The Ligurian Riviera & Portofino

Portofino is a village of a few hundred people with sixteen places for large yachts, and it publishes what they cost, which almost nothing at this level does. Behind it Liguria holds the densest concentration of superyacht berthing in Italy, two marine protected areas that decide where the hook may go, and the boat show the industry still measures its year by.

The ochre houses of Portofino stand directly over the quay, which is the entire point of a berth that holds six or seven superyachts.Photo: Emanuela Meme Giudic... / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Region: the Italian Riviera from Ventimiglia to the Gulf of La Spezia, about 170 nautical miles with Genoa in the middle
Marina di Portofino: six or seven superyacht places to 64 m on the central quay by the Piazzetta, eight moorings under 18 m on the side quay
Cannone Bay: two moorings with ground lines reserved for megayachts of at least 60 m and up to about 80 m; Portofino 2025 daily card, VAT excluded: EUR 45 low season and EUR 120 peak for a 12 m boat
Same card at 30 m: EUR 400 low and EUR 900 peak. At 50 m: EUR 1,125 and EUR 2,500
Over 60 m on the central quay: EUR 1,825 a day in low season rising to EUR 4,200 at the peak
Cannone Bay port side: EUR 1,500 a day in low season to EUR 3,500 at the peak, before VAT
Seasons: peak 1 June to 30 September, high 16 April to 31 May and 1 to 15 October, low the rest of the year; An overnight departure between about 23:00 and 08:30 in the peak is charged at a quarter of the daily rate; Commercial yachts over 500 GRT in Cannone Bay or on the central quay pay an ISPS fee of EUR 650 plus VAT per three day period
Portofino marine protected area: anchoring is prohibited in Zone C under ordinances of the Genoa and Santa Margherita maritime offices; Buoy fields opened for the 2026 season on 25 April at San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte and Punta Chiappa di Camogli
San Fruttuoso: about 20 moorings for craft to 7.5 m on the eastern side and about 20 for larger boats on the western side
Punta Chiappa and Porto Pidocchio: moorings for boats up to 24 m, with daily fees scaled by length and reductions for demonstrated eco compatibility
Marina Molo Vecchio, Genoa: 150 berths for yachts to 150 m in up to 8 m of draft, with a 450 m dock berthing 47 yachts of 22 to 90 m stern to
Porto Mirabello, La Spezia: 407 berths of which 100 are superyacht berths for 25 to 130 m, maximum quoted length 100 m and 5 m draft
Porto Carlo Riva, Rapallo: reopened in 2024 with 253 berths from 7.5 to 60 m and drafts to 5.5 m
Marina di Loano: 997 berths taking up to 77 m. Portosole at Sanremo: 776 berths taking up to 90 m
Cinque Terre marine protected area: daily permits for sailing and mooring in Zone B and mooring and anchoring in Zone C
Cinque Terre permit fees: EUR 8 a day up to 10 m LOA and EUR 13 from 10 to 24 m, bought online and carried as a PDF; The Cinque Terre permit is reserved to recreational use and expressly excludes rental and profit making activity
Fixed week: the 66th Genoa International Boat Show runs 1 to 6 October 2026, moved from its traditional September slot
Weather: the libeccio from the south west puts swell into a coast with few anchorages, and summer depressions over the Gulf of Genoa build fast
Air: Genoa Cristoforo Colombo is 45 minutes from Santa Margherita, with Nice, Pisa and Milan the practical alternatives

A hundred and seventy miles with a city in the middle

Liguria is a thin arc of coast from the French border at Ventimiglia to the Gulf of La Spezia, with Genoa at the centre of it. West of Genoa is the Riviera di Ponente, sunnier and flatter, with Sanremo, Imperia, Alassio and Loano. East is the Riviera di Levante, steeper and prettier, with Camogli, the Portofino promontory, Santa Margherita, Rapallo, Sestri Levante, the Cinque Terre and Portovenere. The whole coast is about 170 nautical miles and the good part of it is the eastern half.

