First Boat - Alicante - Advice Please

[jurassic86]

Hey Guys/Girls,

I am looking to buy my first boat and opted for a 50ft as I have 4 children so need the space to enjoy with them.

My idea is to keep her in or around Alicante and hopefully get a good summer season under my belt.

I have been looking at a Manhattan 50, Sealine T50 and others around the same size but my question is - would it be practical to sleep onboard in the summer with the wife and four children or would you recommend having a rental property in the town?

I do not plan to sail in the winter, unless we have the odd bit of nice weather around Feb/March - but generally any experience or pointers on what to look out for or any other options I should consider?

 

[markc]

Hi and welcome!

It really depends on how well you all get along... only you know the answer to that!

Why Alicante? It's a nice port and the city is lively, good beaches and close to the airport, but I don't think its immediate cruising grounds are that great. Long featureless bays, not many protected anchorages plus strong onshore winds occur every day in the summer. (We had a house there for 12 years but wouldn't have a boat there)

 

[jurassic86]

I think for me Alicante because the ease of flights from and to the UK.

Also the berthing costs can be much more reasonable than elsewhere.

 

[simon]

Hey Guys/Girls,

I am looking to buy my first boat and opted for a 50ft as I have 4 children so need the space to enjoy with them.

My idea is to keep her in or around Alicante and hopefully get a good summer season under my belt.

I have been looking at a Manhattan 50, Sealine T50 and others around the same size but my question is - would it be practical to sleep onboard in the summer with the wife and four children or would you recommend having a rental property in the town?

I do not plan to sail in the winter, unless we have the odd bit of nice weather around Feb/March - but generally any experience or pointers on what to look out for or any other options I should consider?

A good start would be to contact Samuel Jover at Jover Yachts. They looked after our boat whilst in Alicante and are still very active as Sunseeker dealer and general brokerage. His offices are in the marina in Alicante and they are very helpful.

 

[Hurricane]

Also the berthing costs can be much more reasonable than elsewhere.

There are other places just as cheap - even cheaper.
Have a look at Sant Carles - you will have difficulty in beating our prices.
We also have a lagoon, literally, right outside the marina - 7 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and 6m deep with great holding so good anchoring.
The marina has a swimming pool so the kids will have something to do in the marina.
Managed by UK based MDL, there are lots of Brits in SCM and the staff all speak English.
Travel to/from the UK isn't as good as Alicante but Sant Carles is mid way between Valencia and Barcelona for flights year round.
And Reus/Castellon which are nearer for summer flights.
We have our own boatyard where you can do the work yourself or appoint your own contractor.
As far as boat size is concerned, 50 feet is just about doable for a family like yours.
I know similar sized families that manage on that size but bigger will always be better - maybe you can stretch the budget to 55/60 feet.
Maybe consider the boat size with the berthing consideration.
For example, Sant Carles offers berthing in "nominal" sizes - 10m, 12m, 15m, 20m and 30m.
Each nominal size has its corresponding width but, you are allowed to extend the length by 10% as long as you allow 3% on the width for fenders.
That means you can keep a 16.5m boat on a 15m berth - so if you go over 16.5m, you will need a 20m berth.
Lots of cheap deals if you rent privately - can be as little as £4500 pa for a 15m berth including electricity and water.
Most berths in Sant Carles are UK style pontoon berths but if you want something even cheaper, there are Med style stern berths as well.
If you want to know more about Sant Carles, check out our forum - run by berth holders for berth holders.
Just sign up to www.scmchat.com - its free of course.

 

[jurassic86]

Thanks for your reply. I did see this marina but the journey time put me off a little.

With Alicante I can just get a taxi (or two) to the marina with the kids.

Going to Sant Carles, I'd need to hire a car which adds time and frustration to an already long day with four kids tired of the journey taken from home.

Having said that the port does have some other great benefits which I have not overlooked, so will follow it up with a call today.

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks for your reply. I did see this marina but the journey time put me off a little.

With Alicante I can just get a taxi (or two) to the marina with the kids.

