Marina di Portofino
| Location | Portofino, Ligurian coast east of Genoa, at about 44 18.2 N 9 12.5 E |
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| Operator | Portofino Yacht Marina, Via Roma 35 and Piazza Liberta 13B, Portofino |
| Scale | commune of 2.53 square kilometres with 379 residents at the end of 2021 |
| Berthing | a Central Quay with length bands running to an over-60 m category, plus a port-side mooring in Cannone Bay |
| 2026 Central Quay rates, over 60 m, before VAT: EUR 2,100 low season, EUR 4,200 high season, EUR 4,700 peak | |
| 2026 Central Quay rates, up to 40 m, before VAT: EUR 750, EUR 1,500 and EUR 1,700 | |
| Seasons | low 1 January to 15 April and 16 October to 31 December, high 16 April to 31 May and 1 to 15 October, peak 1 June to 30 September |
| Services charge | compulsory daily services charge on top, at EUR 675 for a sailing yacht over 60 m and EUR 900 for a motor yacht |
| Carbon neutrality contribution | charged daily by length, EUR 3.51 under 12 m up to EUR 121.53 over 64 m, plus VAT |
| ISPS | EUR 650 plus VAT for commercial yachts over 500 GT, valid for periods of three days |
| Timing | berth day runs 14:00 to 12:00, exit strictly by midday, lunch stops requested by 11:00 and charged at 50 per cent of the rate |
| Marine protected area | anchoring prohibited from the Cenobio dei Dogi to the Tonnarella of Camogli and within 100 m of the Chiesa di Portofino dive site, with a booked buoy system at San Fruttuoso and Punta Chiappa from 25 April 2026 |
| Berths | 16 in total. The harbour is entirely quayed apart from the two Cannone Bay moorings |
| Lateral quay | 8 moorings, 6 on buoys and 2 on chains, for boats to 18 m LOA, with no anchor required |
| Central Quay | 6 moorings for units to 64 m LOA, five taken with an anchor down and one on a mooring block |
| Cannone Bay | 2 moorings for yachts to 80 m LOA, laid with stern buoys and an anchor |
| Depths | 1.4 m to 4 m alongside the quay, 1 m to 1.7 m at the buoys, 0.5 m to 16 m across the harbour. Bottom is mud with good holding |
| Hazards | two shoals with rocks awash, one at the surface off the Local Maritime Office building and one at 0.5 m to starboard of the fuel berth |
| Winds as named by the operator | prevailing libeccio and scirocco, traversia from the grecale, shelter from the maestrale |
| Approach | wait at the harbour mouth, call the port service on VHF 12, keep below 3 knots and give way to outbound vessels |
| Lights | white flashing 5 s, 15 M range on Punta di Portofino. Green flashing 3 s, 7 M on the inner corner of the Maritime Authority building. Red flashing 3 s, 7 M on Punta del Coppo |
| Lifting gear | a slewing crane on the quay. No capacity is published for it and there is no yard |
| Shore power | voltage, amperage and frequency are published nowhere. Italy runs at 230 and 400 V, 50 Hz and no 60 Hz supply is advertised |
| A mobile pontoon inside the harbour near the Isolotto receives cruise ship tenders | |
| Position | 44 18.18 N, 009 12.83 E |
How small this actually is
Portofino sits at 44 degrees 18 minutes north, 9 degrees 12 minutes east on the Ligurian coast east of Genoa, on a promontory that also carries Camogli and Santa Margherita Ligure. The commune covers 2.53 square kilometres and had 379 residents at the end of 2021. The natural harbour supported a fishing fleet for centuries and was described even in the days of the Republic of Genoa as too cramped to offer the merchant marine more than temporary shelter.
By 1950 tourism had replaced fishing as the town's business and the waterfront had become a continuous ring of restaurants and cafes. Nothing structural has changed since. There is no pontoon system, no marina office block and no room to build one, because the village and the hills close the bay on three sides. An owner is buying a position in a fishing harbour that happens to be the most photographed one in Italy.
