Alcaidesa marina

[[2574]]

Does anybody have any opinion to offer as to Alcaidesa as a transiting marina? If anyone has been there and has first hand experience I'd be grateful to hear what the experience was like. Here's the website:

http://eng.puertodeportivoalcaidesa.es/

TIA


Rob

 

[PlanB]

We've been round it on foot! Showers/laundry facilities are really good. Finger pontoons a welcome change from stern-to. Lift out now in operation. Spoke to a skipper who was leaving his own boat there for several months as he reckoned the security was better and swell etc less than Marina Bay.Ten/fifteen minute walk to Gib border/airport; about the same to La Linea town centre for bars/shops. Massive Carrefour a bike/taxi ride away.
If we'd arrived in transit we'd have thought it was great. Wouldn't want to live there, though.

 

[RobbieW]

We're in the marina at the moment, arrived in January expecting to stay a month or two. Currently awaiting parts having discovered leaky water tanks

Having walked past Marina Bay / Ocean Village and seen the swell coming in I'm much happier to be where I am, especially on a day like today with a W F5 blowing. All the moorings I've seen in Gib are bow or stern to so being on a finger is much easier to deal with. Price is broadly similar though Alcaidesa doesnt move to summer pricing till May 1st, Gib changed on March 1st.

Overall grocery shopping is cheaper in Spain but obviously spirits / fags are (much) cheaper in Gib (Morrisons has as good a price as anywhere), wine is cheaper in Spain. Shopping is probably slightly closer in Gib but the only real choice is Morissons. La Linea has the previously mentioned Carrefour, a couple of Mercadonas, a SuperSol (not good) and a good morning market.

So it depends what you want from your transit, visiting Gib from here is easy - it takes about 20 mins to walk to Casemates Square. If you come in and we're still here come and have chat, we can at least give you a brief on Gib and La Linea.

 

[multihullsailor6]

In La Linea you also find Lidl and Aldi (further away though) supermarkets. The only chandlery I know of is much more expensive that the three in Gibraltar with much limited choice. The harbour itself is a longish walk from town /shops/restaurants/bars whereas in Marina Bay in Gib you have restaurants and bars at your touch, same goes for Queensway Marina.

But if you want to shower with music - well it has to be Alcaidesa!

 

[25931]

We were favourably impressed when we went in with a 9m Catalac shortly after they opened. They said that being a modern marina they had designed the berths for modern wide yachts so there was no extra charge for us.

 

[rivonia]

Hi, me being a bit simple minded can some one please tell me exactly where this nice sounding marina is ?

Peter

 

[RobbieW]

Hi, me being a bit simple minded can some one please tell me exactly where this nice sounding marina is ?

Peter

La Linea, about 300 metres from the runway at Gib but on the Spanish side of the border

 

[SteveSarabande]

Hi, me being a bit simple minded can some one please tell me exactly where this nice sounding marina is ?

Peter

Across the runway from gibraltar, just inside spain.

 

[rivonia]

La Linea, about 300 metres from the runway at Gib but on the Spanish side of the border

Thanks for that.

Peter

 

[VADROUILLE]

We've been round it on foot! Showers/laundry facilities are really good. Finger pontoons a welcome change from stern-to. Lift out now in operation. Spoke to a skipper who was leaving his own boat there for several months as he reckoned the security was better and swell etc less than Marina Bay.Ten/fifteen minute walk to Gib border/airport; about the same to La Linea town centre for bars/shops. Massive Carrefour a bike/taxi ride away.
If we'd arrived in transit we'd have thought it was great. Wouldn't want to live there, though.

I would question the security. Having been there myself my mind did not have to think about how easy it was to get on the pontoons. The gate has a code but is set so far forward that providing you are not using a walking stick you could just walk around the gate and climb over the railing.

I have also heard of brake ins before Xmas when the situation was poor in Spain. (la linea council workers not getting paid for months on end)

The marina itself is probably not even half full and I have not heard of them offering discounts. The marina office overlooks the anchorage and if the marina is empty they tend to send the guardia civil out to move you on, nearest port being there marina. This happend in the summer months last year.

Having said that, there is an exceptionally cheap chandlery called linea mar a bike ride away. If you catch rosa in there she speaks excellent English and if you ask nicely a discount to.

