Close to the end of this peninsula lies Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua.

A local dairy acts as the community's grocers, though most of the village's retail needs are served by Dunedin city.

A multi-year project to raise and widen this road and add a 19km shared-use pathway, now named Te Aka Ōtākou,[5] was completed in 2023, safely connecting Portobello to Dunedin for cyclists and walkers and allowing a full loop around the harbour via the ferry to Port Chalmers.

A more convoluted but scenic route, Highcliff Road, connects Portobello with Dunedin city centre via the ridge of the peninsula.

Portobello covers 1.97 km2 (0.76 sq mi),[3] and is part of the larger Broad Bay-Portobello statistical area.