There are no roads to San Fruttuoso. You get here by boat from Camogli or Portofino, or you hike through the hills of the Portofino Natural Park on a trail that takes a couple of hours through forest and coastal paths. Either way, the journey is part of the experience — and the arrival, when the cove finally opens up in front of you, is one of those moments that genuinely stops you in your tracks.

What you find here is almost surreal. An ancient Benedictine abbey, built in the 10th century, sitting directly on a small sandy beach at the bottom of a steep, forested cove. No hotels, no cars, no infrastructure beyond a single small restaurant and a few beach umbrellas in summer. The abbey itself is remarkably well-preserved — the cloisters, the tower, the burial vaults of the Doria family, one of Genoa's most powerful aristocratic dynasties. It's quiet in a way that very few places near the Italian Riviera ever manage to be.

And then there's what's underneath the water. Just offshore, about 15 meters below the surface, sits the Cristo degli Abissi — a large bronze statue of Christ, arms raised toward the sky, placed here in 1954 as a tribute to divers and sailors lost at sea. You can see it if you snorkel. On a calm day, when the water is clear and the light comes through at the right angle, it's one of the most extraordinary things the Italian Riviera has to offer.

Go in shoulder season if you can — May or September. In July and August, the cove fills up quickly and the magic thins out. Early morning arrivals on the first ferry from Camogli will give you at least an hour before the crowds arrive.