Puerto Banús, inaugurated in 1970 at the initiative of the businessman José Banús, is one of the trademarks of Marbella at its most cosmopolitan and an indispensable standard for luxury tourism. The port facility has a capacity of almost one thousand berths and there is a project under way that will double this number because of the existing demand. The place consists not only of the port installations where the most spectacular yachts in the world often dock—Navila, Nieven, Shaft, Blue Crystal, America, Sea Cloud, etc.—but also the network of streets, plazas and promenades on which are located the shops, restaurants and cocktail and tapas bars that, in short, make up this “catwalk” to which flock the famous and the non-famous, the latter in hopes of encountering a face seen a thousand and one times on the film or television screen or in the pages of newspapers and magazines. Puerto Banús is really a small city—a very special one, certainly—and as such has all the services to be expected of an urban centre, although in this case one with very unusual characteristics.

Puerto Banús has one of the most cosmopolitan environments in all the Mediterranean and continues to be one of Marbella’s solidest tourist attractions. Its proximity to other tourist installations such as luxury hotels, golf courses and even other leisure ports, and the excellent land communications with the entire Costa del Sol and the interior of the province, only serve to increase the number of tourists—almost five million people—who travel here each year to enjoy its exclusive tourism offer. 

As for technical data, it should be noted that the facility admits craft with lengths at the waterline of from 8 to 50 metres. Its sheltered surface covers 15 hectares and the depth varies from 3 to 6 metres in berths and to 7.5 metres at the mouth, which is 80 metres wide. Adjacent to the port facilities there are four parking areas with a total capacity of more than 2,000 spaces.

In the vicinity of Puerto Banús there are nine 18-hole golf courses and one with nine holes that has lighting that permits play at night, all within a radius of less than ten kilometres. In these same environs there are also tennis courts for international competitions, bullrings, a casino and an auditorium for outdoor concerts. All this, along with a well-tended beach, makes Puerto Banús a tourist resort with a leisure offer that is hard to beat.