The Central Quay and Cannone Bay, berth by berth
The operator publishes the whole berth list and it is short enough to print. The harbour holds 16 berths and is entirely quayed apart from the two positions in Cannone Bay. On the lateral quay there are 8 moorings, 6 on buoys and 2 on chains, for boats up to 18 m LOA, none of which needs an anchor. On the Central Quay there are 6 moorings for units up to 64 m LOA, five of them taken with an anchor down and one on a mooring block. In Cannone Bay there are 2 moorings for yachts up to 80 m LOA, laid with stern buoys and an anchor.
That is the whole of Portofino at this end of the market: six positions on the quay and two in the bay. There is also a mobile pontoon inside the harbour near the Isolotto that receives cruise ship tenders, which is worth knowing because it is a large part of what fills the water through the middle of the day. Everything longer than 80 m, and everything arriving when the eight are taken, lies outside and comes ashore by tender. Tenders run continuously between the moored yachts and the quay steps through the summer, which is the normal way to get into Portofino and not a fallback.
A published tariff, a fishing harbour and a midday exit time that is not negotiable.
Where anchoring is prohibited
The whole promontory is a marine protected area covering the municipalities of Camogli, Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure, divided into zones A, B and C with different levels of access. Anchoring is prohibited outright in two places. The first runs from the Cenobio dei Dogi to the Tonnarella of Camogli to protect the posidonia beds. The second is a 100 metre radius around the Chiesa di Portofino dive site, which is protected for archaeological reasons.
The park runs a booked buoy system in place of free anchoring at San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte and Punta Chiappa, operational from 25 April 2026. Reservations are taken between 10:00 and 18:00 through the AMP Portofino mobile application, all buoys are deployed for vessels up to 7.5 metres with the 7.5 to 24 metre buoys rolling out, and a reservation is voided after 120 minutes if the boat has not arrived. For a superyacht that means tender and toy operations here are inside a regulated park and need planning.
How a berth is obtained, and the clock
Berthing is arranged through Portofino Yacht Marina, which operates from Via Roma 35 and Piazza Liberta 13B in the village, by telephone or through its booking system. The rate day runs from 14:00 on the day of arrival until 12:00 the next day, and the exit time is described as strictly fixed at midday.
There is a lunch arrangement worth knowing. Between 12:00 and 15:00 a yacht may be able to stop for lunch, subject to the Port Management Office confirming availability, with the request made no later than 11:00 that morning. It cannot be reserved in advance. If it is granted, it is invoiced at 50 per cent of the reference mooring rate. In August the answer is frequently no.
What it costs, from the published card
Portofino publishes a full tariff, which makes it one of the few marinas in this guide where an owner can price a stop exactly. On the 2026 Central Quay card, before VAT, a yacht over 60 metres pays EUR 2,100 a day in low season, EUR 4,200 in high season and EUR 4,700 at the peak. The 40 metre band runs EUR 750, EUR 1,500 and EUR 1,700. The 50 metre band runs EUR 1,125, EUR 2,250 and EUR 2,500.
Low season is 1 January to 15 April and 16 October to 31 December. High season is 16 April to 31 May and 1 to 15 October. Peak is 1 June to 30 September. A mooring in Cannone Bay on the port side runs EUR 1,500 to EUR 3,500 a day across the same bands. The 2025 card put the over-60 metre quay band at EUR 1,825 to EUR 4,200, so rates rose by roughly 6 to 15 per cent depending on the length band.
The fees on top of the fee
The headline rate is not the invoice. A compulsory daily services charge applies on top, and it differs by hull type, with a yacht over 60 metres paying EUR 675 a day if she is a sailing yacht and EUR 900 if she is a motor yacht, before VAT. In the roadstead there is a garbage service charged at a single rate of EUR 120 a day, while the Cannone Bay garbage rate is zero.
Portofino has also introduced a carbon neutrality contribution, charged daily and scaled by length, running from EUR 3.51 for a boat under 12 metres up to EUR 121.53 for anything over 64 metres, with VAT added. Commercial yachts over 500 GT at anchor or moored in Cannone Bay or on the Central Quay pay an ISPS fee of EUR 650 plus VAT for periods of three days. There is a further overnight departure charge in peak season for movements between 23:00 and 08:30.
