Description:
This port, on the SW coast, makes a convenient stop when cruising around the island. You may find you get stuck here waiting for a weather window. It is a very safe lagoon, but not that pretty. There is a supermarket 1.5km from the anchorage.
Entrance Notes and Cautions:
Be sure to make water before going into the lagoon as the water is very brackish.
Position:
37° 34.37'N, 12° 54.68'E (harbour entrance)
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‘Nightfall’ has had two stays this year (2019), in Porto Palo, both during June. The (free) anchorage hasn’t been at all crowded, despite the large number of fishing boats (>100 last count) that use the eastern end. This can make dinghy docking a little problematic. Refuelling is said to be possible at the breakwater but access is difficult, given the large number of fishing boats. There is easier dinghy beaching (sand) available just N of the inner harbour, just left of the fisherman’s boatyard and still with good access to the road leading to the village.
The village can be accessed from the harbour if you don’t mind a mile and a half uphill (avoid the heat of the day). There are cafes, a good supermarket and a bakery. The best restaurants are said to be close to the harbour.
I anchored in the NW of the harbour, close to the buoys off the other boatyard. The bottom is sandy with some weed but I’ve had good holding in 25kts breezes. I am told by others that (as you would expect) when the breeze is from the SE, it can become very rolly.
We just spent five days during a heat wave in Porto Palo, doing a lot of swimming.
There are plenty of places in the large harbour to anchor where the depths are 5 to 7 meters. Depending on the wind, you can shift to areas with more protection.
Strong directly south winds would make the place uncomfortable, but otherwise, there is a shelter.
The inner-inner harbour is for locals, and we have no idea on the depths there. We did not go ashore, but there seem to be a few restaurants near the fishing boats. No jellyfish in August, which was important for us. We enjoyed the stay, as, apparently, did many other sailboats.
The shoaling at the entrance appears to be around the western jetty. We noticed fisherman coming in stay closer to the eastern jetty.