Barcelona. Wintering in or near Barcelona

LadyStardust

LadyStardust

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 Oct 2004
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Location
Chiapas, Mexico
sistermidnight.co.uk
Sorry to hark on about my summer holidays again, but I'm off next week and I haven't found a place to leave the boat for 9 months (possibly longer) from September, either in, or out of the water.
I expect there are plenty of marinas happy to take my remaining Euros, but there must be some forumites here who could recommend a really good bargain, security isn't really a concern as there's nothing worth nicking on the boat, also location doesn't matter as long as it's within striking distance of an airport I can get to from Liverpool/Manchester.
The boat is 9 metres long.

Thanks in advance
 
We used Almerimar a couple of years ago. The rates were good then and communication (mainly via email) was also good. The downside was that it is 3+ hours by coach from Malaga. The upside was that flights to Malaga were plentiful and cheap.

We also went out there for 3 weeks at Christmas and most shops and restaurants were open.

Try them on infomarina@almerimarpuerto.com. We dealt with Fumi back then.

Good luck
 
How close to Barca?

If you're prepared to go 100-150M north - certainly nearer than Almerimar - you'll probably find better prices in France, though it is Golfe De Lion, so you need to consider the degree of protection on offer.

Given your size, I'd suggest going up the river at Agde (we could even scrape under the road bridge to the town itself) where there are several basic boatyards/moorings or as second choice, up the canal towards Aigue-Mort. Both are far enough away from the sea to avoid all that wavey nastiness, look to offer cheap storage and are in the right area to use the budget airlines out of Perpignan/Montpellier/Arles/Marseille
 
We too left the Wirral quite a number of years ago and headed south, although we still have to fly home to the get back on the hamster wheel after each sailing holiday.

We are in Port Olimpic Barcelona at the moment but previously enjoyed a few years in Lagos then a few more in Almerimar. We only managed to get a berth in PO after being on their waiting list for 3 years!

Marinas in the Barcelona area are significantly more expensive that Almerimar and Port Olimpic charges more to be out of the water than to be afloat – it’s only a small yard and they don’t seem to encourage people to languish in it for long periods.

Try Almerimar as a base for a while – it grows on you despite the plasicos and depending on your interests, there’s plenty of decent cruising from there to keep you busy for a while.

Good luck
 
Last week I helped a friend get his 8m boat from Sete to Marina San Carles (MDL close to Tarragona). I was surprised at the rates - less than €2000 pa.

A well managed, pleasant spot

Only downside seems to be that they do not appear to support full time liveaboards as they restrict occupancy of boat to three weeks in each callendar months. I don't know how they enforce it.

Worth a look. Otherwise Almerimar will be the cheapest especially as you only pay for the electricity you use.

Good luck.
 
If you are prepared to go 100 miles north of Barcelona then try Empuriabrava. It's 3/4 hr drive from Girona airport (Ryanair) and there is a direct coach service once a day. The marina is massive (5000 berths) but on a canal system so you only see, say, 50 boats at any one time. Because there is a resident population (in flats), excellent supermarkets and average restaurents are open all year round and there are numerous chandlers and boat services available. It gets a bit (a lot!) windy at times but you are protected from the sea so no waves or surges as I've experienced in most other Med marinas.
Go on their website for prices but as a guide we pay €4700 per year for a 11m berth incl elec, water and the usual shower block.
As the Spanish recession bites there are more and more spaces.
Hope this helps.
 
chinita said:
Only downside seems to be that they do not appear to support full time liveaboards as they restrict occupancy of boat to three weeks in each callendar months. I don't know how they enforce it.
Click to expand...

Wherever did you get that idea?

We have our boat there since before the marina opened and I never heard that. We spend months on board and we also have a forum for berthholders and this has never been mentioned.

Ryanair have cheap flights from Liverpool to Reus which is only 1 hour away.

The port captain is a well known Spanish sailor and she would encourage a boat community. Her own boat is currently in the Caribbean.
 
chinita said:
Last week I helped a friend get his 8m boat from Sete to Marina San Carles (MDL close to Tarragona). I was surprised at the rates - less than €2000 pa.

A well managed, pleasant spot

Only downside seems to be that they do not appear to support full time liveaboards as they restrict occupancy of boat to three weeks in each callendar months. I don't know how they enforce it.

