ccscott49
Well-Known Member
Cogolin SOF, what do we know about the place, marinas, prices, availability, cost of living, can I winter there etc etc. Thanks for any input!!
Cogolin.
- Thread starter ccscott49
- Start date
BobnLesley
Well-Known Member
...can I winter there etc...
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Yes; whilst I've only sailed past and can't give you any info, we've met a couple of yachts which have overwintered there.
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Yes; whilst I've only sailed past and can't give you any info, we've met a couple of yachts which have overwintered there.
JamesFrance
Well-Known Member
I have left a boat there for the winter, but too long ago to give useful details. When we called in quite recently with our current boat, they insisted we pay for a 12 mtr mooring as they said we were 3cms too wide for their 10mtr one, so not impressed with the management.
There is a very convenient superstore just outside the entrance which helps, but we used to much prefer Grimaud where we moored for a couple of years (the pic in my avatar).
There is a very convenient superstore just outside the entrance which helps, but we used to much prefer Grimaud where we moored for a couple of years (the pic in my avatar).
LadyJessie
Well-Known Member
the Marines des Cogolin is the largest marina in the Gulf of St Tropez and will usually be able to squeeze you in somewhere for the winter. Forget about getting a space here in the summer. It is a terrible concrete wasteland and not nice, but very functional with great service. The marina staff is extremely helpful. Showers are horrible and dirty. It is very well situated on the main coastal road with good bus service to St Tropez and St Raphael where the TGV train service stops. It is walking distance to the Geant Casino hypermarket where you can buy anything you can imagine. Prices are high as this is the Cote d'Azur; I paid 420 euros per month for a 12 metre boat last winter.
In summary; lots of good and bad things about the place. I would still return only based on the easy access to St Tropez, one of the gems of the Med.
In summary; lots of good and bad things about the place. I would still return only based on the easy access to St Tropez, one of the gems of the Med.
ccscott49
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that much appreciated!
tcm
...
everything as above is very fair, and praps importantly ...it is tough access to an airport. I would have a look at la Ciotat, no idea bout availability but gootta be cheaper. Far fewer english speakers though - whereas i know that even scots who speak french with glaswegian accent mange very well in Cogolin.
LadyJessie
Well-Known Member
Not sure I agree that Cogolin has 'tough access to an airport'. You take the bus to St Raphael and then you have a choice of a train to either Marseille (about an hour) or Nice (about 45 mins). La Ciotat is a very small marina and has limited space. You only have a choice of a bus to Marseille and I don't think that is any quicker and it is certainly less frequent. Bandol would be a better choice for price and space but then you are even further away from Marseille and a long way away from Nice. I would vote for Cogolin as one of the best wintering places on the Cote d'Azur.
A
Anonymous
Guest
I'm also interested as we are looking for a wintering place. There are two yacht harbours in Cogolin - 'Port Cogolin' and 'Marines de Cogolin'. Lady Jessie was talking Marines de Cogolin. see www.marines-de-cogolin.com or for rates http://www.marines-de-cogolin.com/fr/dossiers/dossiers.php?id_dossier=90 As an example, Porto Turistico di Roma would cost us €540 per month but a big discount to €450, i.e. €2700 for six months of the winter whereas Cogolin seems to be €504 per month, inclusive. I was told today that there is only one space left in Rome and they wanted me to pay for it now. We won't do that. Maybe there will be space, maybe there won't.
Caution:- I don't see WiFi offered on the Cogolin website and France is in the Dark Ages when it comes to WiFi for travellers, really bad. I have prepaid Orange France for WiFi and only came across it in one harbour. There is a service called Neuf but it seems that you need to have a Neuf landline, they won't let you pay for WiFi only. The GPRS/3G services are so expensive you could barely afford to download emails and indeed you have to agree not to connect to a laptop or computer! Italy and Spain both have good quality low cost 3G/GPRS solutions. Since we need Internet for income, it is a big issue and we are leaning towards Rome at the moment.
Caution:- I don't see WiFi offered on the Cogolin website and France is in the Dark Ages when it comes to WiFi for travellers, really bad. I have prepaid Orange France for WiFi and only came across it in one harbour. There is a service called Neuf but it seems that you need to have a Neuf landline, they won't let you pay for WiFi only. The GPRS/3G services are so expensive you could barely afford to download emails and indeed you have to agree not to connect to a laptop or computer! Italy and Spain both have good quality low cost 3G/GPRS solutions. Since we need Internet for income, it is a big issue and we are leaning towards Rome at the moment.
LadyJessie
Well-Known Member
Only Marines des Cogolin is feasible. The 'Port Cogolin' is very small and full with local boat; you will not get a space there (if you are not trouville).
On the wifi issue; the marina did not have wifi last winter and I would doubt that they have it this year. However, the French have actually caught up and are not anymore in the 'dark ages' on wifi. Firstly, there are at least two cafes in the hypermarket nearby with free wifi. Secondly, I have seen a revolution in GPRS/Edge pricing in the last year. It used to cost a fortune but now I regularly get offers that are very cheap (I am a French Orange contract customer). Last week it was 10 euros for 100 mb or 30 euros for a month unlimited. Plus I get unlimited free wifi within my standard contract whenever I am at a wifi hotspot run by Orange, and that is the most common. It seems the prices are falling by he week. You should be OK for internet access in Cogolin.
