“Porto Cervo is the address: a marina that takes yachts well over 100 metres, a village built to be looked at, and the hardest berth to get in the Mediterranean in August.”
In short. Porto Cervo is the main harbour of the Costa Smeralda in north-east Sardinia, 13 nautical miles from Olbia and 8 from La Maddalena. The marina takes yachts well over 100 metres and August rates are the highest in the Mediterranean. A crewed week in Italy starts near €80,000.
The village was built from nothing by the Aga Khan’s consortium in the 1960s, designed to look like a Sardinian fishing town that never existed, and it works: the old village above the harbour is genuinely attractive rather than just expensive. The Promenade du Port below it is where the boutiques and the people-watching are.
For a charter it is a berth night and a dinner, not a week. The swimming is eight miles north in the archipelago and the reliable anchorage is three miles south at Cala di Volpe.
Must-dos at Porto Cervo
- A night on the quay, which is the whole point of coming here
- The Promenade du Port in the early evening
- The old village and the Stella Maris church above the harbour
- A regatta week with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, June or September
- Dinner at Cala di Volpe three miles south, as the quieter alternative
On this page: the marina · the village · the yacht club and the regattas · what is nearby · getting a berth · what it costs · distances · when to go
Marina di Porto Cervo
Marina di Porto Cervo is the reason the coast exists in its current form. It takes yachts well over 100 metres on the outer quays, it is sheltered in everything, and it sits directly below the village so the walk from the passerelle to dinner is two minutes.
It is also the single hardest berth to secure in Italy. Peak weeks and regatta dates sell out months ahead and August rates are the highest in the Mediterranean. The rule we give every client is the same: if a Porto Cervo berth matters to the week, it is requested when the yacht is booked, not on the day.
The Old Port, the smaller basin on the other side, handles tenders and smaller craft. Larger yachts that cannot get in lie at anchor outside or at Cala di Volpe and run in by tender for the evening, which is a perfectly good plan and what many weeks actually do.
The village and the Promenade du Port
The village above the marina was designed in the 1960s in what became known as the Costa Smeralda style: whitewash, juniper, curved walls and terracotta, all of it new but convincingly weathered now. It is small, it is walkable in half an hour, and it looks the way it was intended to look.
The Promenade du Port is the arcade of boutiques along the harbour, and the early evening is when it fills. Above it, the Stella Maris church holds an El Greco in a side chapel, which is an unexpected thing to find in a village sixty years old.
Restaurants in the village need booking in July and August, and we arrange them with the berth rather than afterwards.
The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and the regattas
The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, founded with the resort in 1967, is the reason the harbour fills in June and September. The Loro Piana Giraglia, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Swan and Perini gatherings all run out of here, and in a regatta week the quay is a boat show.
That is the attraction and the complication. Those are the best months to be on this coast and the hardest in which to find a berth, so a week built around a regatta is planned months out or not at all.
Cala di Volpe, Porto Rotondo and the archipelago
Cala di Volpe is three miles south: the most reliable overnight anchorage on the coast, with an easy tender ride to dinner and the hotel pool as a quieter lunch. Most weeks use it as the base and treat Porto Cervo as the night out.
Porto Rotondo, six miles south, is the smaller sister village with its own marina and much better availability. The La Maddalena archipelago is eight miles north and is where the swimming is; the two together are the Sardinian week.
Olbia, 13 miles south, has the airport and the practical marina, and is about 40 minutes by road from Porto Cervo.
Getting a berth at Porto Cervo
- Marina di Porto Cervo takes yachts well over 100 metres and is booked months ahead for peak weeks and regattas. Request it with the yacht, not later.
- At anchor off the entrance or at Cala di Volpe, three miles south, with the tender in for dinner. This is what most weeks do and it costs nothing.
- Porto Rotondo or Marina di Olbia when Porto Cervo is full, both a short run south and both far easier.
Holding on this coast is sand over rock, good where there is clear sand and poor where there is not, so the anchorage is chosen with care rather than by eye. Our guide to marina and anchor nights in Italy has the wider picture.
What a night at Porto Cervo costs
A crewed week in Italy starts around €80,000 for a motor yacht, with most weeks between €150,000 and €300,000 and the top of the market at €300,000 to €500,000 and above. On top come an advance provisioning allowance of roughly 25 to 35 per cent, Italian VAT at 22 per cent and a gratuity of usually 5 to 15 per cent. See our Italy charter cost guide, APA and VAT.
Porto Cervo in August is the most expensive berth night a Mediterranean week can buy, and it sits on top of everything else. One night here and the rest at anchor is the plan we recommend to most clients; it buys the evening without buying the week.
Fitting Porto Cervo into the week
Porto Cervo is a night, not a base, and everything is close.
| From | Distance | At 12 knots |
| Cala di Volpe | 3 nm | 15 min |
| Porto Rotondo | 6 nm | 30 min |
| La Maddalena | 8 nm | 40 min |
| Spargi | 11 nm | 55 min |
| Olbia | 13 nm | 1 h 05 |
| Bonifacio, Corsica | 23 nm | 1 h 55 |
Our eight-day Sardinia and Corsica itinerary reaches Porto Cervo on day three, from Cala di Volpe, and crosses to Bonifacio the next day. See also where to start an Italy charter and how long the week should be.
When to go
- June and September are the best of it and the regatta months, which is also when the berths are hardest to find.
- July and August are the peak: every berth spoken for, rates at their Mediterranean highest and the village at its busiest.
- May and October are quiet and pleasant, with several restaurants and clubs shut.
Our month-by-month view is in the best time for an Italy charter.
People also ask about Porto Cervo
How big a yacht can berth at Porto Cervo?
Well over 100 metres on the outer quays. It is the largest-capacity marina in Sardinia and one of the few places in Italy that takes yachts at that size close to a village.
How far ahead do you need to book a Porto Cervo berth?
Months, for peak weeks and regatta dates. Our standing advice is that if a Porto Cervo berth matters to the week, it is requested at the time the yacht is booked rather than on the day. August rates are the highest in the Mediterranean.
Can you anchor near Porto Cervo?
Yes, off the entrance in settled weather, and more reliably at Cala di Volpe three miles south, which is the best overnight anchorage on the coast. Many weeks do exactly that and tender in for the evening. Holding is sand over rock, so the spot is chosen with care.
What is there to do in Porto Cervo?
Walk the Promenade du Port in the early evening, eat in the village, see the Stella Maris church with its El Greco, and watch the harbour. It is half a day and a night rather than a destination in itself; the swimming is eight miles north in the archipelago.
When are the Porto Cervo regattas?
June and September, run by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, which was founded with the resort in 1967. The quay becomes a boat show and berths are at their most contested, so a regatta week is planned months out.
Is Porto Cervo worth it?
For one night of a Sardinian week, yes. It is the address, the village is better than it has any right to be, and the harbour is a spectacle. As a base for the week it is expensive and in the wrong place, because the water you came for is north in La Maddalena.
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