Inaccessible, protected and wild: we are now approaching Cala dell’Oro, the Cove of Gold.
It is a natural beach inside Zone A, the fully protected core of the Portofino Marine Protected Area. It also has a troubled past, full of old stories about pirates and smugglers.
The inlet is marked by caves and hidden cracks where, according to local legend, Saracen pirates once hid stolen goods and waited for merchant ships sailing towards the rich port of Genoa.
Among them, tradition says, was the feared corsair Dragut, the same man behind the brutal raid on Rapallo in 1549.
The watchtower on the headland was built in 1561 by the Republic of Genoa to defend this stretch of coast from pirate attacks.
Even so, for centuries Cala dell’Oro was said to be a meeting point for smugglers and freebooters travelling towards Corsica.
Today, that tower is the only human trace in an otherwise untouched landscape.As we said before, Cala dell’Oro lies inside Zone A, the strict no-entry area of the reserve. This means no boats, no swimming and no mooring.You can only admire it from a distance, or from above, along the steep paths that cross the promontory.These rules have allowed the cove to recover in a remarkable way.It no longer hides pirates’ treasure, but something far more precious: a refuge for biodiversity, where plant and animal life thrives in clear water.Groupers, dentex, tuna and many other fish move through these waters. Dolphins from the nearby Pelagos Sanctuary often come close to the shore. Coral covers the seabed.
Take a moment to enjoy the stillness of a place where nature has been left to itself.

Just off the Abbey of San Fruttuoso, there is something many divers come here to see.
On the seabed, about seventeen metres below the surface, stands the Christ of the Abyss.
It is a fairly simple dive, but it should only be done with experienced and authorised guides working inside the Portofino Marine Protected Area.
The bronze statue is about two and a half metres tall. Christ is shown with his arms raised and open towards the light, as if in prayer.
This is not a statue that ended up underwater by chance. It was made to be placed on the seabed.
The project was strongly supported by Duilio Marcante, one of the pioneers of Italian diving. He wanted it as a tribute to his friend Dario Gonzatti, who died during a dive in 1947.The statue was sculpted by Guido Galletti and lowered into the bay in 1954.Since then, it has stood as a memorial to those who lost their lives at sea. For many people, it is also a sign of protection for everyone who lives and works on the water.Bringing it down to this depth required the help of the Italian Navy, the Genoa branch of the Italian Sports Centre, and a team of volunteer divers.
And you do not have to dive to see it. Inside the abbey, you will find a replica.If you love diving, you may also come across it far from Liguria. Faithful copies of the statue can be found in Florida and off St George’s in Grenada, in the Caribbean.Closer to home, there are other underwater statues of Christ off the Italian coast too, in Sardinia, Salento, the Tremiti Islands, Sicily and other places.Still, the Christ of the Abyss at San Fruttuoso remains the best known. Silent below the surface, in front of a place of prayer, it gives this bay a strong sense of devotion.

Up ahead is the Abbey of San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte, a place of history and quiet devotion.Getting here is not easy. You can arrive by boat, as we are doing now, or on foot along the paths that cross the mountain behind it.As the abbey comes into view, you can see why it feels so secluded. It stands in a small inlet, protected by the woods of Mount Portofino.In summer, the pebble beach fills with swimmers. Colourful towels in the sun and the sound of families bring life to this quiet place.
Now look at the building itself. At the front, there is a two-storey loggia with rows of triple-arched windows.Above it rises the small dome of the medieval church. The complex also includes a museum and a cloister. To the right, partly hidden by the greenery, stands a square defensive tower, the Torre Doria, built in 1562.Linked to Admiral Andrea Doria, it was built to protect San Fruttuoso from pirate raids, and it still overlooks the bay today.
The story of this place goes back much further and is closely linked to the Doria family, later the Doria Pamphilj. As early as the eighth century, monks chose this bay as a refuge. It was difficult to reach, but a freshwater spring made it possible to live here.Two centuries later, the small church was enlarged and became a Benedictine monastery.In the thirteenth century, the Doria family chose the abbey as their burial place. Their tombs in the church crypt can still be visited today.Over the centuries, the family paid for restorations and extensions, and eventually became owners of the whole complex.Then, in 1983, the Doria Pamphilj donated San Fruttuoso to FAI, Fondo Ambiente Italiano, Italy’s National Trust, helping to protect it for the future.

Look at those grey cliffs dropping straight into the sea and enclosing a small wild cove.
This is Cala degli Inglesi, or English Cove.
The rock walls, shaped by wind and waves, continue below the surface for hundreds of metres. Above them, the slope is covered with Mediterranean scrub, strawberry trees and maritime pines.Here the sea is a deep, dark blue. The place feels wild and untouched. And yet, between twenty and fifty metres below us, there is a shipwreck.
On 5 November 1967, an old Canadian cargo ship called the Mohawk Deer was being towed to La Spezia for scrap by the Yugoslav tug Junak. It was her final journey. The ship had been built in 1896.
A strong south-westerly wind, known as the libeccio, snapped the towline, and the Mohawk Deer drifted towards the cliffs of Cala degli Inglesi.
Luckily, the ship was empty. There was no crew on board. The captain of the Junak decided that trying to recover it was too dangerous.
So the Mohawk Deer sank right here, just off the cove.
Today the wreck is a favourite site for divers. They come here all year round to see the broken bow, the seaweed and the limestone that has formed around the metal parts.
The wreck may even help explain the name of the cove. Canada was linked to the British Empire for much of its history. Or the name may come from the British families who stayed here from the nineteenth century onwards, including the Browns, associated with Brown Castle in Portofino.
There is also a curious coincidence: Italy has four different places called Cala degli Inglesi.
One is nearby, in Bergeggi, in the province of Savona. Another is on the Tremiti Islands, off the coast of Puglia. The last is on Ischia, in the Gulf of Naples.
So if you plan to explore more of Italy, you could start by choosing the next Cala degli Inglesi to visit!

