Barcelona to Alicante. Phoenix 27 Tournament.

[karlb]

Having recently bought my Phoenix 27 sports fishing boat, I'm thinking of moving berth from Barcelona to Alicante. Anybody done this trip and can recommend any stopovers or places to avoid. Looking like 450kms but she holds 400ltrs diesel, so will need to make a fuel stop too.

 

[Boatbore]

In as much as this is helpful. If I was doing that trip, I would probably split it into chunks, and allow a few extra days to do it, so that you don’t get pressured by weather or mishaps ! In fairness there are loads of places to stop between Barcelona and Alicante, and depending on what you like to do in your downtime you can choose accordingly. I don’t have specialist knowledge of that coast although I have been up it (the other way), but others on this forum can be specific.

Plan your trip carefully, allow for extra time, and make sure all your docs are up to date as you will likely be stopped by the police at some point and asked for them.

Good luck

 

[Andy Bav]

Having recently bought my Phoenix 27 sports fishing boat, I'm thinking of moving berth from Barcelona to Alicante. Anybody done this trip and can recommend any stopovers or places to avoid. Looking like 450kms but she holds 400ltrs diesel, so will need to make a fuel stop too.

Haven’t done the trip, but planning on heading south from Sant Carles this year - possibly to Alicante.

For stopovers south of Barcelona and north of Sant Carles, take a look at acpet.es in conjunction with Google Earth. The longest passage without a potential stop will be around the Ebro Delta, and we rounded that in around 90 minutes last summer @c25knots. South of Sant Carles, there are Plenty of marinas also, but no such website as acpet, which basically covers Catalonia.

It also depends how you want to do the trip, as quick as possible, or stopping over and taking in a few local sights. If as quick as possible,, and bearing in mind I don’t know your fuel burn, I would think about Barcelona to Sant Carles, Sant Carles to Denia, or if the conditions are favourable and fuel allows, straight to Alicante. If conditions aren’t so great you could try Barcelona, Sant Carles, Valencia, Denia and / or Alicante.

Take a look at https://www.boatbookings.com/yachting_content/map_distances.php to work out if achievable and potential fuel requirements.

I am not aware of any places to avoid, but depending on what time of year you are travelling, you will need a lot of mozzie repellent around the Ebro delta.

Good luck with the trip, and be interested to hear how it goes.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Denia is a good stopover port. The marina http://marinadedenia.com/?lang=en is full service with maintenance facilities if you need them and plenty of restaurants/bars in the marina. Further south there is Moraira which is an attractive stopover

Word of warning about the coastline between Denia and Alicante. The prevailing wind is usually from the east and that is often magnified by a sea breeze which can kick up a fair swell, particularly in the afternoons. The swell bounces off the mostly steep to shoreline and the result is that if you are cruising close inshore the sea conditions can be quite boisterous. Not only that but there are few if any anchorages which are completely sheltered. IMHO on most days along this coast its best to get your passagemaking done in the morning and be tucked up in port by early afternoon

 

[Hurricane]

With a small boat, you will probably want to hug the coast.
That said, there are two places where you might want to shorten across bays.
The first being the bit before tge Ebro Delta.
Cambrills is a good stop before the Delta but that might not shorten the leg round the Delta.
Nothing to see around the Ebro Delta itself but, as said above, Sant Carles is a very safe marina on the south west of tge Delta.

The next big bay is Valencia Bay.
Sant Carles to Denia would be the shortest run but that is at least 100 mikes and as Deleted User says, the sea can suddenly get rough about 20 miles before Denia.
The alternative is to enjoy the marinas round Valencia Bay.
So, maybe Sant Carles to Las Fuentes or Orpressa and then Valencia before heading to Denia.

We haven't done the marinas between Denia and Alicante so can't comment but Denia itself would be a good stop.

But, as said above, the obvious main stops are Sant Carles and Denia - possibly Cambrills.

 

[adey]

I would swap Sant Carles for one of the small marinas west of it, Vinaros or Benicarlo from memory. No point rounding the delta then going back on yourself to Sant Carles. Plan for Barcelona to Benicarlo to Denia to Alicante but have the two pilot books handy and be prepared to stop over at any small marina if the sea kicks up.
Valencia is a nice city to explore if you haven't been there yet.