It is not a cruising ground in the sense that the Aeolians or the Balearics are. The coast is steep to, the anchorages are few and mostly open, and the weather comes off a gulf that can build a short unpleasant sea quickly. What Liguria has instead is berths, yards and towns. An owner cruises here from harbour to harbour rather than from bay to bay, and the reward is that he can walk off the passerelle into a village that has been photographed for a century.

A large motor yacht lies at anchor off Portofino, where boats the sixteen place harbour cannot take wait outside in Cannone Bay or beyond it.Photo: Youflavio / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Portofino is a village with sixteen berths

Marina di Portofino is one of the smallest important marinas in the world. The central quay, the one closest to the Piazzetta, takes six or seven superyachts up to 64 metres. The side quay carries eight moorings for boats under 18 metres. Out in Cannone Bay, around the point, there are two moorings with ground lines reserved for megayachts of at least 60 metres and up to about 80. That is the entire capacity of the most famous small harbour in the Mediterranean.

The consequence is that a berth here is allocated rather than booked, and the summer is spoken for. The village behind it is a semicircle of ochre houses around the water with the church of San Giorgio above and the Brown castle over that, and it holds perhaps four hundred residents and a great many more visitors. San Fruttuoso, the tenth century abbey in the next bay west, has no road to it at all and is reached by boat or on foot, which makes it the one genuinely quiet stop on this coast.

Portovenere at the eastern end of the coast, with the Doria castle above the painted houses and the church out on the point.Photo: Mathieu Chollet - MChollet / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sixteen berths in the most photographed harbour in the Mediterranean, a published card that reaches EUR 4,200 a day, and a promontory where anchoring is simply prohibited.

Santa Margherita Ligure across the bay from Portofino, the larger town that berths the boats the village cannot.Photo: Benjamin Smith / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What Portofino costs, from its own rate card

Portofino publishes, which settles the argument. On the marina's 2025 daily card, retrieved in August 2026 and quoted excluding VAT, a boat up to 12 metres pays EUR 45 a day in the low season and EUR 120 at the peak. Up to 30 metres it is EUR 400 and EUR 900. Up to 50 metres it is EUR 1,125 and EUR 2,500. Over 60 metres the central quay runs from EUR 1,825 a day in the low season to EUR 4,200 at the peak. The peak is 1 June to 30 September, the high season is 16 April to 31 May and 1 to 15 October, and the low season is the rest of the year.

Cannone Bay is charged separately, from EUR 1,500 a day at the bottom of the year to EUR 3,500 at the peak on the port side rate, again before VAT. There is an overnight departure fee for a boat leaving between about 23:00 and 08:30 in the peak, set at a quarter of the daily rate, and a compulsory garbage service on both the quay and the bay. Commercial yachts over 500 gross tons lying in Cannone Bay or on the central quay pay an ISPS fee of EUR 650 plus VAT for each three day period. It is expensive and it is transparent, which is a rarer combination than it should be.

Riomaggiore, the first of the Cinque Terre villages, built into a cleft with a harbour that is a slipway and a few metres of stone.Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. Feel free to use my phot / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The marine protected area decides where the hook goes

The Portofino promontory is a marine protected area zoned A, B and C, and the rule that catches visitors is that anchoring is prohibited in Zone C under standing ordinances from the maritime offices of Genoa and Santa Margherita Ligure. In place of it the authority and local consortia lay buoy fields, and the 2026 season opened them on 25 April at San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte and at Punta Chiappa di Camogli. In front of San Fruttuoso village the eastern side of the bay carries about 20 moorings for craft up to 7.5 metres and the western side about 20 for larger boats.

The field at Punta Chiappa and Porto Pidocchio takes boats up to 24 metres. Fees are daily and scaled by overall length, with reduced rates available to owners who can demonstrate eco compatibility on parameters the managing authority sets each year. The practical planning point for a large yacht is that the promontory has no anchorage it may use and no buoy sized for it, so a 40 metre boat visiting San Fruttuoso lies outside the area and sends the tender in. That is not a hardship, but it needs to be known before the day is planned.