Worth a look. Otherwise Almerimar will be the cheapest especially as you only pay for the electricity you use.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Where did you hear about this, I have had my boat there since September last year and this is the first I have heard of this restriction.

Graham
 
Sorry but, shortly after we arrived, I was engaged in a conversation with a couple who had just moved their MOBO from Alicante.

They mentioned this restriction but said they would be able to manage it due to their circumstances. I expressed surprise at the time!

I am not scaremongering, merely relaying what I was told by a berth holder. I shall phone my friend in France tomorrow who, I know, will have gone through this with a fine tooth comb.
 
There is a clause in the port regulations which would allow the management to disallow permanent habitation if there was a serious problem with someone undesirable. This is for legal reasons but they have no intention of using this to restrict normal berthholders. The period mentioned is actually more than 10 days in a 30 day period without the permission of the management.
 
Badalona is well worth considering. Still pretty new, with good facilities and security. Not the prettiest of locations but well connected to Barcelona by surface train, metro and tram. Regular (air conditioned) bus service ( or 15 minute walk) every 20 minutes to Badalona town or the other way to San Adria which has a huge Alcampo supermarket) to connect with the tram service and the surface train. Journey time to central Barcelona is less than 20 minutes, Barcelona Airport inside 90 minutes. Helpful staff and good rates.
 
Thanks all

Thanks everyone, some great responses,

So far I have put Badalona top of the list for convenience/price.
Second is Sant Carles Marina
and I also like the look of Empuriabrave.

I'm sure I will find a space in one of them. Also like last year, where I had planned on stopping in Albufera as they do a great winter deal, when I got to Ayamonte, I decided that it was too nice to miss so changed plans in the last week and spent 9 months there.

Cheers,
 
Ladystardust

I emailed Sant Carles this morning for a price to moor my 11m. for the year. I had a very courteous reply a few hours later. Here is the link for contact.
santcarles_webform@mdlmarinas.co.uk The location is South of Barcelona.

Hope you find somewhere.

Im travelling to Denia to pick up my new purchase. Denia is too expensive so I thought Id look around. I was amazed when I got a response so quickly. GL

Dior
 
Premia De Mar marina

You might like to look at Premia De Mar, which is a little further up the coast than Badalona. It's probably not viable as a liveaboard marina as the facilites are limited and it's a bit far out of the town but as a place to leave a boat overwinter its not too bad and costs last year were v cheap - 1750 euros for 6 months for a 12m boat. Web site is http://www.marinapremia.com/index.htm
 
Port Balis

Port Balis is about 25 nm north of Barcelona. I was once in there and asked for a winter offer - very cheap as there´s nothing there only a marina, which is a fine one. Half an hour on the train and your in Barcelona.
 
Premia de Mar

Finally settled on Premier de Mar, it's 40 minutes by train from the centre of Barcelona, the station in Barcelona is right next to the cheap fast airport bus service, so cheap and convenient to get to.
It's probably the cheapest on the Spanish Med coast, I'm paying €1006 for my 9mtr boat for 6 months (all inc), they have put me in a 12mtr Berth as they have plenty of space there. It seems as secure as most places, has a nice beach either side of the marina, and is a very relaxing place.
On the down side, it's a bit too relaxing, one restaurant, which i don't recommend and no shops near the marina, there is a large supermarket about 20 mins walk away which will do me. As winter storage this seems fine.
Port Vell wanted nearly €3000 for me to stay 6 months and wouldn't offer any longer as they plan to do work on the 10mtr berths soon.
Sante Carles still looked good, but was just to far away from Barcelona. Port Oylmpic also looked good, but they have a waiting list, and Port Forum was quite pricey, as was Badalona compared with Premia de mar.
Best bargain on this trip was the new marina at La Linea (N of Gib), €12/night all in.
 
hi We left our yacht in Almerimar and although many people report positively on the marina I found it rather a soul less place and I was happy to move on. The new marina in Catagena is over half empty and I spent a year there and greatly enjoyed with easy access to a really interesting town. We ahve now moved on to Torrevieya and are staying at Club Nautico where we ahve beenf or last 2 years. We love this club it has swimming pool great restaurant and is bang in middle of town. Rates in all the marinas in Torrevieja are relatively low and as far as I am aware all marinas are very open to negotiation.

Good luck
 
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