Going to Sant Carles, I'd need to hire a car which adds time and frustration to an already long day with four kids tired of the journey taken from home.

Having said that the port does have some other great benefits which I have not overlooked, so will follow it up with a call today.

Probably doesn't help but having a car is a real benefit. Shopping of course but when the kids get bored of the local area, you will want to explore further.
We often fly out and use our bikes when out there but this year, we will have driven our own car out 3 times.
We tend to drive our own car out if we are staying for more than about 3 weeks and hire a car for shorter visits.
This year we will have driven out more than usual, because our children and grandchildren have/will be joining us and we want to do other stuff away from the marina.
The drive out isn't that bad - an overnight ferry to Santander or Bilbao followed by a 6 hour drive along excellent roads.

When flying in the winter months, we mostly use Barcelona where there are lots of daily flights to/from the UK.
In the summer Reus is the best served and less than an hour from the marina.
Barcelona is under 2 hours from the marina - motorways all the way.

In case you missed it, here is a link to a virtual tour of Sant Carles - done using my drone
SCMCHAT 3D Virtual Tour

 

[jurassic86]

Probably doesn't help but having a car is a real benefit. Shopping of course but when the kids get bored of the local area, you will want to explore further.
We often fly out and use our bikes when out there but this year, we will have driven our own car out 3 times.
We tend to drive our own car out if we are staying for more than about 3 weeks and hire a car for shorter visits.
This year we will have driven out more than usual, because our children and grandchildren have/will be joining us and we want to do other stuff away from the marina.
The drive out isn't that bad - an overnight ferry to Santander or Bilbao followed by a 6 hour drive along excellent roads.

When flying in the winter months, we mostly use Barcelona where there are lots of daily flights to/from the UK.
In the summer Reus is the best served and less than an hour from the marina.
Barcelona is under 2 hours from the marina - motorways all the way.

In case you missed it, here is a link to a virtual tour of Sant Carles - done using my drone
SCMCHAT 3D Virtual Tour

Is there a maintenance company on site?

 

[NC11]

Hi and welcome!

It really depends on how well you all get along... only you know the answer to that!

Why Alicante? It's a nice port and the city is lively, good beaches and close to the airport, but I don't think its immediate cruising grounds are that great. Long featureless bays, not many protected anchorages plus strong onshore winds occur every day in the summer. (We had a house there for 12 years but wouldn't have a boat there)

That’s why I left there. Flat and windy. Plus too hot for my tastes.

 

[DavidJ]

Have a Google on Empuriabrava it might suit you and the kids
Great cruising area just 10 mins away around Cap de Creus with lots of rocky coves

Lots for the kids to do
Go carting, sky diving, water skiing inland set up, one of those wind things that simulates sky diving etc etc
Loads of restaurants
Great supermarkets
Good boatyard and services
Probably 20% more that SCM for the marina
Suggest rent a car from Gerona or Perpignan (3/4 hr drive)
You can rent a villa with a pool and park outside like we did a couple of years back



The downside is it gets very busy in August. The rest of the year it’s quiet but all the facilities stay open

 

[Hurricane]

Is there a maintenance company on site?

Yep - several.
The best known by far is a contractor that also runs the on-site chandlery.
It is a company owned and run by a husband and wife.
This is their website - ▷ 4BOATS | Tienda Náutica Online - 100 productos más populares
Like a lot of others, I use them for general gardiennage - cleaning the boat before we arrive etc.
I also use them in the boatyard where they employ a good range of staff with different expertise.
For example, about 18 months ago, they repainted our waterline using two part Awlgrip (sprayed on).
This is the standard of their painter's work.

 

[kashurst]

I have stayed on board in Alicante Marina many times in the summer, Including on a Sealine T50 we owned for five years. No problem at all with 6 people aboard, subject to having airconditioning.
There is a small island about 10 miles out from Alicante called Tarbaca. Anchoring is OK subject to wind. South of Alicante are a few places that are good for overnights. Plus its not that far to north to Altea and Moraira etc. After all a boat is for going places. As other have said the immediate area is a bit lacking, At the north end of Alicante bay is a more sheltered spot. As per other posts the east med coast of Spain gets a sea breeze in the afternoon that can get quite strong so if going out go early and be in shelter/harbour early

Alicante town is lovely and the old city interesting. Of the two boats you mentioned I would look at the Sunseeker. If you want to know more about the Sealine T50 send me a PM.