Services, and the absence of them
Portofino is a village first, and the published service list is correspondingly short: fuel, a diver, showers and WCs, refuse, a power supply, ISPS handling, laundry, marine supplies and provisioning delivered to the boat. There is one piece of lifting gear, a slewing crane on the quay, and no capacity is published for it, which in a harbour whose deepest quay water is 4 m should be read as tender and gear handling rather than anything structural. There is no yard and no technical depth. Anything beyond a minor fix means a run down the coast to Genoa or to the Ligurian yards. On shore power the operator lists a supply and no numbers at all, with neither voltage, amperage nor frequency published. Italy runs at 230 and 400 V, 50 Hz and no 60 Hz supply is advertised anywhere, so a 60 Hz yacht converts on board.
Privacy is nil and every owner who comes here knows it. The quay is a public promenade, the piazzetta terraces look straight down onto the boats from a few metres, and the harbour is the single most photographed scene on the Italian Riviera. Day boats and ferries fill the water through the middle of the day and thin out in the evening. A yacht here is on display for as long as she is alongside.
Ashore, and getting to it
The village keeps cars out of its centre, so the harbour and the piazzetta form one pedestrian space at the water's edge, with a short run of restaurants, hotels and boutiques and the walk up to the Castello Brown and the church of San Giorgio. Genoa's Cristoforo Colombo airport is the closest, roughly an hour by road, with Milan's airports two to three hours away.
For a family week the surroundings do more than the village. Santa Margherita and Rapallo sit around the headland with proper beaches and shops, San Fruttuoso abbey is reachable only by boat or on foot, and the Cinque Terre are a short cruise south-east. The promontory itself has good walking. The village alone will not hold a family for a week, and few people try.
The honest downside
There is almost no supply. The Central Quay is a handful of positions in a harbour the size of a large swimming pool, and in July and August availability is close to nil at short notice. The pricing has moved sharply, the compulsory extras are material against the headline rate, and a yacht that leaves overnight in peak season pays for the privilege. An owner planning around Portofino should treat a confirmed quay booking as the exception.
The other constraint is that this is a stop and not a base. There is no technical support, no crew infrastructure, no airport within easy reach and no capacity to hold a yacht for a season. Portofino also carries a level of day-tripper traffic that surprises people who have only seen photographs of it at eight in the morning. Owners who want the harbour usually base at a larger port nearby and bring the yacht in for a night.
The depth at the quay, and the winds the operator names
The depths are published and they are the constraint that the headline lengths hide. Alongside the quay the bottom carries 1.4 m to 4 m. At the buoys it is 1 m to 1.7 m. Across the harbour as a whole it runs from 0.5 m to 16 m. The holding is mud and good. So a 64 m yacht on the Central Quay lies stern-to with her stern in no more than 4 m of water, and the arithmetic on her stern draught wants doing at the booking and not on the approach. Two shoals with rocks awash appear in the operator's own hazard note, one at the surface in front of the Local Maritime Office building and one at 0.5 m immediately to starboard of the fuel berth.
The operator also names its winds, which most marinas do not. The prevailing winds are the libeccio from the south-west and the scirocco from the south-east. The traversia, the quarter that sends sea straight into the harbour, is the grecale from the north-east, and that is the direction that ends a stay here. Shelter is from the maestrale in the north-west. The approach procedure is to wait at the harbour mouth and call the port service on VHF 12, hold below 3 knots and give way to vessels coming out. Three lights mark it: a white flashing light of 5 second period and 15 mile range on the point of Portofino, a green flashing 3 second light of 7 mile range on the inner corner of the Maritime Authority building, and a red flashing 3 second light of 7 mile range on Punta del Coppo.
