Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
What it is
A yachting harbour first. The bay is ringed with moorings and the town is a low, modern service settlement rather than an old village: supermarkets, chandlers, tavernas and a waterfront that is pleasant rather than picturesque.
Around it, on the headlands and small bays outside the harbour mouth, are the resort hotels, several of them large and expensive, which is why the area has a reputation as the mainland extension of the Spetses and Hydra circuit.
Spetses, ten minutes away
Small boats and water taxis cross to Spetses in about ten minutes, all day. That connection is the practical point of Porto Heli: it lets people stay on the mainland with a car and use the island for evenings, or the reverse.
Hydra is a slightly longer hop, and Ermioni is up the coast.
The beaches
Modest and sheltered rather than dramatic. The bay itself is calm and shallow. Better sand lies just outside: at Hinitsa, a bay with an islet, and along the coast towards Kosta, where the Spetses boats also leave from.
What is inland
Porto Heli sits in a quiet corner of the Argolid, and the archaeology is close:
- Ancient Halieis, a submerged and partly underwater classical town in the bay itself, visible to snorkellers in shallow water.
- Ermioni, the pine-headland town up the coast.
- Epidaurus and Nafplio, both about an hour and a half north.
Getting there and how long
About two and a half hours from Athens by road, or by fast boat from Piraeus to Porto Heli and Kosta.
Three nights if you are using it as a base with a car, which is its best use.
Last checked August 2026. Boat services are seasonal - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
Where is Porto Heli?
On the south-eastern tip of the Argolid in the Peloponnese, on a near-enclosed natural harbour opposite Spetses.
How do you get from Porto Heli to Spetses?
By small boat or water taxi in about ten minutes, running all day. Boats also leave from nearby Kosta.
Is Porto Heli a pretty town?
Not especially. It is a modern service and yachting settlement; the appeal is the sheltered bay, the hotels around it and the island access.
Are there good beaches at Porto Heli?
The bay is calm and shallow. Better sand is just outside the harbour at Hinitsa and towards Kosta.
What is Ancient Halieis?
A classical town in the bay at Porto Heli, partly submerged, with remains visible to snorkellers in shallow water.