Is Benas Beach

Is Benas is a long, wild sandy beach on the Sinis coast of western Sardinia, in San Vero Milis municipality (province of Oristano), between the resort of Putzu Idu to the north and the Is Arenas coast of Narbolia to the south. Behind the sand rise large dunes and the Is Arenas pine forest, described by the Italian Naturist Federation (FENAIT) as the largest planted coastal pine wood in Sardinia. The beach is known locally as the 'beach of shells' because of the huge number of bivalve shells washed up along the tideline. In April 2022 San Vero Milis's municipal executive (Giunta) unanimously approved a resolution (no. 51/2022), proposed by the naturist association ANITA Sardegna, opening a stretch of Is Benas to naturism; the designated section is the southern part bordering Is Arenas, and press reports say it was later enlarged in the municipality's revised coastal plan. It is one of Sardinia's few officially authorised naturist beaches. The setting is undeveloped: open sand, dunes, low scrub and pines, on Sardinia's open west coast. Naturist volunteers have organised clean-ups here; one in July 2024 removed around 2.5 tonnes of washed-up rubbish, mostly plastic.