Ashore, access and booking
| Getting there | Genoa's Cristoforo Colombo airport is the closest, roughly an hour by road around the coast. Milan's two airports run two to three hours away. There is no heliport at Portofino itself; a helicopter transfer lands at Genoa or is arranged privately further along the coast. |
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| Arriving by sea | Call the port service on VHF channel 12 and wait at the harbour mouth. Keep below 3 knots inside and give way to vessels coming out. Three lights mark the approach: white flashing 5 seconds and 15 miles on Punta di Portofino, green flashing 3 seconds and 7 miles on the inner corner of the Maritime Authority building, red flashing 3 seconds and 7 miles on Punta del Coppo. |
| Reserving a berth | Berthing is arranged through Portofino Yacht Marina, Via Roma 35 and Piazza Liberta 13B, by phone or its booking system. There is no walk-up availability against the 6 to 8 large-yacht positions in peak season. Boat International groups Portofino with Capri and Bonifacio as a Mediterranean hotspot where a berthing agency's local relationships matter more than calling direct. |
| What a berth costs | Central Quay, 2026 card, before VAT: a yacht over 60 m pays EUR 2,100 a day low season, EUR 4,200 high season, EUR 4,700 peak. A compulsory daily services charge adds EUR 675 to EUR 900, a carbon neutrality contribution scales with length, and a garbage charge and ISPS fee apply where relevant. Cannone Bay runs EUR 1,500 to EUR 3,500 a day across the same bands. |
| The clock | The rate day runs 14:00 to 12:00 and the exit is strictly fixed at midday. A lunch-only stop between 12:00 and 15:00 can be requested by 11:00 that morning, is never guaranteed, and is billed at 50 per cent of the reference rate. In August the answer is frequently no. |
| Eating within walking distance | Ristorante Puny sits on the quay itself, run by the Miroli family for generations on Ligurian seafood and pesto. Carlo Cracco's restaurant occupies the site of the old Pitosforo, a former harbour landmark. The Hotel Splendido's cliff-top terrace looks straight down over the bay from above the village. |
| After dark | Covo di Nord Est at Paraggi beach, a short run around the headland toward Santa Margherita, is the Riviera's best-known nightclub and where the yacht crowd goes after the harbour quiets down. |
What owners and crew report
A booking agency, not a phone call, is how experienced captains get in
Portofino is grouped with Capri and Bonifacio as a Mediterranean hotspot where berths are scarce enough that an agency's local relationships matter; a captain calling the marina direct is competing with everyone else dialling the same number for eight positions.
Boat InternationalThe midday exit is treated as absolute, not a guideline
The operator's own rate day runs 14:00 to 12:00, the exit is described as strictly fixed at midday, and a lunch-only extension has to be requested by 11:00 that morning with no guarantee, billed at half the daily rate when granted.
Portofino Yacht Marina
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- One of the only marinas anywhere with an exact published tariffThe 2026 Central Quay card prices every length band by season, so an owner can cost a stop to the euro before ever calling, which almost no Mediterranean harbour of this reputation does.
- The dining matches the settingRistorante Puny on the quay, Carlo Cracco's restaurant on the old Pitosforo site and the Splendido's terrace above the bay put three serious kitchens within a two-minute walk of the boat.
- Cannone Bay takes the largest yachts the Central Quay cannotTwo stern-buoy positions are rated to 80 m LOA, six metres longer than the Central Quay's own 64 m ceiling, so the biggest boats still have a place to lie.
What to watch
- Six large-yacht positions for the whole Mediterranean fleetPeak-season availability at short notice is close to nil, and Boat International names Portofino alongside Capri and Bonifacio as exactly this kind of scarce-berth hotspot.
- The headline rate is not the invoiceA compulsory services charge, a carbon neutrality contribution and an ISPS fee where it applies all stack on top, and an overnight departure in peak season carries its own surcharge.
- No technical depth and no published shore power specOne slewing crane on the quay with no stated capacity, no yard, and voltage, amperage and frequency published nowhere on the operator's own site.
- Zero privacyThe piazzetta terraces look straight down onto the boats from a few metres away, and day-tripper and cruise-tender traffic fills the water through the middle of the day.
Who it is for: An owner cruising the Italian Riviera who wants one or two nights in the most photographed harbour in Italy and bases the yacht elsewhere.