Monopoli is one of the most beautiful towns in Puglia, and much of its beauty comes from the stunning beaches that line its shore, from the heart of the historic center to the edges of the city. What’s even better is that many of the best beaches in Monopoli are totally free and are within easy walking distance of the Old Town.
All of the beaches in this guide are free beaches that I personally walked to from the historic center of Monopoli, and where I personally went swimming. I am not much of a sunbather so I can’t speak to tanning on your beach towel here, but I can easily recommend all of these beaches in Monopoli for people looking for a convenient, free place to enjoy the Adriatic Sea in one of the prettiest towns in Puglia.
I’ve listed the beaches in order of their location along the coastline, with the closest being just minutes away from the Old Town and the furthest taking about thirty minutes to reach on foot. Make sure to bring a bottle of water, sunscreen and your beach towel, as the further you get from the center the fewer services you’ll find nearby.
Spiaggia Cala Porta Vecchia (Old Port Beach)
I timed myself from the moment I stepped out the door of Casa Marina in Monopoli (highly recommended!) to the moment I was in the water at Cala Porta Vecchia, and the total time was two minutes and three seconds! That’s how close this beach in Monopoli is to the historic center!
The beach at Cala Porta Vecchia (Old Port Beach) consists of two sandy areas: one slightly raised along the bastion walls, and the other at water level underneath Via Portavecchia. You can see the distinction between these two areas in the first photo above: the bastion walls on the right are all tall and brown, while the city walls on the left are lower and white. I took that photo with my GoPro Hero 12, which I love because it’s waterproof up to 30 feet so I can bring it to the beach and leave my phone in my hotel. Make sure to also buy the floating handle so you don’t lose your camera in the sea!
Take note that the tide comes all the way in here, so if you put your things in the sand under the white wall (near the lifeguard station) then it will get wet and could be washed out to sea if you’re not careful. That’s why most sunbathers prefer to set up along the bastion walls, or over to the right (if you’re facing the water) on the rocks around the panoramic viewpoint.
I swam at Cala Porta Vecchia every day that I was in Monopoli because it was so close to my guesthouse. The water was consistently clean and warm, although it was nicer in the morning before all the swimmers had kicked up the sand on the bottom. With my googles I was able to see quite a few fish, but nothing particularly interesting.
The second photo above shows the rocks on the south side of Cala Porta Vecchia. On this right-hand side of the beach (again, when you’re facing the water) there are large rocks and even a small island that you can swim to and then climb onto. I saw more sea life in this area, including fish and crabs, but you’ll want water shoes to climb on the island as it is surrounded by slippery, algae-covered rocks.
Cala Cozze
Speaking of rocky beaches, if you follow the shore just four minutes south from Cala Porta Vecchia you’ll arrive at Cala Cozze. This quickly became one of my favorite beaches in Monopoli because its rocky natural environment deterred most sunbathers and instead attracted swimmers (like me).
You do have to climb down a few rocks to reach this beach and then walk over quite a few more rocks to get any deeper than knee level in the water (non-slip water shoes are recommended – I wore Teva sandals), but once you’re deep enough to jump in you’ll find some of the best swimming in Monopoli here.
I would never recommend that you leave your stuff on the beach while you swim, but I will say that I always felt very comfortable leaving my stuff on the beach in the morning. There were only a handful of other people around, and since getting to and from the beach requires scrambling over some rocks it would take a Herculean effort to steal someone’s stuff.
* Italian Lesson! “Cozze” means “mussel”, like the seafood, though I certainly didn’t see any here!
Spiaggia di Porto Bianco
From Cala Cozze it’s a three-minute walk to the next beautiful beach in Monopoli: Spiaggia di Porto Bianco (White Port Beach). This beach is very popular with the locals because it has a lovely strip of golden sand and ample grassy space beside the sand. You’ll need to get here early if you want to set up your umbrella and beach chairs.
Of all the different beaches in Monopoli I found that this one had the strongest current. I never felt like I was going to be pulled out to sea, but I did get splashed in the face a few times by waves that were bigger than I expected. The first time I swam here it was fairly early in the morning and there was a red flag on the lifeguard stand; I’m not sure if that was because of the current or simply because I was there before the lifeguards had arrived for the day. If you’re in Monopoli with children make sure to keep a close eye on them at Spiaggia di Porto Bianco.
Spiaggia di Porto Rosso
Again, it’s just another four-minute walk from Porto Bianco to Porto Rosso (Red Port). This beach was recommended to me by a local who said “it had the most beautiful blue water in Monopoli”. Honestly, the azure waters at every Monopoli beach impressed me, but I can see why Porto Rosso beach is especially popular.
As you can see from the photo this is another golden sand beach that is popular for locals who come spend the day with their own beach chairs, umbrellas and towels. The grass and rocks around the beach are also popular with people who want to suntan slightly away from the crowds.
This is a great beach if you’re in Monopoli with kids as the bottom is almost completely sandy (there are only rocks at the far edges) and there’s little to no current. Of course this draws local families too, so this can be one of the noisier beaches in town!
If you want to hear the slightly-gruesome story of how this beach got it’s name, leave me a comment below and I will reply with the story. I don’t want to write it here because it majorly kills the beachy vibe! 🏝️
Spiaggia di Porto Nero
I couldn’t find Porto Nero (Black Port) on my first walk along the coast of Monopoli, so I went back a second time to investigate. It turns out that the access point to this free public beach is through a private beach club. The club is called La Perla Nera, and at first I thought I couldn’t access this beach unless I was using their services (more on those below). However, I got up the courage to walk in as though I was a guest, and that was how I found the route to the public beach!
