Manfredonia’s Porto Vecchio is one of the city’s two pleasure ports and one of the most important ports in northern Puglia
It consists of two elbow piers, one west and one east, a trapezoidal pier, and a tramontana quay. However, these spaces are not used for mooring pleasure boats but only for commercial boats, passenger ships and fishing boats.
Yachtsmen, on the other hand, can dock at Cala Spuntone, a dock in Radice of the west pier, within the Gargano Sailing Center area or, where commercial traffic permits, north of the north pier, in the Cala Diomede dock in the Italian Naval League area.
In some cases, the local Maritime Authority may grant permission to moor along the western pier.
The port enjoys good shelter from several winds, although with crosswinds there is often an undertow phenomenon. In southerly/southeasterly winds, on the other hand, it is not recommended to land at this port. The phenomenon of silting also periodically affects the landfall.
The port has a good number of service, repair, and supply facilities, including a repair yard for fiberglass and wooden hulls.
Various services offered in the port area include a bar and a covered storage area.
A number of shipbuilding areas and a fish market are also located in the vicinity of the landing.
The lighthouse is located at the Radice of the east pier.
The ports is in a very central location, so bars, restaurants, post offices, banks and businesses can be easily encountered in the immediate vicinity.
Behind the Old Port it is possible to admire the medieval castle, wanted by the Swabians but also remodeled in structure by the Aragonese and Angevins.
The waterfront is spacious, and indulging in a stroll is definitely enjoyable.
Manfredonia represents the symbolic southern ports of the Gargano.
It is well sheltered by the surrounding mountains and enjoys a strategic location, which allows those arriving here by boat to easily reach the Bari area, other Gargano towns, and the Tremiti Islands.
Leaving Manfredonia and heading north, the coast becomes high and rocky and offers a series of very picturesque coves and caves and some beautiful little beaches, such as that of Mattinatella Bay.
The town, like all other Gargano towns, is part of the National Park of the same name, created in the 1990s in order to preserve the delicate local ecosystem.
Manfredonia’s Porto Vecchio is a good starting point for exploring the Gargano and Puglia in general Puglia