The old harbour at Genoa, a working superyacht port as well as a destination, with the city rising straight off the quays.Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. Feel free to use my phot / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The berths that take what Portofino cannot

Marina Molo Vecchio in Genoa is the largest, with 150 berths for yachts to 150 metres in up to eight metres of draft. Its 450 metre dock berths 47 yachts of 22 to 90 metres stern to, and the section built for larger traffic can take a 150 metre yacht alongside. Porto Mirabello at La Spezia has 407 berths of which 100 are for superyachts of 25 to 130 metres, with a maximum quoted length of 100 metres and five metres of draft on the main piers. Between them these two carry most of the large yacht traffic of the region.

The rest of the coast fills in the sizes below. Porto Carlo Riva at Rapallo reopened in 2024 with 253 berths from 7.5 to 60 metres and drafts to 5.5 metres, a few miles from Portofino and the practical alternative to it. Marina di Loano west of Genoa has 997 berths and takes 77 metres. Portosole at Sanremo holds 776 berths and takes 90 metres, and it is the last Italian marina before Monaco and the Cote d'Azur. Santa Margherita Ligure sits directly across the bay from Portofino and takes the boats the village cannot.

The Cinque Terre coast from above, steep to and almost without shelter, which is why this is a cruise between harbours rather than anchorages.Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. Feel free to use my phot / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cinque Terre is a park, and its permit stops at 24 metres

The five villages between Levanto and Portovenere sit inside a national park with a marine protected area in front of them, and every recreational vessel needs a permit. The park authority issues daily authorisations for sailing and mooring in Zone B and for mooring and anchoring in Zone C, bought online and carried aboard as a PDF. The published daily fee is EUR 8 for a boat up to 10 metres and EUR 13 from 10 to 24 metres, paid by card through the authority's own portal.

Two conditions matter more than the money. The published scale stops at 24 metres, so anything larger is a question to put to the park authority rather than a form to fill in. And the permit is expressly reserved for boats used for recreational purposes, with rental and profit making activity excluded, which is a real constraint for a commercially registered yacht on charter. The sensible plan for a large boat is to lie at Portovenere or La Spezia and see the villages by tender, by train or on foot.

Weather, swell and the months

The Gulf of Genoa is a weather maker. The libeccio out of the south west is the wind that matters, because it has the whole western Mediterranean to build over and it puts swell straight into a coast with almost nowhere to hide. Summer is mostly settled with a light afternoon breeze, but a summer depression over the gulf can turn the sea inside a few hours, and the thunderstorms in late August and September are violent and local. The Portofino promontory is the one substantial piece of natural shelter on the eastern riviera.

The season runs from May to October, and the character changes across it. June is warm, green and civilised. July and August bring the Italian holidays, and Portofino, Santa Margherita and the Cinque Terre are then as crowded as anywhere in Italy. September is the best month on this coast by a distance, with warm water, thinning crowds and the boat show at the end of it. Winter is mild, wet and windy, and a good part of the fleet is on the hard or in the yards at Genoa and La Spezia.

The industry lives here, which is the underrated argument

Genoa is a working superyacht port as well as a destination. The refit and repair cluster around the old port handles hulls the size of anything afloat, La Spezia sits at the top of a gulf lined with builders and subcontractors, and Viareggio, the largest concentration of Italian superyacht construction, is 30 miles further down the coast in Tuscany. For an owner this means that a fault found on a Tuesday can be looked at on a Wednesday, which is not true in Corsica, Sardinia or the Ionian.

The fixed week is the Genoa International Boat Show. The 66th edition runs from 1 to 6 October 2026 at the Fiera di Genova, moved from its traditional September slot, with TechTrade Days on the first and second. It fills the city and the marinas, and for owners it is the practical event of the Italian year: the yards, the brokers and the equipment suppliers are all in one place a short walk from a berth.

Getting guests in

Genoa Cristoforo Colombo is the local airport and sits on the coast about 45 minutes from Santa Margherita and an hour from Portofino by road. Its schedules are thinner than an owner might like, so the practical alternatives are Nice, about two hours west by road, Pisa about an hour and a half east, and Milan Linate or Malpensa about two hours north. Nice is the usual choice for a long haul private aircraft and Milan the usual one for scheduled long haul.