I'm in marina bay, the movement is not that bad today, and queensway is alot worse. I shop in Spain for food, beer is so much cheaper in mercadonna. However morrisons is good for the English bits.

 

[multihullsailor6]

.

Having said that, there is an exceptionally cheap chandlery called linea mar a bike ride away. If you catch rosa in there she speaks excellent English and if you ask nicely a discount to.

That's the one I referred to above, I found it typically Spanish EXPENSIVE!

 

[VADROUILLE]

That's the one I referred to above, I found it typically Spanish EXPENSIVE!

well, I am comparing it to sheperds I suppose. 3l Hempel antifoul was 55 euro, I was lucky if I could get it for £65 In gib. I also sorced some stainless springs a passerelle items for a lot cheaper than sheperds.

Luckily in Gibraltar the hire u shop is getting a good stock of chandlery items, but anything boaty in gib I find is more expensive than Spain.

 

[Mrs Springy]

As RobbieW has mentioned (I'm his SWMBO), we're currently moored in La Linea.

We've had no concerns at all about security. The pontoon gates are operated by swipe cards, not code pads and the cards only operate the gate to the pontoon where you're moored, not all of the pontoons (a bit annoying when you want to go visit someone on another boat on another pontoon but no bad thing).

There are security staff on duty 24 hours a day and not just sat on their butts but regularly foot-patrolling the pontoons (in fact I've just watched one of them check fenders and lines on all of the boats on our pontoon).

We've had friends visit us here by car and had to go to the security gate and vouch for them before the security staff would open the barrier to them (again, no bad thing).

The showers and launderette are of a high standard and if anything isn't as it should be (e.g. the coin mechanism on the washing machine wasn't operating correctly recently), a quick call to the office and one of the staff attends to such things straight away.

La Linea's not the most glamorous of towns for sure but there are a few liveaboards here in the marina plus there are boats in and out from time to time. We've met some nice folk in the time we've been here (some boatie, some ashore). It's ok.

 

[VADROUILLE]

As RobbieW has mentioned (I'm his SWMBO), we're currently moored in La Linea.

We've had no concerns at all about security. The pontoon gates are operated by swipe cards, not code pads and the cards only operate the gate to the pontoon where you're moored, not all of the pontoons (a bit annoying when you want to go visit someone on another boat on another pontoon but no bad thing).

There are security staff on duty 24 hours a day and not just sat on their butts but regularly foot-patrolling the pontoons (in fact I've just watched one of them check fenders and lines on all of the boats on our pontoon).

We've had friends visit us here by car and had to go to the security gate and vouch for them before the security staff would open the barrier to them (again, no bad thing).

The showers and launderette are of a high standard and if anything isn't as it should be (e.g. the coin mechanism on the washing machine wasn't operating correctly recently), a quick call to the office and one of the staff attends to such things straight away.

La Linea's not the most glamorous of towns for sure but there are a few liveaboards here in the marina plus there are boats in and out from time to time. We've met some nice folk in the time we've been here (some boatie, some ashore). It's ok.

My mistake, I did not realise it was key cards. Allthough im sure you will agree, if you was of a bad minded person and wanted to take something from someone's boat then it's not a hard one to shuffle around the gate.

I'm glad to hear they have now properly manned the barrier, I went and visited in dec last year with a fellow yachtie from marina bay. We was able to just cycle past the gate no questions asked.

So, in all fairness it sounds as if they are resolving the security problems. which is of course a good thing.

 

[lusitano]

No liveaboard in the boatyard though as I understand ?

 

[Mrs Springy]

My mistake, I did not realise it was key cards. Allthough im sure you will agree, if you was of a bad minded person and wanted to take something from someone's boat then it's not a hard one to shuffle around the gate.

I'm glad to hear they have now properly manned the barrier, I went and visited in dec last year with a fellow yachtie from marina bay. We was able to just cycle past the gate no questions asked.

So, in all fairness it sounds as if they are resolving the security problems. which is of course a good thing.

Yes, agreed, shuffling around the gate is indeed an easy one! In fact we do that when we want to go and visit people on other pontoons (don't tell!)

But the security staff are very much ever-present.

You'll have to pop over and have another look-see. Give us a shout if you do.

