Learn Hardcore Italian: Il sentiero sabbioso porta a una piccola baia nascosta. - The sandy path leads to a small hidden bay.

In Italian, most descriptive adjectives (especially those that specify material or a more “objective” quality, like sabbioso = “sandy”) usually follow the noun. Adjectives that express size, beauty, age, goodness, or quantity often come before the noun (think BAGS adjectives). Piccola (“small”) is one of those BAGS adjectives, so it precedes baia. Meanwhile, nascosta (“hidden”) is descriptive, so it follows.

How do I know to use il before sentiero, and una before piccola baia nascosta?

Il is the masculine singular definite article, used because sentiero (“path”) is masculine and we’re talking about a specific sandy path. Una is the feminine singular indefinite article, because baia (“bay”) is feminine and we’re saying “a small hidden bay,” not a specific one already known to the listener.

Why is baia feminine? The ending isn’t -a, -o, or -e like most nouns.

Good observation! While many feminine Italian nouns end in -a, some end in -ia (like baia, valigia, fabbrica). You usually just have to learn those. A quick tip: if you see -ia and it refers to a place or feature (e.g., collina, valle), it’s often feminine.

What does porta a exactly mean here? Could I say porta in or porta verso instead?

Portare a means “to lead/bring to” a place. It’s the usual collocation when saying a path “leads to” somewhere.
– Porta in would suggest entering (“leads into”), which can work if you specify being inside something (e.g., porta in città = “leads into the city”).
– Porta verso means “leads toward” and implies direction but not arrival (e.g., porta verso il mare = “heads toward the sea” but doesn’t guarantee you get there).

What tense and person is porta, and why not porta with an accent or something else?

Porta here is the third-person singular present indicative of portare (“to carry/lead”). There’s no accent on porta in Italian for this form. If you wanted past tense you’d use ha portato (present perfect) or portava (imperfect).

Could I say un piccolo sentiero sabbioso instead of il sentiero sabbioso porta a una piccola baia nascosta?

You could reorder some adjectives—un piccolo sentiero sabbioso is grammatically correct (“a small sandy path”)—but the meaning shifts slightly (you’re emphasizing the path’s size first). Also, you’d change the article to un (masculine indefinite) and adapt the rest of the sentence accordingly:
Un piccolo sentiero sabbioso porta a una baia nascosta.
That still works, though you lose the emphasis on “the” specific path.

How do I pronounce sentiero sabbioso porta a una piccola baia nascosta correctly?

Break it into chunks:
sen·tie·ro sa·bbi·o·so ˈpɔr·ta a ˈu·na ˈpi·kko·la ˈba·ja ˈna·sːkɔ·sta
Key points:

“sentiero” – stress on tie
“sabbioso” – double b sound, stress on bi
“piccola” – double c = “kk” sound
“baia” – pronounce the i: “ba-ee-ya”
“nascosta” – double s is a long “s” sound

What’s the difference between baia and spiaggia?

Baia = “bay,” a curved inlet of the sea, usually smaller and more enclosed by land.
Spiaggia = “beach,” the sandy or pebbly shore itself.
So a baia often contains a spiaggia. In your sentence, you’re focusing on finding a “small hidden bay,” which may or may not have an extensive beach.