The other option is the train, and on this coast it is a genuinely good one. The line runs along the shore through every town from Ventimiglia to La Spezia, and the fast services from Milan and Rome reach Genoa and Santa Margherita in a few hours. For the Cinque Terre it is the only sensible way to move, because the villages have almost no road access and no parking. The coast road is slow, narrow and in August immovable, and the Portofino road in particular is a single lane in each direction.

Ashore, and what the coast is actually for

Portofino's Piazzetta is a small square with four restaurants on it, and the whole point of the berth is that the boat is fifteen metres away from it. Santa Margherita is the larger town next door with the shops and the food market, Camogli on the other side of the promontory is a working fishing town that the yacht crowd has not taken over, and Rapallo is the practical one. San Fruttuoso, with no road, has an abbey and a beach and closes at dusk.

Genoa is the surprise. It has the largest medieval centre in Europe, a UNESCO listed set of Renaissance palaces on the Strada Nuova, an aquarium, and a food culture, pesto, focaccia, farinata, that the rest of Italy borrows from. At the eastern end, Portovenere with its church on the point and the island of Palmaria opposite is the best looking harbour on the coast, and the Cinque Terre villages behind it are the postcard. Prices are Italian rather than Riviera, outside Portofino itself, where they are not.

The honest downside, and what is not published

There is very little anchoring. The coast is steep to, the promontory is a protected area where Zone C anchoring is prohibited outright, the Cinque Terre needs a permit that stops at 24 metres, and the open bays take swell from the libeccio. A fortnight here is a fortnight of marinas, and marinas on this coast in August are both full and expensive. Portofino itself is sixteen places, which means the answer for most yachts is Santa Margherita or Rapallo and a tender ride.

Checked in August 2026, Marina di Portofino is the only marina on this coast publishing a full daily rate card, and even that is the 2025 edition. Marina Molo Vecchio, Porto Mirabello, Porto Carlo Riva, Loano and Portosole all quote on enquiry, and no Ligurian marina publishes a fuel price. The Portofino marine protected area publishes its zoning and its buoy fields but sets the daily fee by length each season rather than posting a table. And nothing published tells an owner which of the seven central quay places at Portofino is free in the second week of August, which is the number that decides the trip.