Make your way to Portofino’s Piazzetta to listen to this audio.

Mediterranean scrub and dry-stone walls are a common sight along the Ligurian coast, from the Cinque Terre to the area around Savona. But here in Portofino, they frame the Piazzetta and the small bay where the yachts are moored.
Now raise your eyes to the headland behind the square.Up there, Portofino shows a different side: footpaths, traces of the past, and a more rugged feel, far from the boutiques.From the middle of the Piazzetta, face the sea, then look to the right, beyond the boats, towards the hillside.

On the slope, you can spot a small church with an ochre-yellow façade: St George’s Church. It keeps the saint’s relics, which tradition says were brought here by Crusaders returning from the Holy Land.The church was destroyed during the Second World War, but the building you see today was rebuilt in its original form.In front of it, the forecourt is paved in rissëu, Liguria’s traditional cobblestone mosaic, made with light and dark stones.
From there, the view is like a postcard. The Piazzetta and the sea open out below. It is one of Portofino’s best photo spots, and it is only about a five-minute walk away.A little higher up, to the left of the church as you face the sea, you can also make out Castello Brown through the greenery.It is named after the British consul Montague Yeats-Brown, who bought it in 1867.
Did you expect to find, right here, a side of Portofino that feels older and a little wilder?

Portofino’s bay forms a perfect crescent and brings us straight into the famous Piazzetta. It feels like an elegant amphitheatre by the water.
The houses are tall and narrow, built close together to protect one another from the winter winds that enter the bay. Their façades are painted in the colours of the Ligurian Riviera: ochre, yellow, Pompeian red and pink.
The Piazzetta is completely traffic-free, and everything feels quiet.
Here is a small detail that says a lot about Portofino’s exclusive character: motor vehicles are not allowed in, not even for deliveries to the restaurants and shops. Instead, quiet electric carts arrive at set times, so the calm is not disturbed.
Around the square, you will find historic cafés and bars, ideal for an aperitivo, the traditional drink before dinner. You may want to try some local specialities, such as a Ligurian gin or a traditional-method sparkling wine aged underwater in the bay. And if you prefer something without alcohol, you can look for citrus drinks made with fruit grown nearby.
For wine lovers, here are three of Liguria’s best-known grapes: Vermentino, Bianchetta Genovese and Pigato.
 Now look at the water. It is hard not to notice the yachts and other luxury boats.
Portofino attracts an international high-end summer crowd. Celebrities, business leaders and footballers often moor just off the village.They come ashore for shopping in the boutiques and dinner in the restaurants around the square. And for many visitors, that is part of the appeal too: the beauty of the place, and the curiosity of who might be sitting at the next table.
Who knows, you might spot a familiar face in the crowd.
Or perhaps the star is you!

We have reached the southern tip of the Portofino promontory.Up on the ridge, you can spot a small white square tower. That is the Portofino Lighthouse.It stands between two gulfs: the Gulf of Tigullio, which stretches from Sestri Levante to Portofino, and Golfo Paradiso, home to Camogli and the Abbey of San Fruttuoso.
Many visitors walk up here from Portofino along the coastal paths, both for the view and for a cold beer at the end of the climb.From up there, with a bit of luck, you may spot dolphins, or even whales, in the distance! They live in the protected waters of the Pelagos Sanctuary, off the Ligurian and Tuscan coasts.

We have reached Spiaggia dell’Olivetta, the last natural stop before entering Portofino.But this cove also holds a painful story from the Italian Resistance.
In December 1944, Nazi troops based in this area carried out what is remembered as the Olivetta massacre.Twenty-one Genoese partisans, who were already prisoners, and one civilian were shot in reprisal, and their bodies were thrown into the sea.
Today, however, the place feels peaceful.There are no buildings here, only rock and a narrow strip of pebbles.And the water is clear and deep, shifting to a vivid cobalt blue that draws plenty of snorkellers.

It feels like a different world, doesn’t it?We are in one of the quietest corners of the Gulf of Tigullio, even though Portofino is only a short distance away.That small, fairy-tale cove is Baia Cannone — literally, Cannon Bay.
Local tradition says the name comes from a cannon that once stood on the terrace above the water to defend the coast from pirate raids.It seems to have done its job. You will not see corsairs here today, and the bay is now one of the most romantic places in Liguria.
Look down, then back towards the shore.
Our boat seems to float on clear, still water, inside a rocky inlet shaded by Mediterranean plants and ending in a pebble beach.Matching the natural colours around them, two beautiful villas stand right at the water’s edge. One is warm ochre, the other deep Pompeian red, and both have small stone steps leading straight into the sea.
Higher up, through the thick greenery, you can spot the coastal road.Follow it, and you will reach the most famous place along this shore: Portofino’s little square, the Piazzetta, right by the water, with elegant cafés and high-end boutiques.

The small bay in front of you is Paraggi, one of the very few places in this area with a sandy beach.
With thick greenery all around and a pale seabed below, the water takes on a bright emerald colour.
Paraggi is an exclusive place and has mostly escaped mass tourism.
And that castle-like building beside the bay? That is Paraggi Castle, also known as Villa Bonomi Bolchini. For years, it was Silvio Berlusconi’s holiday home in Liguria.
He was Italy’s Prime Minister and also president of the football club A.C. Milan.
He was a billionaire businessman, known for his flamboyant style and charismatic public image. He also often made headlines for scandals and for some international gaffes.In short, he was not someone you came across every day, even on the Italian coast.