On the wifi issue; the marina did not have wifi last winter and I would doubt that they have it this year. However, the French have actually caught up and are not anymore in the 'dark ages' on wifi. Firstly, there are at least two cafes in the hypermarket nearby with free wifi. Secondly, I have seen a revolution in GPRS/Edge pricing in the last year. It used to cost a fortune but now I regularly get offers that are very cheap (I am a French Orange contract customer). Last week it was 10 euros for 100 mb or 30 euros for a month unlimited. Plus I get unlimited free wifi within my standard contract whenever I am at a wifi hotspot run by Orange, and that is the most common. It seems the prices are falling by he week. You should be OK for internet access in Cogolin.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Contract is not really an option for me at the moment. I went into the Phone Shop and discussed tariffs for PAYG and even a few MB cost a fortune with Orange. They said that there was no PAYG that is viable.
So I bought a Virgin sim, who at least give you 3 months validity for your credit. Orange is only one month. I bought a cheap phone with Bouyges sim for my wife for €29, with €8 talktime on it. It was a special Carrefour offer. The man said that the credit expires after 8 months....when, later, I looked in the Phone House catalogue it said 8 days!!!!!! Sure enough, after 8 days, the phone died. I will take it back to a Carrefour next time I find one, and complain. If they refuse to give me my money back I'll hit it with a hammer on the counter and leave it with them. 8 days!!! I don't know about contract deals in France but PAYG is incredibly bad value.
As for internet cafes, etc., they are of very limited use to me. I work using the Internet and I can't do that in a cafe. Orange WiFi is fine in that the traveller can sign up for €50 for 50 hours of good fast connection and that's fine. Sadly I have only found one harbour that has Orange WiFi out of six harbours visited. Neuf is everywhere, but useless for the visitor.
Right now I am piggy backing on an open WiFi access point. Everyone in Port St Louis uses it by sitting on a particular bench but I am lucky enough to be able to pick it up from the boat with the RepeatIt antenna. Just lucky. I was lucky at Frontignan as well but there was no proper paid service available (other than Neuf) so what else can you do?
So I bought a Virgin sim, who at least give you 3 months validity for your credit. Orange is only one month. I bought a cheap phone with Bouyges sim for my wife for €29, with €8 talktime on it. It was a special Carrefour offer. The man said that the credit expires after 8 months....when, later, I looked in the Phone House catalogue it said 8 days!!!!!! Sure enough, after 8 days, the phone died. I will take it back to a Carrefour next time I find one, and complain. If they refuse to give me my money back I'll hit it with a hammer on the counter and leave it with them. 8 days!!! I don't know about contract deals in France but PAYG is incredibly bad value.
As for internet cafes, etc., they are of very limited use to me. I work using the Internet and I can't do that in a cafe. Orange WiFi is fine in that the traveller can sign up for €50 for 50 hours of good fast connection and that's fine. Sadly I have only found one harbour that has Orange WiFi out of six harbours visited. Neuf is everywhere, but useless for the visitor.
Right now I am piggy backing on an open WiFi access point. Everyone in Port St Louis uses it by sitting on a particular bench but I am lucky enough to be able to pick it up from the boat with the RepeatIt antenna. Just lucky. I was lucky at Frontignan as well but there was no proper paid service available (other than Neuf) so what else can you do?
LadyJessie
Well-Known Member
Yes, I think you are correct in picking out two trends I have also noticed in the French mobile world:
1. It is now a wilderness of multiple offers and it is very difficult to find your way around as the offers seems to change from day to day. I think the phone stores are the worst source of information; they seem to always be behind. You need to connect to the operators directly.
2. It seems to me that the better offers are given to contract customers. This is probably logical as the mobile operator can get its basic profit expectation from the contract and any incremental revenue, even if it is only 1 euro, is an incremental that flows straight down to the bottom line.
I have seen this strategy applied in the frequent telemarketing calls I get that is always based on a very good analysis of my usage pattern (I am a heavy international mobile user). The sales pitch is often based on the 'name your price' type of approach. These are not offers you will find on their web page. You have a disadvantage of being a PAYG customer so you will probably not get the good offers. What I would recommend is when you get to France and are on the Orange network you dial 500 and talk to their sales group. They can hopefully guide you to your best option among the amazing myriad options available.
Finally: do not expect wifi in any French marina or harbour. There are so few liveaboards here so there is no demand for that kind of service. You will get that service ashore.
1. It is now a wilderness of multiple offers and it is very difficult to find your way around as the offers seems to change from day to day. I think the phone stores are the worst source of information; they seem to always be behind. You need to connect to the operators directly.
2. It seems to me that the better offers are given to contract customers. This is probably logical as the mobile operator can get its basic profit expectation from the contract and any incremental revenue, even if it is only 1 euro, is an incremental that flows straight down to the bottom line.
I have seen this strategy applied in the frequent telemarketing calls I get that is always based on a very good analysis of my usage pattern (I am a heavy international mobile user). The sales pitch is often based on the 'name your price' type of approach. These are not offers you will find on their web page. You have a disadvantage of being a PAYG customer so you will probably not get the good offers. What I would recommend is when you get to France and are on the Orange network you dial 500 and talk to their sales group. They can hopefully guide you to your best option among the amazing myriad options available.
Finally: do not expect wifi in any French marina or harbour. There are so few liveaboards here so there is no demand for that kind of service. You will get that service ashore.