En tierra, accesos y reservas

Getting there: Genoa Cristoforo Colombo sits on the coast about 45 minutes from Santa Margherita and an hour from Portofino, but its schedules are thin, so Nice at about two hours west, Pisa at an hour and a half east and Milan Linate or Malpensa at about two hours north are the practical alternatives. Nice is the usual choice for a long haul private aircraft. The coastal railway runs through every town from Ventimiglia to La Spezia and is the best way to move guests along this coast, and the only sensible way to reach the Cinque Terre. The coast road is slow and in August immovable.
Berthing at Portofino: The central quay takes six or seven superyachts up to 64 metres, the side quay eight boats under 18 metres, and Cannone Bay two ground line moorings for megayachts of 60 metres and above to about 80. That is the whole harbour. It is allocated rather than booked and the summer goes early. The alternatives within a few miles are Santa Margherita Ligure directly across the bay and Porto Carlo Riva at Rapallo, which reopened in 2024 with 253 berths from 7.5 to 60 metres in up to 5.5 metres of draft.
What a berth costs, published: On Marina di Portofino's 2025 daily card, retrieved August 2026 and quoted before VAT, a 12 metre boat pays EUR 45 in the low season and EUR 120 at the peak, a 30 metre EUR 400 and EUR 900, a 50 metre EUR 1,125 and EUR 2,500, and a hull over 60 metres EUR 1,825 and EUR 4,200. Cannone Bay runs EUR 1,500 to EUR 3,500 on the port side rate. Peak is 1 June to 30 September and high season is 16 April to 31 May plus 1 to 15 October. A peak departure between about 23:00 and 08:30 costs a quarter of the day rate, a garbage service is compulsory, and commercial yachts over 500 GRT pay EUR 650 plus VAT in ISPS fees per three day period.
Where a large yacht goes instead: Marina Molo Vecchio in Genoa takes 150 metres in up to 8 metres of draft across 150 berths, with a 450 metre dock berthing 47 yachts of 22 to 90 metres stern to. Porto Mirabello at La Spezia has 407 berths including 100 superyacht berths for 25 to 130 metres, quoting a maximum of 100 metres and 5 metres of draft. Marina di Loano west of Genoa takes 77 metres across 997 berths and Portosole at Sanremo takes 90 metres across 776, the last Italian marina before Monaco.
The Portofino protected area: Anchoring is prohibited in Zone C of the Portofino marine protected area under ordinances from the maritime offices of Genoa and Santa Margherita Ligure. The buoy fields opened for the 2026 season on 25 April at San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte and Punta Chiappa di Camogli. San Fruttuoso carries about 20 moorings for craft to 7.5 metres on the east side of the bay and about 20 for larger boats on the west. Punta Chiappa and Porto Pidocchio take boats to 24 metres. Fees are daily and scaled by length, with reductions for demonstrated eco compatibility set annually by the authority.
Visiting the Cinque Terre: Every recreational vessel needs a park authority permit: sailing and mooring in Zone B, mooring and anchoring in Zone C, bought online through the authority's portal and carried aboard as a PDF. Published daily fees are EUR 8 up to 10 metres LOA and EUR 13 from 10 to 24 metres. The scale stops at 24 metres and the permit is reserved to recreational use, expressly excluding rental and profit making activity, so a commercially registered charter yacht should take the question to the authority before it arrives. Most large boats lie at Portovenere or La Spezia and go in by tender or train.
Weather to plan around: The libeccio from the south west is the wind that matters, because it builds across the whole western Mediterranean and puts swell into a coast with very few sheltered bays. Summer is generally settled with a light afternoon breeze, but a depression over the Gulf of Genoa can change the sea in hours, and late August and September thunderstorms are violent and local. The Portofino promontory is the only substantial natural shelter on the eastern riviera. Plan a harbour to run to rather than an anchorage to sit in.
The fixed week, and the trade: The 66th Genoa International Boat Show runs 1 to 6 October 2026 at the Fiera di Genova, moved from its traditional September dates, with TechTrade Days on 1 and 2 October. It fills the city and the local berths. Outside the show, Genoa's old port carries a refit and repair cluster that works hulls of any size, La Spezia sits at the head of a gulf lined with builders and subcontractors, and Viareggio, the largest concentration of Italian superyacht construction, is about 30 miles further along the coast.
What is NOT published: Checked in August 2026, Marina di Portofino is the only marina on this coast publishing a full daily card, and the current file is still the 2025 edition. Marina Molo Vecchio, Porto Mirabello, Porto Carlo Riva, Loano and Portosole all quote on enquiry, and no Ligurian marina publishes a fuel price. The Portofino protected area publishes its zoning and buoy fields but sets the daily mooring fee by length each season without posting a table. Nothing published covers vessels over 24 metres in the Cinque Terre permit system. And nobody publishes which Portofino places are free in August.

