Costa Blanca Marina's Help Please

[Helipilot100]

Hi Guys and Gals, need a bit of advice. I'm not new to boats bit I am new to boats in Spain. I have a friend with a boat berthed at San Carles and was surprised that he got an all inclusive deal with water and electricity. My questions are as follows: Is this the normal ( to have electricity and water included) and if so do they restrict the amount of electricity you can use, perhaps by way of the size of circuit braker? I love this part of the coast but I'm flexible in positioning although San Carles is just a bit too far north, any good recommendations for Marina's. Finally the boat I'm about to purchase is moored in Almeria and on the German Flag any issues with a UK guy buying this and using it as his holiday home several months of the year? Thinking more post brexit. As I said at the start i'm new to this in Spain so please be gentle with me. Thanks in anticipation. Oh the boat is 12.5m x 4.2m if that makes any difference.

 

[petem]

We moved from Sant Carles to Marina Greenwich (nr, Altea) in the northern Costa Blanca and like it a lot. From what I can recall the main marinas south of SCM are:

Castellon
Borriana
Valencia
Xabia
Denia
Moraira
Calpe
Marina Greenwich
Altea
Vilajoyosa
Alicante

... then you are into the southern Costa Blanca which others are more familiar with than me.

In my opinion, the coast North of Denia is a bit dull.

Regarding what's included in your mooring fees, it varies by marina. Our rate is all inclusive (unlimited electricity and water) but in others you have to pay for this and sometimes navigation / lighthouse taxes.

Prices vary depending on facilities, distance to airports and local cruising grounds. You need you visit them all (by car) to see what suits you.

 

[Helipilot100]

We moved from Sant Carles to Marina Greenwich (nr, Altea) in the northern Costa Blanca and like it a lot. From what I can recall the main marinas south of SCM are:

Castellon
Borriana
Valencia
Xabia
Denia
Moraira
Calpe
Marina Greenwich
Altea
Vilajoyosa
Alicante

... then you are into the southern Costa Blanca which others are more familiar with than me.

In my opinion, the coast North of Denia is a bit dull.

Regarding what's included in your mooring fees, it varies by marina. Our rate is all inclusive (unlimited electricity and water) but in others you have to pay for this and sometimes navigation / lighthouse taxes.

Prices vary depending on facilities, distance to airports and local cruising grounds. You need you visit them all (by car) to see what suits you.

Hi would you by any chance be the chap whos boat I came to see at San Carles a few yerars back now. My name being Liam?

 

[kashurst]

buying a German flagged boat shouldnot be a problem, get broker to help you remove the boat from German registary (but keep all the relevant docs - just in case) Then put the new to you boat on the British Small Ships Register (SSR) again a half decent broker can do this or do it yourself. The new SSR certificate should turn up in about 2 weeks. However post brexit you might want to think about registering the boat on the Dutch registry. You don't need to be Dutch and the boat will be able to stay in Spain indefinitely as it will be an EU registered boat.

I moor on the Costa Blance, Free electricity, water and a free lift out is not normal in Spain. However water and electric is pretty cheap. Mine is so little I can't remember what it is. Lift out for a 12m boat @ 250 - 300 euros inc a jet wash. Electricity supply is typically 16Amp for up to a 12m berth, 32 amp thereafter. However Torrevieja International Marina has just had a major refurb and rewire and the 10m berths up, all seem to have a 32Amp shore power with inbuilt metering, RCD etc etc. Never knowingly had a consumption limit imposed. You may need to also pay a G5 tax if you moor in Valencian waters. (@ 500 euros/year for a 12m boat) Ordinarily a 12.5m boat would be accepted on a 12m berth with max beam of 4.0m , but as you will be 4.2m beam you may end up on a 15m berth. Worth asking around as your mooring fee could go up quite a bit for that extra 0.2m of beam

Marinas south of Alicante are:
Santa Pola (very nice but pricey)
Guardamar (full, very Spanish not a lot there)
Torrevieja (3 marinas in a very big harbour)
Cabo Roig
Campomanes
Torre de la Horradada
Marina de Sal (near Horadada - in the middle of nowhere)
Thomas Maestre, plus 2 or 3 small marinas inside the mar menor. (Very big but dead as a door nail outside of the summer season)
Cartegena
Mazaron
then you are at Almeria

 

[petem]

buying a German flagged boat shouldnot be a problem, get broker to help you remove the boat from German registary (but keep all the relevant docs - just in case) Then put the new to you boat on the British Small Ships Register (SSR) again a half decent broker can do this or do it yourself. The new SSR certificate should turn up in about 2 weeks. However post brexit you might want to think about registering the boat on the Dutch registry. You don't need to be Dutch and the boat will be able to stay in Spain indefinitely as it will be an EU registered boat.