This is not the beach in Monopoli that I would recommend for laying on a towel in the sand, as there’s very little public space here. However, there is space on the rocks for you to leave a towel while you go in the water, which is accessed by a short bridge over the black rocks. Because there is a beach club here there is also a lifeguard, although I can’t imagine anyone who can even just doggy-paddle having any trouble in the calm, crystalline waters here.
Spiaggia di Porto Verde
Having missed Spiaggia di Porto Nero on my first walk along the shore, my next step after Porto Rosso was Porto Verde (Green Port). This was one of the longer walks, as it took about seven minutes along the road (behind a public parking lot) and then another seven minutes across a barren field. I was then greeted by a sign that said, in four languages, “Porto Verde: No access, no swimming, no sailing”. Uh-oh.
I have no idea why that sign is up there because this is clearly a popular public beach. Contrary to the posted sign there were even lifeguards at the beach, so I assume the whole “no access, no swimming” thing is either a) outdated or b) referring specifically to the areas of the water underneath the cliffs (you can see them above, I believe there may be a risk of erosion).
Again, this is a small, sandy beach surrounded by rocks. There isn’t much room for umbrellas or chairs, but you could easily lay a towel out on the rocks while you went swimming or just relaxed in the sun. Was the water at “Green Port” more green than at other beaches? I don’t really think so, but it was still clear, clean, warm and beautiful.
Cala Porto Paradiso Monopoli
This was the last of the beaches in Monopoli that I walked to. Like Porto Nero, the free public beach at Cala Porto Paradiso is accessed through a private beach club. However, here there is a small section of sand that has been set aside for public umbrellas – you can see in the photo above where the white rental chairs end and the colorful umbrellas brought by locals for free begin.
By the time I made it out to Porto Paradiso it was almost noon, and the sheer number of people who had been swimming that morning was already causing some murkiness in the water from all the sand that has been kicked up. That might have biased me a bit, but in the end I felt that it was the least appealing of all the beaches I visited in Monopoli, and after my first visit I didn’t go back. Google Maps shows a public bathroom and a parking lot nearby, and while I didn’t check out these facilities this could be a good option if you’re in Monopoli with kids and they don’t want to walk to the beach.
Beach Clubs Near Monopoli
One of the reasons I loved Monopoli, and stayed an entire week, was how many beautiful free beaches could be accessed on foot. As someone who doesn’t like to spend an entire day out in the sun I don’t get much value from renting a sun chair and umbrella, and as someone who prefers to travel by public transportation I always love finding clean, picturesque beaches within walking distance of where I’m staying.
However, Italy very much has a culture of private beach clubs, which are called lido. The government allows these clubs to occupy a certain amount of shoreline, unlike in other countries where all beaches are public. As I mentioned above, to access two of the free beaches in Monopoli I had to walk through two private beach clubs, so I wanted to show you what they’re like and what you can expect if you choose to purchase their services.
Lido Cala Paradiso
You can pretty much see Cala Paradiso in the photo above, as most of the lido is just the white beach umbrellas on the sandy beach. I snapped a photo of the prices – these are the posted prices for a weekend in July, and the cost for umbrellas apparently goes down by €5 on weekdays. I would imagine that prices are higher in August and then lower again in the shoulder seasons. (Each umbrella includes two sun chairs.)
Lido Cala Paradiso also has a small recreation center (for sports, not really for kids), an on-site bar, WiFi, parking and hot showers. These services are for people who are renting umbrellas and sunbeds, not for the general public.
La Perla Nera
I definitely thought that La Perla Nera looked like the nicer of the two lidos that are within easy walking distance of central Monopoli. Here, they have a full restaurant and separate beach bar, along with a pretty area full of umbrellas and sun chairs set atop a cliff overlooking the beach. Prices are comparable to Cala Paradiso; it was €45 for two sun chairs and an umbrella when I was there.
Other Lidos Near Monopoli
There are many more private beach clubs further south along the coast, including some within a very short driving distance. Cala Diavolo is famous on TikTok, and Lido Santa Stefano is popular as well. In the summer, a special bus operated by Trenitalia connects the town of Monopoli with the beach clubs along the coast. Personally I wouldn’t get on the bus unless I had a confirmed reservation for an umbrella and chair at one of the beach clubs, as they often sell out during the summer.
Bonus Tour for People Who Love to Swim! 🐬
While I was in Monopoli I signed up for this 2.5 Hour Boat Tour to Polignano a Mare, which included a swimming stop on the way back to Monopoli. If you think the water in my photos above looks beautiful, just wait until you’re diving off the side of the boat into the water 300 meters off-shore! It was pristine; my GoPro photo doesn’t do it justice!
Of course it was also nice to see the coastline, including Polignano a Mare’s famous caves, cliffs, beaches and waterfront restaurants, and the local food and prosecco didn’t hurt either, but if you’re like me and you were a fish in a past life, you’ll love the swimming component of this Monopoli excursion! 🐠
There are so many amazing places to visit in Puglia – keep checking back as I write new guides to exploring this region of South Italy! To get started, check out my guide to taking the train from Bari to Matera, and then my overview of some of Matera’s most beautiful cave hotels.
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