and southern France so I can get any of the ferries. Are any of them better than others for sea watching? Yelkouan shearwater being the main target.

Regards

Steve

 

[SueBryan]

Hi all

I'm going to take my car on the ferry across to Corsica this summer. I'll also be in Italy and southern France so I can get any of the ferries. Are any of them better than others for sea watching? Yelkouan shearwater being the main target.

Regards

Steve

When we ferried it between Sardinia and Corsica we had no sightings on our morning crossing but on our return journey late in the afternoon we had many Yelkouan shearwaters. Our trip was done early July.

http://www.freewebs.com/suebryan/sardiniacorsica2011.htm

Sue

 

[dantheman]

A few years back I took the Italy- Corsica ferry in late summer. Didn't see any Yelks but did have a dozen or two Cory's, distant breaching Fin Whale and Tuna a couple of times. Pretty sure it was the Livorno - Bastia route but can't recall which company sorry. At any rate, take the slowest option available- avoid fast hydrofoils anyway!

(The ferry from one side of Istanbul to the other is of course excellent (and excellent value) for Yelkouans ... although probably a minor detour from SW Europe.)

 

[trw]

Have a great time!
One of the most stunning islands in Europe,especially the central mountain areas,the Balagne and the north west coast.If you visit nowhere else try and get to these areas of Corsica.
The Balagne region around Feliceto is great for bird;miles of unspoilt countryside attractive to a large bird population.

 

[lewis20126]

Steve

I did this ten years ago from Nice. We took the car over on the slow overnight ferry (12 hours?) . This was terrific value and we had a good clean cabin. Because it is overnight it is not ideal for seabirds (!) and you arrive in Corsica early am.

On the return with had a fast ferry (4 hours) during daylight and I seem to remember it being poor for birds!

The best seawatching for both Scopoli's and Yelkouans was from Bonifacio ath the southern end, although it took a few tries before the views were close enough - it's a bit like seawatching from Porthgwarra. In retrospect I think taking a ferry over to Sardinia and back (as a foot passenger) would be a good way of getting closer views (and photos)

cheers, alan

 

[Larry Sweetland]

We took the ferry there and back from Nice one summer, and didn't see any shears. So don't bank on it.

 

[lewis20126]

Both Shears are gettable on the fast ferry over to Northern Cyprus to/from Turkey

cheers, alan

 

[Steve Babbs]

Both Shears are gettable on the fast ferry over to Northern Cyprus to/from Turkey

cheers, alan

Will they make a detour to drop me off in Corsica?

I am wondering if the Sardinia ferry is my best best.

 

[Jos Stratford]

In April last year, I took the ferry from Sardinia to Corsica return - on the outward journey, leaving Sardinia at 7.00 a.m., I had about 80 Scopoli's Shearwaters and 18 Yelkouan Shearwaters, while on the return leg a couple of days later (in bad weather and at midday), I still managed a handful of both battling the winds.

Also saw Scopoli's Shearwaters from the shore south-east of Bonifacio.

 

[Richard Klim]

Mediterranean Storm Petrel Hydrobates (pelagicus) melitensis (split by Robb & Mullarney 2008 and Dutch Birding) is also sometimes seen from the Bonifacio – Santa Teresa ferry.

In May 2009 the wife and I made a daytime visit to Île Lavezzi (a breeding site) on one of the tourist boats from Bonifacio. Unsurprisingly, we failed to see the stormie, but had great views of Scopoli's and Yelkouan Shearwaters streaming past the island close inshore in the late afternoon.

 

[Xenospiza]

To see the storm petrel from the Bonifacio–Santa Teresa ferry, you'd better stay in Sardinia, as this gives you the opportunity of the earliest and latest boat (so a better chance). I will claim this as my reason for failure... Santa Teresa looked rather bland though, whereas Bonifacio is one of the more spectacularly positioned towns I've visited. I assume it will be disastrously overrun in the high season (especially August) though.
Seeing both Yelkouan and Scopoli's from this ferry was a doddle in June. With a good camera (or more talent), you should take better pictures than me.

 

[markgrubb]

I took the Nice to Bastia ferry(leaves early afternoon and gets in around 8) 3 years ago and these were my notes

Nice to Bastia Ferry-the journey out was fairly quiet. We spotted a couple of pods of dolphins but there were next to no birds. As we approached Cap Corse the northernmost point of Corsica we started to pick up many small shearwaters-they were very close to the boat at times. They were close enough to the ferry for me to recognise that they were Yelkouan shearwaters-about 40 in total. Rounding the cape all the action stopped and had just a few yellow legged gulls on the way into Bastia. On the way back it was blowing hard from the north. Almost immediately out of Bastia I picked up larger shearwater and then had in total about 10 Scopoli’s shearwaters . Further north I started to pick up Yelkouan’s again and had about 20. By the time we rounded the cape there were no more birds to be seen.