Magnificent for photographs and sunsets, less so for swimming — the village beach, 6 minutes away or 20 on foot
Photos : Pierre Bona, CC BY-SA 3.0
This is the village beach, six minutes from the hotel by car — twenty on foot if you would rather walk down. It sits at the foot of the Genoese tower, where the Porto river meets the sea. Let us be honest: it is magnificent for photographs, for a picnic and for the sunset — far less so for a quiet swim. Here is why, and what you will find there all the same.
From the beach, the sun does not drop into the sea all year round. It is visible from 10 March to 10 June, then it disappears behind the Gulf of Girolata: from 10 June to 10 July you no longer see the disc go all the way down. It comes back from 10 July to 1 October. To check for the exact dates of your stay, SunCalc shows the sun's path day by day on a map. And just because it is no longer visible from here does not mean it is not visible elsewhere: the gulf has no shortage of vantage points, often better than the beach itself. Ask us at reception and we will tell you where to go for your dates.
Today's large pebbles do not tell the whole story. In the 1950s, Porto beach was known for its fine sand; that is partly why the setting was used to film the television series Treasure Island in 1965-1966. The site Ota Porto Nostalgie has gathered the four episodes… in German. The sand has since given way to pebbles, and that explains a good deal of what follows.
This is Porto's real strength, and it is rare in Corsica: an access mat runs down to the water and can be used in a wheelchair. The beach is watched by lifeguards, with a first-aid post, and there is a shower behind it. A beach bar sits at the top of the beach, beside a huge car park — you will never struggle to park, which is true of no other beach in the area. If accessibility matters for your stay, our hotel is one of the few in the gulf with a lift.
The left-hand part of the beach is taken up by a climbing wall. Just after it begins the path to Port de Castagna, which follows the coast and opens onto superb viewpoints. It is one of the few walks in the area that starts from a beach: you leave from your towel and come back to it.
Despite the postcard — the Genoese tower above the sea, the evening light — Porto is not a beach for a quiet swim. The waves are powerful and the bottom drops away fast: a few metres out and you are out of your depth. The large pebbles make getting into the water uncomfortable, and even surfers do not get much out of it, for want of sand. With young children, supervision notwithstanding, this is not where we would suggest you swim.
For photographs, a picnic, the end of the day, a quick dip, the climbing wall and the setting. For a proper beach day — swimming, laying down a towel, lunch with your feet in the water — you will find better addresses in our list of beaches around Porto: Bussaglia thirteen minutes away for the easiest swim stop, Arone and its fine sand for a whole day.
Six minutes by car from the hotel, twenty on foot — and walking down is worth doing at least once, for the view over the gulf. Come for the light rather than the swim: from March to early June, then from mid-July to October, the sun goes down into the sea facing the beach. In between, it passes behind the Gulf of Girolata — tell us and we will point you to where you can watch it. And if what you want that day is to swim, we will send you to Bussaglia instead.
The best comfort for the time it takes: a thirteen-minute drive, easy parking, and fine pebbles that hurt neither your feet nor your car. Three beaches in one — the beach bars in the middle, sand and fish to the right, the climbing rocks at the far end, the naturist area to the left.
See the beach
A fishermen's cove tucked below the village of Piana, with rare water clarity, framed by the red cliffs of the Calanques. You have to earn it: thirty-seven minutes on a narrow road we would not take a campervan down, very limited parking, then a walk down.
See the beach
Reachable only on foot, by a trail rebuilt in 2024 that starts from Caspiu beach. If no boat comes by, you will have it to yourselves — mask and snorkel strongly recommended. No facilities at all: bring water.
See the hikeHôtel Le Vaïta welcomes you on the heights of Porto-Ota, a few minutes from the beach and the marina. 26 air-conditioned rooms, best rate guaranteed when you book direct.
