Cinque Terre

by Chantal & David · August 1, 2024

With no wind forecasted for the next few days, which we really couldn’t wait for, so on the 8th July we finally left Savona, and motored rather dully for 7 hours straight across the Gulf of Genoa, passing beautiful Portofino close enough for some images from the water, and dropped our pick just inside the harbour wall of St Margherita.

Portofino from the Sea

St Margherita from the Sea

After a peaceful night on anchor, we managed to eek out 5 knots from a SW2 for all of 55 minutes before resorting to the engine for the rest of 10NM journey, to drop our pick amidst the fishing boats just outside Sestri Levante in readiness for our full day exploring the Cinque Terre.

Sestri Levante

Sadly it was a rather “rolly” night with a nice side swell, so we weren’t quite as rested as we would have liked. Still we set off a little after 9.30am, and motored the 17NM´s to the first of the villages that encompass the Cinque Terre.

A little bit of info for those of you who haven’t heard of the Cinque Terre…So pretty that it inspired a Disney movie (Luca), it consists of five centuries-old startlingly photogenic fishing villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. In each of the 5 towns, their candy-coloured houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces and stack down the sides of ravines and clifftops, harbours are filled with fishing boats and trattorias turn out seafood specialties along with the Liguria region’s famous sauce, pesto. There is a cliffside hiking trail and a train line that links the villages that offers sweeping sea vistas, but we had our own vistas, from the sea!

Our First Stop Monterossa

Having grabbed a buoy, (it’s’ a National Park now so you can’t anchor), on our second attempt, as whilst David had miraculously managed to hook the loop on the top of the buoy, I didn’t stop the boat quick enough, resulting in David not only having to lose the buoy, but also the boat hook that was well and truly stuck in the loop, that was until he let go! His unplanned swim to retrieve it was the first time either of us had got in the water this summer so far, a tad refreshing was probably an understatement.. (he wasn’t best pleased with me, oops!!!). Fortunately our second attempt went without a hitch, so we promptly lowered the dinghy and went ashore. We will let the pics do the talking of course!

The pictures might not show it, but the town was full to the brim with tourists, mainly American, so it was with some relief that we returned to Seaclusion, believing that Monterossa, being the biggest and most accessible would be the busiest.. Hmmm…

We let go of the buoy without incident and motored to the next village, Vernazza, again to pick up a buoy, thankfully also without incident. This village was the most important in the past, although we aren’t sure why. To access it we went by dinghy, but had to turn the outboard off at the entrance and row the rest of the way, trying to avoid all the swimmers and fishing boats in its tiny harbour… Fortunately we didn’t clump anyone on the head with an oar on the way. Once tied up, we went for a wander, through its medieval alleyways, quiet it was not, if we thought Monterossa was busy.. well this one was almost claustrophobic, i’m sure it would have been lovely during Covid!

Vernazza

In fact the only quiet place was when we climbed up to the old fort tower, not really sure what it was… most people could take the 200 odd steps to get there in the heat, not sure how we did it, but we did it. But we were rewarded with a giggle by this sign as,the other side of the wall was a sheer drop to the sea!!

A view of the old harbour from above.

We then returned to our dinghy and paddled our way out, and had only just got the engine on when…..

The Hawaii 5’O set off.. David did incredibly well not to get us wet when we became caught in the middle of a mini perfect storm caused by the wakes, in our dinghy!

So having discovered that the beauty of this area is also its curse – it’s one of the most overtouristed parts of the Bel Paese, with thousands of day trippers crowding into the narrow streets, eager to take a couple of quick shots and then leave. Is Cinque Terre overcrowded? Absolutely. Did that limit our enjoyment, yes, sad to say it did, so if you want our recommendation, come here in the Spring or Autumn, avoid the summer like the plague!

So we then decided to do a sail-by for the other 3 villages, as close as we could before being turned about by the National Park police.

Corniglia

The village is perched high above the seas, it is the only clifftop village in the region and even if there weren’t the crowds, we weren’t sure we had the energy and stamina to walk the 350 steps up to it in the heat of the day!

Manarola

Arguably the prettiest part of Cinque Terre, cutesy Manarola has cottages stacked up and over the cliffs, as well as the area’s loveliest main street, which spirals down a canyon to the water’s edge. we will come back one day!