Portofino

5^th July 2011

After breakfast we decided to catch the 10am ferry to Portofino, about 30 min trip west of Rapallo.

The ferry ready to leave for Portofino

First stop was Santa Margherita Ligure, a very pretty seaside village just around the corner from Rapallo, which seems popular with cruising yachts anchored in the harbor, and a popular swimming spot with a large beach and protected swimming area.

Santa Margherita Ligure

It was then on to Portofino. As we approached Portofino there were a few very large motor cruisers (ships) anchored at sea. One in particular caught my eye and seems to be ideal boat for one who has everything. It had a helicopter on a pad on the aft deck, a yacht that looked about 50’ in length on the port side deck mid ships, a motor cruiser about the same size on the starboard side in about the same position, and enough room on the stern access platform for a few beach umbrellas and party area. I doubt we will see one at the boat show this year.

Brian de Boos new boat ?

As we entered the small harbor at Portofino all you could see were boats everywhere, some very large motor boats along the concrete pier, lots of wooden pleasure boats on moorings, a number of yachts on moorings and even a few fishing boats (that wouldn’t win any design competition but looked functional).

There are local boats

And other boats

And fishing boats

The town is stunning, particularly when seen from the water, which is crystal clear. We walked out to the lighthouse on the western tip of the peninsula, capturing some excellent views of the town.

Views on the lighthouse walk

After taking in the scenery we wandered around the town (lots of shops and restaurants), and were surprised at the number of Australian tourists in towns. You could hear Australian accents everywhere you went. We eventually had enough sightseeing, sat down at a waterside restaurant for a light lunch and quickly came to realize that Portofino prices reflect the setting with multimillion dollar boats everywhere, and boat boys carrying the Gucci and other brand label bags tagging along behind their owners/guests to take the latest shopping haul on board.  Unlike our other destinations in Italy so far, this place is ridiculously expensive, food and drinks are at least twice the cost of Rapallo, and in our one experience , of lower quality.

Meanwhile the occupancy of the harbor front changed dramatically. All of the big motor cruisers left around noon, and a Volvo ocean racer, “Abu Dhabi” entered the harbor and was the only boat on the townside pier.

A very large motor cruiser " Baton Rouge" leaving the harbour

A contrast to the morning view when this dock was filled with multimillion dollar motor boats

We caught the 2pm ferry back to Rapallo, glad that we chose to stay here rather than in Portofino, despite the natural beauty of the place.

After our usual afternoon rest we will head back out for dinner in Rapallo tonight. We had  pizza and a good bottle of red in front of the harbor.

Tomorrow we hope to take a ferry ride in the other direction to Cinque Terre.