Entry and exit rules concerning the port of Portoferraio

The port of Portoferraio, the major landing place on the Island of Elba, sits in the bay bearing the same name and is on the northern coast of the Island. It is mainly used by ferries to and from Piombino and by cruise liners docking and sailing, or simply by those who have a boat and enjoy sailing.

It is divided into separate parts: the port itself and the harbour, whose basin is 2000 metres long and is well sheltered when the weather is bad. Although you may enter the port both during the day and at night, regardless of the weather, you must be very careful when manoeuvring because there are many ferries and hydrofoils arriving and leaving.

As is known, the main rule as regards entering and leaving a port is to always proceed in a straight direction but, for special reasons, Portoferraio is the only port in Italy where you have to keep to the left, whether you are coming in or going out.

Boats leaving however must always haveover those entering and in any case boats must give any larger ships the right of way; while inside the port they must obey the Plimsoll line rules, or those boats and ships carrying out manouevres and naturally the passing ferries because they have specific routes to follow.