Italy · Liguria
Yacht Charter Santa Margherita Ligure
The working harbour of the Tigullio, five minutes from Portofino and the base most Ligurian weeks are run from.
Santa Margherita is where the Tigullio actually works: a proper harbour with fuel, provisioning and berths that can be had, palm trees along the front and a basilica whose interior is startling after the restraint outside. Portofino is five minutes round the point, which is why most weeks on this coast berth here and visit there.
A harbour that does the job
The port is large enough to take real boats and close enough to everything that matters: Portofino five minutes west, San Fruttuoso twenty, Rapallo ten in the other direction. Provisioning is easy and the fish market is on the front.
The town itself is Belle Époque — villas in ochre and rose along the promenade, the Villa Durazzo above with its terraced gardens, and a seafront that fills in the evening rather than the middle of the day.
What is within twenty minutes
Paraggi, the small bay before Portofino, has the clearest water in the gulf and a beach of pale sand rather than the pebble that runs along most of this coast.
The Portofino promontory behind is a regional park with a marine reserve around its tip: San Fruttuoso on the seaward side, Punta Chiappa beyond it, and a coast the road never reaches.
Practical notes
- The nearest base is Cala de' Medici, a day south; everything else is positioned for your dates
- A full-service harbour: fuel, provisioning and a fish market on the front
- Portofino is five minutes round the point, Paraggi three, San Fruttuoso twenty
- Genoa airport is forty minutes by road, Pisa about two hours
Reached from: Cala de' Medici
Where to dine
A table by the water
Skipper
Santa MargheritaOn the front, doing the Ligurian fish the market sold that morning, thirty metres from where it was sold.
Oca Bianca
Santa MargheritaThe town's contrarian kitchen: no fish at all, only meat, and it has been full for thirty years.
Trattoria Baicin
Santa MargheritaA family room a street back, where the pesto is made in a mortar because nobody thought to stop.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
Paraggi
The small bay before Portofino, with pale sand and the clearest water in the gulf — three minutes by tender.
Villa Durazzo
Above the harbour, with terraced gardens and a view down the whole Tigullio.
San Fruttuoso
Twenty minutes round the promontory: a tenth-century abbey on a pebble beach with no road to it.
Rapallo and the Tigullio
Ten minutes east, with a sixteenth-century castle on the water and a gulf that stays sheltered.
The fleet
Yachts available for Santa Margherita Ligure
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about Santa Margherita Ligure
- Why berth at Santa Margherita rather than Portofino?
- Because it works. A full-service harbour with fuel and provisioning, berths that can actually be had, and Portofino five minutes round the point when you want it.
- What is worth doing from here?
- Paraggi for the water, San Fruttuoso for the abbey on the seaward side of the promontory, and Portofino at eight in the morning before the day trippers land.
- What does a yacht charter at Santa Margherita cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season, the crew and the positioning, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
Charter here
Enquire about a charter at Santa Margherita Ligure
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.