Activities · Destination Guide
Three marine parks, four coast clusters, and the vertical heart of Mediterranean diving
Pick an activity mode to compare signature sites, skill fit, and gear planning notes before you lock your trip.
Scuba is the coast's strongest water activity, with Portofino as the anchor and Cinque Terre and Bergeggi as distinct extensions. Portofino's designated moorings unlock current-exposed shoals, red-gorgonian walls, the Mohawk Deer wreck, and the sheltered Cristo degli Abissi. The Cinque Terre National Park adds published underwater itineraries with explicit certification and difficulty labels, while Bergeggi concentrates walls, boulders, Posidonia, and small caves into three official buoy-served sites. Average Portofino visibility is often described around 15 m to 20 m, but rain, plankton, swell, and sediment can change that quickly. Match every site to current, temperature, certification, and recent experience rather than choosing by name alone.
The bronze statue in San Fruttuoso Bay is one of Liguria's most recognizable underwater landmarks.
A highdifficulty Portofino wall with major vertical sections from roughly {{ 17 | distance:m }} to {{ 40 | distance:m }}.
An official Cinque Terre underwater itinerary in Zone A, listed to {{ 35 | distance:m }} and marked for experienced divers despite an Openlevel certification label.
A southeast boulder collapse extending from about {{ 1 | distance:m }} to {{ 30 | distance:m }}.
Bergeggi's compact western wall sits between roughly {{ 10 | distance:m }} and {{ 18 | distance:m }} and includes small cavities and concentrated fish life.
Portofino's flagship advanced dive rises to about {{ 13 | distance:m }} to {{ 14 | distance:m }} and falls toward {{ 40 | distance:m }} on the official recreational description.
This approximately {{ 120 | distance:m }} cargo ship lies across a broad depth range from about {{ 18 | distance:m }} to {{ 45 | distance:m }}.
A more accessible Cinque Terre wall and landslide itinerary to about {{ 20 | distance:m }}, officially described as beginneroriented.
Operator Checklist
Book an operator authorized for the exact reserve, not merely a shop located nearby. Send certification level, logged-dive count, last-dive date, deepest recent dive, exposure-protection preference, and any enriched-air certification before arrival. Ask whether the quoted trip includes marine-park authorization, boat, cylinder, weights, guide, and equipment. Accept weather and current substitutions without pressuring the skipper. For Portofino private diving, follow the MPA's current card, permit, daily-notification, support-boat, and flag process. For Cinque Terre Zone A routes, use the current park authorization path. At Bergeggi, independent scuba is not permitted under the 2026 supplementary rules, so reserve through a listed authorized center.
Conditions Fallback
Avoid