 

[Lannett]

Sorry for jumping into this, but I’m literally in the same position. We already have our boat and plan to transport it via road, we are looking advice for best area to base the boat, We have been looking at marinas close to Barcelona mostly for how easy flights are to get and proximity to the airport, but would is this a reasonable cruising area?

 

[DavidJ]

Sorry for jumping into this, but I’m literally in the same position. We already have our boat and plan to transport it via road, we are looking advice for best area to base the boat, We have been looking at marinas close to Barcelona mostly for how easy flights are to get and proximity to the airport, but would is this a reasonable cruising area?

The cruising area around Barcelona is dull to say the least but of course having a floating caravan in Barcelona main marina is fabulous, We had a month there. Sitges is nice but in the same area.
Look south at SCM very social, great bunch of people and jumping off point to the Balearics or north Rosas or Empuribrava for local crusing area.

 

[petem]

We spent a summer in Sant Carles after which we moved south to the northern Costa Blanca.

We're currently berthed in Altea (https://cnaltea.com/index/camara.php). As you can see, it has its own pool, the town is very attractive and there's around 400 restaurants within walking distance! Transfer time from Alicante (45 mins / £75 in a taxi). There are loads of flights to Alicante and loads of car hire companies. Personally I believe that it's less windy where we are than Denia.

Unlike most of the mainland (including the immediate Alicante vicinity) we have lots of calas / anchorages and marinas that we can visit for lunch or an overnight stay (Villajoyosa, Marina Greenwich, Calpe, Moraira, Javea and Denia).

Support services are excellent and cheap.

 

[petem]

A good start would be to contact Samuel Jover at Jover Yachts. They looked after our boat whilst in Alicante and are still very active as Sunseeker dealer and general brokerage. His offices are in the marina in Alicante and they are very helpful.

+1 to this.

@PEJ of this parish keeps his boat in Alicante and uses Samuel Jover.

 

[Lannett]

The cruising area around Barcelona is dull to say the least but of course having a floating caravan in Barcelona main marina is fabulous, We had a month there. Sitges is nice but in the same area.
Look south at SCM very social, great bunch of people and jumping off point to the Balearics or north Rosas or Empuribrava for local crusing area.

SCM does sound very good, are biggest issue is flights, we are from Northern Ireland so can only fly from Belfast and Dublin which limits the availability of cheap flights, only exception is Barcelona as it has plenty of flights all year round, the extra travel south from Barcelona
1.5-2 hours drive mite just be a bit much. This will be are first year in the Mediterranean, currently looking at port Ginesta and Segur De Calafell.

 

[NC11]

The cruising area around Barcelona is dull to say the least but of course having a floating caravan in Barcelona main marina is fabulous, We had a month there. Sitges is nice but in the same area.
Look south at SCM very social, great bunch of people and jumping off point to the Balearics or north Rosas or Empuribrava for local crusing area.

I found the scenery pretty nice south/west of Barcelona. Lovely marina in Cambril which I would love to have based myself at.

 

[DavidJ]

SCM does sound very good, are biggest issue is flights, we are from Northern Ireland so can only fly from Belfast and Dublin which limits the availability of cheap flights, only exception is Barcelona as it has plenty of flights all year round, the extra travel south from Barcelona
1.5-2 hours drive mite just be a bit much. This will be are first year in the Mediterranean, currently looking at port Ginesta and Segur De Calafell.

Check out Ginesta. May not still be used but there used to be a lot of quarrying behind the marina. We stopped there while waiting for a Barcelona slot and got covered.

 

[DavidJ]

I found the scenery pretty nice south/west of Barcelona. Lovely marina in Cambril which I would love to have based myself at.

Agree, we have had some lovely drives down that coast but my preference for boating are rocky cove type areas.