 

[Chuteman]

Good - Mostly

Boat spent 3+ weeks there in late Sept, 2011 and I was there a few days with it before and after trip back to states.
Facilities - agree with comments........clean/new much better than most if not all I experienced along the way

Location - yes, a little remote - a bike helps- they rent at inflated prices - I walked both to town & GIB

Chandlery - never found one on Spanish side.....oops...I did try

WiFi - poor........used McDonalds next to border

Travel - Although the airport is right next door, the UK (no flights to Spain part of old battles) was the only destination and advanced booking is necessary to keep fares reasonable. For several reasons, I needed to depart from Madrid which meant a long bus ride....oouch
So advanced planning while cruising is strongly suggested

Security - They were pretty active when I was there - walking the docks,
closing doors (people tend to leave open during the day) and guarding the entry gate

There were two bigger issues:
1) Pontoon Location vs Boat Size vs Charge:
Pontoons are set up around the marina & categorized (and insured according to office) for specific sized boats - staff member placed two of us on the visitor's pontoon when we arrived on a Sat late afternoon (office closed). The other boat (UK) was less than 12m (if my memory is correct) which meant they qualified to be placed on a better protected Pontoon, Pontoon sized(not really) for their boat and charged accordingly.
So Monday came along the Owner's visited the office and arranged to move to the preferred (inside - between road & wide walkway), better & right sized pontoon - They were still charged the higher rate for two nights because they were docked on a "bigger" pontoon even though they had a smaller boat.
Discussions really did not help or what I label "lost in translation" although marina office staff (friendly) including Mgt understand english words - reasoning or understanding subtle points are never grasped. The owner "accepted" even though he was planning on leaving the boat for several weeks which you would think a business would waive the few euro difference.

2) Surge on Visitor's Pontoon
Back to the original Pontoon, which I was required to stay on or pay much higher if I moved to a Pontoon rated for bigger boats.
It is open to the water flow through the marina entrance - If the wind sets up from the W-NW it will increase the waves & surge......it was pretty bad upon arrival (especially on the North side of the pontoon) so the next am, I moved to the south side & closer to the ramp/door - bought dock chain/springs and really tied down the boat since it was going to be unattended.......it helped but not 100%. Only wind direction change solves it. BTW - I returned and the boat was fine.

Would I return - Yes, Even though they were experiencing "teething" problems now that I know the "rules" and layout of the area, it would be easier. The pricing was reasonable especially compared to "robbery" at other marinas I passed through. I do like along side vs Med Mooring (GIB) even if fingers are shorter than they should be. As I continued on I met a sailor who was looking forward to the opening to the Lift & hard storage operation expansion.

P.S. Teething = in addition to the examples regarding the staff understanding, I witnessed a frustrated Mega Yacht captain who was trying to get his Electricity turned back on after some sort of failure - several visits to the office was not helping - then another attempt was made = give him an Adapter......he could not believe the gesture even well intended as his boat required much larger connection, he had plenty & it was lack of electricity not connectors.
They had called an electrician but the response time was very slow if at all and the Captain felt that for what he was being charged that he might was well go back out, anchor in the bay & use his generator which was already on at the dock.

 

[nauticalnomad]

Re: Good - Mostly

Any updated insight into this marina?

 

[Heckler]

Re: Good - Mostly

Any updated insight into this marina?

Am here now, just paid for 9 months for a Bene 381, 11.6 mtrs, 3200 euros. That is part dear season, part cheap season. Daily rate in hi season, ie now, is just over 20 euros and lo is 12 ish inc taxes. 12 months is about the same pro rata. Toilets and laundry spot on. Security is still excellent as previously described. Town has got better, but still a bit scruffy, Gib border is ten mins walk with a bus from there to the Gib centre for 90 p for me (old fart). Superb view of the Rock from here. Am told cheaper deals can be done for the unserviced pontoons. Water and elec metered, there used to be a standing charge but this has gone now.
Internet expensive from the marina, alleged free internet at the onsite caff, however they switch it off and on at random times! Am connected to the caff with my long range antenna at the mo so they cant see me! I Spain seems obsessed with NOT allowing you access! Clean and tidy, nice staff, cheap, good stop over, cant fault it really except for the internet.
Stu

 

[SteveSarabande]

Re: Good - Mostly

Always seems unfinished and half empty when I go there

The only thing people say is good about it, is that Gib is only 15min away. Is it cheaper than Queensway?