I moor on the Costa Blance, Free electricity, water and a free lift out is not normal in Spain. However water and electric is pretty cheap. Mine is so little I can't remember what it is. Lift out for a 12m boat @ 250 - 300 euros inc a jet wash. Electricity supply is typically 16Amp for up to a 12m berth, 32 amp thereafter. However Torrevieja International Marina has just had a major refurb and rewire and the 10m berths up, all seem to have a 32Amp shore power with inbuilt metering, RCD etc etc. Never knowingly had a consumption limit imposed. You may need to also pay a G5 tax if you moor in Valencian waters. (@ 500 euros/year for a 12m boat) Ordinarily a 12.5m boat would be accepted on a 12m berth with max beam of 4.0m , but as you will be 4.2m beam you may end up on a 15m berth. Worth asking around as your mooring fee could go up quite a bit for that extra 0.2m of beam

Marinas south of Alicante are:
Santa Pola (very nice but pricey)
Guardamar (full, very Spanish not a lot there)
Torrevieja (3 marinas in a very big harbour)
Cabo Roig
Campomanes
Torre de la Horradada
Marina de Sal (near Horadada - in the middle of nowhere)
Thomas Maestre, plus 2 or 3 small marinas inside the mar menor. (Very big but dead as a door nail outside of the summer season)
Cartegena
Mazaron
then you are at Almeria

Campomanes - are you sure?

 

[kashurst]

Oops, apologies: Campoamor

 

[longjohnsilver]

Oops, apologies: Campoamor

There’s also Gandia, N of Denia.

 

[petem]

We moved from Sant Carles to Marina Greenwich (nr, Altea) in the northern Costa Blanca and like it a lot. From what I can recall the main marinas south of SCM are:

Castellon
Borriana
Valencia
Xabia
Denia
Moraira
Calpe
Marina Greenwich
Altea
Vilajoyosa
Alicante

... then you are into the southern Costa Blanca which others are more familiar with than me.

In my opinion, the coast North of Denia is a bit dull.

Regarding what's included in your mooring fees, it varies by marina. Our rate is all inclusive (unlimited electricity and water) but in others you have to pay for this and sometimes navigation / lighthouse taxes.

Prices vary depending on facilities, distance to airports and local cruising grounds. You need you visit them all (by car) to see what suits you.

Did I forget "El Campello" between Vilajoyosa and Alicante?

 

[captaindan]

Hi most of the marinas on the costa blanca i have been give water and electric inclusive, if you venture to the Balearics they will charge you for everything they can get off you and more . if you go up the other way towards andulucia they charge for water and electric separate. I suppose it depeneds what you like to do when your on and off the boat if you like citys then alicante and cartagenna are good and cartagenna has a very cheap marina but very well equipped for servicing and repairs but if you prefer beaches then mal menor is a good spot and are quite cheap too.

 

[Hurricane]

Just for the record.
SCM offers inclusive water electricity and a free lift/scrub. IMO, very cheap berthing as well and easy cruise to the islands.

 

[PEJ]

I have just returned from an 8 day visit to Spain to check out marinas. We saw 16 marinas in 8 days from Gibraltar to Roses near the French border. I'd say in most of them the lecky and water were metered and charged

We set off with a long list of requirements to suit our individual requirements and ticked them off and graded them for each place. The main ones for us where proximity to an airport served from our local airport in the UK, plenty within walking distance of the boat (including a nice beach) and that it was alive in winter.

 

[petem]

And the winner was!?!?

 

[PEJ]

And the winner was!?!?

Well there were 20 items on the requirements list and, not surprisingly, nowhere got full marks on all 20 but Alicante came top of the list. It scores highly on proximity to the airport which is served from Bournemouth all year round, being alive in winter and having places you can walk to from the boat. Many may scoff but Alicante's proximity Benidorm helped it, there are some nice looking theme parks for the kids on the outskirts.

I also liked Gibraltar, Sotogrande and Campomanes

 

[captaindan]

I agree with you with Alicante being a good location for all of the above.
Sotogarande is lovely but you would be lonely there in the winter

 

[markc]

Well there were 20 items on the requirements list and, not surprisingly, nowhere got full marks on all 20 but Alicante came top of the list. It scores highly on proximity to the airport which is served from Bournemouth all year round, being alive in winter and having places you can walk to from the boat. Many may scoff but Alicante's proximity Benidorm helped it, there are some nice looking theme parks for the kids on the outskirts.

I also liked Gibraltar, Sotogrande and Campomanes

Alicante is a very nice city. We had a house near there for 12+ years. Lots to do, and Benidorm is a magnet for people that you don't want in Alicante, which is perfect. Flights can suffer from hen & stag groups. Short bus from the airport, so no need to hire a car. Did you check out Santa Pola?

 

[PEJ]

Re Santa Pola

Yes, that was very nice too. We went there on a Sunday and it was really busy. Seems like all the locals go there at the weekend.

 

[Paul_S123]

I agree with you with Alicante being a good location for all of the above.
Sotogarande is lovely but you would be lonely there in the winter

I'm here atm, not lonely...it's a little quiet...but I like it like that

 

[petem]

There’s also Gandia, N of Denia.

And Oliva I believe.