The Riviera di Levante under sail
Between Portofino, San Fruttuoso and the Cinque Terre, sailing traces the most scenic route in the Italian Mediterranean
Santa Margherita Ligure is a gateway. A golden gateway, because it opens onto one of the most cinematic stretches of coast in Italy, but also a civilised one, with neat seafront promenades, tall palms, old-world hotels and a maritime culture with ancient roots.
Choosing to hire a sailing yacht in Santa Margherita means setting off from a point of balance, from a harbour that is already a promise, to venture into a maritime amphitheatre that has few equals in the Mediterranean.
The Tigullio is a gulf best told from the sea. The jagged coastline reveals itself in a sequence of headlands, coves and inlets where the green of the pine forests falls straight into the blue. Portofino, of course, is the first destination.
But those who have already seen Portofino know that the real pleasure is arriving by keel, choosing your own anchorage in the Golfo del Faro and watching the village from the right point of view, the one that makes you understand why so many writers and artists stopped here and never knew how to leave.
The magic of San Fruttuoso
A classic route when you hire a sailing yacht in Santa Margherita inevitably leads to the Abbey of San Fruttuoso.
It is one of those places that exist only thanks to the sea.
Squeezed between two headlands, reachable on foot only after a demanding walk or by boat with almost liturgical ease, the 10th-century Benedictine abbey is reflected in the water in an image that seems to come from a painting by a melancholy Macchiaioli artist.
Anchoring in front of San Fruttuoso and having breakfast as the sun lights up the stone façade is one of the gentlest experiences the Italian Mediterranean can offer.
A little further west, Camogli adds its own chapter. Its tall houses, painted in colours the sun never quite fades, are reflected in the little fishing harbour. Seen from the sea, Camogli is a living painting. Seen from the pier, as told by those who live there, it is proof that Liguria still knows how to preserve its identity.
The Cinque Terre, a chapter of their own
Heading south towards the Cinque Terre is a different kind of experience. Here sailing is the perfect way to travel, because it lets you see the villages in their entirety, from the sea up to the vineyard terraces that seem held together by invisible threads. Vernazza, Manarola, Riomaggiore.
Every name is a postcard, every postcard a truth. But sailing lets you go beyond the postcard. It lets you discover the smaller inlets, the grottoes reached by tender, the pine woods where you anchor in the afternoon for a swim of intimate beauty.
The style of the Tigullio under sail
There is a precise style here that sailing knows how to bring out. It is a style Liguria has codified over centuries and that reaches its fullest form in Santa Margherita.
You dress with a certain care, even on a boat.
You lunch on local produce, Riviera olive oil, pesto made the way it should be, focaccia di Recco when you go back ashore.
You drink a Pigato from Pietra Ligure, a Vermentino from the Colli di Luni.
You treat yourself to a coffee at the Covo in Portofino, a sunset aperitif in the piazzetta that needs no introduction.
Sailing adds to all this the dimension of silence. When the sails catch the wind and the engine goes off, the Tigullio changes tone. You hear the rush of water under the keel, the lapping on the hull, the whistle of the wind in the shrouds.
It is a silence that is not absence, but a different, more ancient presence, made of the same stuff that has always carried Ligurian sailors to every corner of the world.
The wind of the Tigullio
Those who know these waters know that the wind here has personality. The tramontana, when it blows, brings days so clear you can see far into the distance, from the Apuan Alps to the Portofino headland, as if they were a step away. The libeccio, on its return, can be demanding and must be read carefully.
The summer afternoon breeze, on the other hand, is the kindest, the one that lets you trace slow tacks between Punta Manara and Monte di Portofino while enjoying the whole spectacle.
A typical week from Santa Margherita
A week on a sailing yacht from Santa Margherita can become an itinerary that follows the natural rhythm of the Ligurian coast.
The first stops are often Portofino and San Fruttuoso, where the cliffs and clear water seem to ease you gently into the journey.
Further south, Sestri Levante welcomes you with the Baia del Silenzio, one of those places that seem unreal at sunset.
From there the route continues to the Gulf of Poets, La Spezia and Portovenere, with Palmaria Island appearing on the horizon like a natural stage set.
The Cinque Terre appear from the sea in all their verticality: Vernazza, Manarola, Riomaggiore.
Then the return towards the Tigullio, with a stop in Rapallo, ends the journey, leaving you with the feeling of having crossed a Liguria that is impossible to truly know from land.
A memory that stays
A summer in Liguria, seen from the deck of a sailing yacht, leaves something that lasts. The light changes constantly: in the morning it is clear and delicate; at sunset it lights the coast with soft reflections that seem to come from a painting.
The sea also changes character during the day, moving from the quiet clarity of the bays to the deep blue offshore. All around, terraces, maritime pines and perched villages create a landscape that exists nowhere else.
Hiring a sailing yacht in Santa Margherita lets you experience all this in the most authentic way: following your own rhythm, choosing a new route each day, far from traffic and crowds.
And that is exactly why some summers here do not remain just photographs, but real memories.
