Baia di Paraggi: The Bay Named for Dolphins That Made a Duchess Famous

Italy | Liguria | Genoa | Portofino Coast

Pliny the Elder recorded this stretch of coast under the name Portus Delphini, Port of the Dolphin, describing waters that once drew genuine pods of dolphins close enough to shore that Roman sailors named the whole bay after them. Portofino grew from that same name centuries later, and Paraggi sits close enough to share in that ancient reputation, even if I didn’t spot any dolphins myself during my visits. What I did find, wandering the cliffside path down from Santa Margherita Ligure, was a coastline that has drawn attention for considerably longer than its current reputation as a jet-set destination suggests, a fishing village turned literary muse turned playground for the genuinely wealthy.

Baia di Paraggi occupies the narrow inlet between Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino, and it holds the distinction of being the only real sandy beach anywhere on this particular stretch of dramatic, cliff-heavy coastline.

Emerald Water Protected by an Actual Marine Park

The water here takes on a genuinely striking emerald color, sheltered completely from the open sea’s swells by the surrounding cliffs and further protected by the bay’s inclusion in the Portofino Marine Park, where motorized boat traffic stays strictly outside the swimming perimeter. I found the clarity extraordinary, seagrass meadows and schools of sea bream visible clearly through nothing more than a simple pair of goggles, and the calm, current-free conditions made this one of the more genuinely relaxed swimming environments I’ve found anywhere on the Ligurian coast.

A Rare Stretch of Fine Sand on a Rocky Coastline

What makes Paraggi distinctive within this immediate area is its shoreline itself, a narrow crescent of fine, soft golden sand, a real rarity given how thoroughly rocky and pebbled the rest of this coast tends to be. The seabed slopes out gently and gradually, and I found this one of the more reassuring beaches for supervised swimming with young children, the shallow water staying calm and predictable well past where I’d normally start watching more carefully.

Public Sand Alongside Elite Private Beach Clubs

A modest public section remains genuinely open to independent travelers, though most of the shoreline runs through elegant private beach clubs offering the full range of cushioned sunbeds, personal lockers, and attentive service. I split time between both over separate visits, and found the public stretch, while smaller, gave a genuinely comparable experience of the water itself without the premium price attached to a managed lounger. Given how tightly organized and managed most of this bay is, I’d expect dogs to require explicit permission on the private club sections, with the modest public stretch likely following the standard Italian rule allowing leashed access outside the water.

Snorkeling and Paddleboarding Along the Marine Reserve’s Edge

Rental counters on the sand supply premium paddleboards, kayaks, and snorkeling gear, and I spent a full morning exploring the rock formations at the bay’s edges, finding the marine reserve’s protection had genuinely paid off in terms of visible fish and healthy seagrass compared to less protected stretches of coast nearby.

Trofie al Pesto With a View of Dolce & Gabbana’s Villa

The restaurants and beach bars flanking Paraggi’s sand lean on classic Riviera cooking, trofie al pesto and salt-crusted sea bass appearing on nearly every menu I saw, paired with a chilled glass of Pigato. I noticed more than one villa overlooking the bay with a reputation for famous ownership, including a property associated with the fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, a detail that summed up the general character of this stretch of coast fairly well.

A Novel That Made This Coast Fashionable

Elizabeth von Arnim’s 1922 novel The Enchanted April, based on her own stay at Castello Brown above Portofino, is widely credited with helping establish this coastline’s reputation among fashionable travelers, well before Hollywood and the international jet set arrived decades later. I found it worth knowing before wandering the cliffside paths myself, since the same combination of pine-covered slopes and glassy water that captivated a novelist a century ago is still, more or less, exactly what greets anyone walking down to Paraggi today.

Getting There: The Bus From Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino Station

Reaching Paraggi by train means disembarking at the Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino station and boarding Line 782 toward Portofino, which drops passengers directly at the Paraggi stop in under fifteen minutes. I found this route straightforward and genuinely reliable.

The Cliffside Walk From Santa Margherita or Portofino

For a more scenic approach, a shaded pedestrian boardwalk runs from either Santa Margherita Ligure or Portofino directly to the sand, a walk of thirty to forty minutes that traces the cliffs with steady sea views. I made this walk more than once and found it a genuinely pleasant way to arrive, considerably more memorable than simply driving in.

Driving the SP227 and Booking Parking in Advance

By car, the SP227 provincial road traces the coastline from Santa Margherita Ligure directly into the inlet, though I’d stress booking parking well ahead of arrival, since the private garage near the beach has strictly limited space and fills quickly during summer.

Comparing Paraggi to Other Beaches Along This Riviera

Further along this same stretch of Riviera di Levante, Spiaggia di Levanto and Spiaggia Riva Trigoso both offer considerably more understated, working alternatives, useful context for anyone comparing Paraggi’s polished exclusivity against the rest of this coastline’s more genuinely unpolished character.

Watching the Light Fade Over an Ancient Dolphin Port

By the time I left on my last evening, the emerald water had deepened toward a darker jade as the light dropped, and I sat a while longer thinking about Roman sailors naming this whole coast after dolphins they once watched play in these same waters, long before anyone thought to build a private beach club or write a novel about falling under this particular stretch of coastline’s spell.