Lo que cuentan armadores y tripulaciones

The most photographed harbour in the Mediterranean has sixteen places
Marina di Portofino's own description sets out the whole capacity: six or seven superyachts up to 64 metres on the central quay nearest the Piazzetta, eight moorings for pleasure boats under 18 metres on the side quay, and two ground line moorings in Cannone Bay reserved for megayachts with a minimum length of 60 metres and a maximum of about 80. Berths are allocated rather than sold on demand, and the peak is committed long before it arrives.
Marina di Portofino, reported by Dockwalk
The published card is still the 2025 one, and it is unusually complete
Retrieved in August 2026, the marina's daily fees document is the 2025 edition and quotes every length band across low, high and peak seasons excluding VAT, from EUR 45 a day for a 12 metre boat in the quiet months to EUR 4,200 for a hull over 60 metres at the peak, with Cannone Bay from EUR 1,500 to EUR 3,500, a quarter rate overnight departure charge, a compulsory garbage service and an ISPS fee of EUR 650 plus VAT per three day period for commercial yachts over 500 gross tons.
Portofino Yacht Marina 2025 daily fees card
Anchoring on the promontory is prohibited, not discouraged
The Portofino marine protected area confirms that anchoring is banned in Zone C in compliance with ordinances from the coastal maritime offices of Genoa and Santa Margherita Ligure, and that the alternative is the buoy fields, which opened for the 2026 season on 25 April at San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte and Punta Chiappa di Camogli. San Fruttuoso carries about twenty small craft moorings on one side of the bay and about twenty larger ones on the other, and the Punta Chiappa field takes boats to 24 metres.
Area Marina Protetta Portofino
The Cinque Terre permit has a ceiling and a purpose test
The national park authority issues daily authorisations at EUR 8 for boats up to 10 metres and EUR 13 from 10 to 24 metres, purchased online and carried as a PDF for inspection, covering sailing and mooring in Zone B and mooring and anchoring in Zone C. The authorisation is expressly reserved to boats used for recreational purposes and excludes rental and any profit making activity, and the published fee scale does not extend beyond 24 metres.
Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre
Everything else on this coast is priced by quotation
Checked in August 2026, Marina Molo Vecchio, Porto Mirabello, Porto Carlo Riva, Marina di Loano and Portosole all quote berthing on enquiry rather than publishing a card, and no Ligurian marina publishes a fuel price. No independent published owner or captain account of superyacht service standards at any of them could be found. Outside Portofino, an owner pricing a Ligurian season is working entirely from an agent's quotation.
Yotters desk, checked August 2026

Lo bueno y lo que conviene vigilar

Puntos fuertes

Portofino publishes its rate card, and almost no comparable marina doesA full daily scale by length across three seasons, plus the Cannone Bay rate, the overnight departure charge and the ISPS fee for commercial yachts over 500 GRT. An owner can price the berth before he commits to it.
The densest large yacht berthing in ItalyGenoa's Marina Molo Vecchio to 150 m in 8 m of draft, Porto Mirabello with 100 superyacht berths for 25 to 130 m, Rapallo to 60 m, Loano to 77 m and Sanremo to 90 m, all within 170 miles.
The refit trade is an hour away rather than a delivery awayGenoa's old port cluster, the builders around La Spezia and the Viareggio yards 30 miles down the coast mean a problem found on Tuesday is looked at on Wednesday.
You walk off the boat into the townPortofino's Piazzetta is fifteen metres from the quay, Santa Margherita and Camogli are proper towns, and Genoa has the largest medieval centre in Europe with a UNESCO listed set of Renaissance palaces.
One anchorage nothing else can matchSan Fruttuoso, a tenth century abbey in a bay with no road to it, reachable only by boat or on foot, and empty once the day traffic has gone.

A tener en cuenta

Portofino is sixteen places, and most of them are smallSix or seven superyacht berths to 64 metres and two Cannone Bay moorings for hulls over 60. For nearly every yacht the answer is Santa Margherita or Rapallo and a tender.
It is a coast of marinas, not anchoragesSteep to shores, few sheltered bays, an outright anchoring ban in Zone C of the Portofino protected area and a permit system in the Cinque Terre that stops at 24 metres.
The Cinque Terre permit excludes commercial useThe published authorisation is reserved to recreational boats and expressly excludes profit making activity, which leaves a chartering yacht without an obvious route in.
The Gulf of Genoa makes its own weatherThe libeccio puts swell into a coast with nowhere to hide, and summer depressions and late season thunderstorms build faster here than they do further south.
August is full and priced accordinglyThe Italian holiday month lands on the smallest harbours on the coast at the same time, and Portofino's peak rate is EUR 4,200 a day before VAT for a hull over 60 metres.

Para quién es: An owner who wants to walk off the passerelle into a village rather than swim off the transom, who values being an hour from the Italian refit trade, and who either has a Portofino berth or is content with Santa Margherita and a tender.

Perfil elaborado por Yotters a partir de fuentes públicas.

Redacción de YottersDirector editorial: Leon SolimanNormas editoriales

Elaborado a partir de fuentes primarias: Marina di Portofino, Area Marina Protetta Portofino, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, Marina Molo Vecchio, Porto Mirabello, Porto Carlo Riva, Marina di Loano, Portosole Sanremo, Salone Nautico Internazionale di Genova, Dockwalk, Yacht Digest, SuperYacht24, UNESCO World Heritage Centre.