Any recommendations for an Algarve Marina for 2016/17

[GrahamM376]

...Additionally you have to just arrive,turn up...waste of time phoning or email...The Capitania there is an OK guy as it happens.

What's happened to Victoria? She was the marina manager in summer.

 

[[27631]]

It was definately a man....I would have noticed the difference...I am sure.When I was there a couple of years ago..it was a woman if I recall.

 

[[27631]]

Sounds great value. My Solent marina renewal was £6k for 2016/17

My club pontoon berth in solent area ...is about £750 p.a.....It is tidal so you sit in soft mud for 6 or 7 hrs out of every 12 hrs.There are vacancies...although they wont let liveaboards in.

 

[White Angel]

Ayamonte ...Justchecked and 10-12 metre one night rate incl elec,water etc was about Euro 14 a night...so I would expect the long term rate for 1st Oct to 30th April to be about 50% of that...You can find the EPPA rates on the internet...not sure of accurate web address...someone here will help with that.....Regards.

I was there yesterday and can now confirm they only have 3 rates. Off peak day rate, peak day rate, annual rate. No discounts for long stays, no winter deals, no weekly or daily deals. The place was about 3/4 empty. Lovely town though

The annual rate for my 11.3 x3.7 boat was about 4000€.

Depths are now claimed to be 3-3.5m at LW inc the entrance. Very different to my published chart.

 

[maxi77]

I stayed in Bruces with Sandyman and Graham the first winter. Did much the same as you plan but got there August. Very expensive in marinas then! Albufeira are the cheapest for an annual deal. They do it from when you arrive, start the contract that is. They give an immediate discount of 15% if you are an RYA member, plus they dicker a bit more depending on how full they are. Quiet in the winter, bit of a walk in to town but not that bad. Lidl, Aldi, Dos Pingos supermkts, 20 mins walk, taxi back. Intermarche just up the hill. Hour and half by bus from Faro, about €13, I also use Yellow fish transfers €30 each way, 20 mins. Made lots of friends there. You could arrive, do some fannying around till Oct 1st when the lo season starts, do a deal for the winter OR until June OR an even better one in Bruces for the winter. Then splash and anchor for free in Feragudo opposite Portimao, or Culatra, or the Guadiana till October again. OR just do a yearly deal with Albufeira. It is as safe as houses in there, well sheltered etc. By the way, make sure you have all the bits on board that the Portuguese authorities specify, cheaper and easier here, as soon as you do a long term contract you are theoretically bound by Portugal rules!
Stu

Another vote for Albufeira, we were in there for a year and saw a few good gales and apart from a couple of noisy wind generators had no problems. Hardly a ripple inside. Security is good with regular patrols Mrs Maxi was quite happy living on board on her own when I was stuck in the UK after my heart attack. Excellent local bus service and if you walk up to the Marina Apartments reception you can get very cheap transfers to the airport.

 

[White Angel]

Many thanks for all your comments and views. Having now visited (by road) the marinas from Lagos to Ayamonte, I think I favour Lagos, as the Marina seems fine, and town less touristy than the other Portuguese ones to my eye. The entrance to the Marina at Lagos looked unpleasant today though in an onshore wind I'd guess around F5, maybe F6. However, the Marina was settled enough.

The trip from Faro is quite long at around 2 hrs, but that's offset to some extent by the station being right next to the Marina.

If I've missed any good reason to not use Lagos, I'll happily be put right

 

[Sandyman]

We spent a winter in Lagos. Very quiet & peaceful. Most enjoyable. We then went in for 2 nights during the summer for fuel & victuals...................never again, couldn't wait to get out.. The marina area was packed out with tourists & the noise was awful often going on until 0400.

 

[25931]

Many thanks for all your comments and views. Having now visited (by road) the marinas from Lagos to Ayamonte, I think I favour Lagos, as the Marina seems fine, and town less touristy than the other Portuguese ones to my eye. The entrance to the Marina at Lagos looked unpleasant today though in an onshore wind I'd guess around F5, maybe F6. However, the Marina was settled enough.

The trip from Faro is quite long at around 2 hrs, but that's offset to some extent by the station being right next to the Marina.

If I've missed any good reason to not use Lagos, I'll happily be put right

According to the Portuguese Met. Lagos is a lot wetter and windier than Faro ( especially in winter) and is certainly more touristic but the marina is popular.

 

[Garry & June 'Friendship']

we are sat in Lagos as we speak and found it to be a brilliant place to winter....also totally opposed to the above comment regarding weather...we have found the weather surprisingly superb with hardly any rain at all and during the days very warm. It is certainly well protected and has excellent facilities and great staff. Lovely town which stays alive during the winter, supermarkets on your doorstep and a sports/leisure centre. There is an extremely cheap and efficient hoppa transport service to Faro airport which costs £12 e/w and takes you from doorstep to doorstep. The ever expanding services at Sopromar are first rate. There is also a very nice and active (if you wish ) liveaboard community. it is a place that comes under the 'Velcro' category but next winter we will be moving on. Firstly to avoid becoming stuck and secondly because despite all of the above it is more expensive than many other options and also because this year they reintroduced the +50% for us being a cat. It is somewhere however that once we have satisfied our time of exploring in the Med that we would come back to as a long term base.

 

[GrahamM376]

totally opposed to the above comment regarding weather...we have found the weather surprisingly superb with hardly any rain at all and during the days very warm.

Weather may be good there but even better, drier and less windy, further east towards Faro, as 25931 says. All the met office data shows this and during our 8 years down here this is also our impression.

Edit - this is taken from one of the Algarve info sites -

Algarve weather

Despite of the fact that the Algarve has a homogeneous annual climate, actual weather conditions may significantly differ in the various locations due to the winds on the Atlantic coast. In the summer the sea in the Eastern Algarve is usually warmer than in the western part of the Algarve because of the Mediterranean winds from the Levant. Especially iduring the winter time wind and waves will be considerably rougher on the Western coast.

 

[Garry & June 'Friendship']

Weather may be good there but even better, drier and less windy, further east towards Faro, as 25931 says. All the met office data shows this and during our 8 years down here this is also our impression.

Edit - this is taken from one of the Algarve info sites -

Algarve weather

Despite of the fact that the Algarve has a homogeneous annual climate, actual weather conditions may significantly differ in the various locations due to the winds on the Atlantic coast. In the summer the sea in the Eastern Algarve is usually warmer than in the western part of the Algarve because of the Mediterranean winds from the Levant. Especially iduring the winter time wind and waves will be considerably rougher on the Western coast.

I can only comment on what I see with my own eyes where we are but I most definitely would not say this place has been wet this winter...totally the opposite.
Also strangely when we first berthed here we were told to go stern in to the pontoon as the prevailing winds are from the North...in fact this has proved to be the exact opposite of what we have experienced.