The Bay of Orosei (Golfu de Orosei in Sardinian) lies along the central western coast of Sardinia and takes it's name from Orosei, town in the province of Nuoro located 2km from the coast in the valley of the Cedrino river. The bay is divided into two distinct parts, morphologically different from each other. The northern part, on a level with the sea is composed of pine woods, long beaches and dunes that stretch right up to the northern point, that is, Punta Nera, while the southern part is actually the end of the Supramonte plateau, also known as Supramonte Marino, which stretches along to Capo di Monte Santu. For over 40km this stretch of high coastline shows impressive limestone cliffs covered in ancient woodland as well as lush and varied Mediterranean vegetation known as macchia. Inaccessible for centuries by land, it is made up of characteristic sandy beaches, surrounded by vertical limestone cliffs, deep gorges hewn out by ancient rivers now vanished or devoured by the carsic plain above.