Port Bannatyne lies on the Firth of Clyde, approximately 2 miles (3 km) north of Rothesay on the Scottish Isle of Bute. Rhubodach is a further 6 miles (10 km) north away on the A886 and a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service to the Cowal peninsula. This ferry runs every 30 minutes during the day. In Rothesay there is a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service to Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde. This ferry leaves every 45 minutes (journey time 35 minutes) during the day.

Substantial slate and stone houses face the sea around Kames Bay. The village's focus was the stone pier mid-way along the south shore of Kames Bay. The bay provided mooring for yachts and fishing boats.

On the seafront are a shop/Post Office, The Port Inn (local pub with beer garden and pool room) and the Anchor Tavern (a bar for the retired sailors and oldsters). The Port Royal Hotel, just along the road is the old village inn. It was bought in 2000 by a Russian family who renovated the building and turned the old pub into a replica of a Russian Tavern of Imperial Times. It has five guest rooms and serves fine seafood and Russian Cuisine (according to TIME OUT in the top five affordable serious restaurants in Scotland).

Above the village, with views across the sea to the Isle of Arran and the Argyll hills, is the Port Bannatyne golf-course. Built in 1912, the course now has 13 holes and wild deer grazing the herbage. The village has strong links overseas and has its own club for the French game of Pétanque, with a pitch, or piste, on the seafront.

In 2005, work was started on the new yacht marina. The small boatyard has grown into a stone-built sea wall enclosure of part of the bay, providing 105 berths.