Marina alternatives between Denia, Barcelona and Marseille?

[A_8]

By Swedish standards the berth costs for a 15m boat is super high around Nice, about 10 times and I am trying to find alternatives to keep a boat for a few years and not pay €2K+ per month.

It looks like there are Marinas where it would cost a bit less, maybe €6-700 per month but it is very difficult to assess from a far if they are good enough so hoping for some input on this?

We are still working fulltime and will maybe use the boat 4-5 times a year and even though we will spend a few nights in the Marina on these occasions I expect us to take the boat out for the most part. The Marina still needs to be safe and sheltered and a bit of life with restaurants etc.

Short term we will probably explore around Nice and/or the Balearics and don't mind longer trips, quite enjoy them and are ok to pay for fuel instead.

 

[Whitelighter]

Depends what you want from the marina - if its just a secure base from which to leave then there are plenty along the spanish coast from Denia up to the bay of roses.
That whole coast varies from about 50 miles to the nearest island (Denia) to around 110 (Palamos).

How will you get to the boat, and how long will you stay? This will tell you how close to an airport you need to be. If its 4-5 trips of a week or more then maybe a 90 minute drive from an airport is ok. If its weekends then you want to be a 10-20 minute taxi ride away.

PeteM is in Alicante, so south of Denia but seems happy. Truro Ex-pat speaks highly of Denia.

I like where we are in Santz Carles but plenty don't. Its a long drag from the airport and just under 100nm to ibiza, but we do weeks rather than days at a time so for us thats ok.
The town for me has enough going on but its not a high society town with 4 and 5 star restaurants. I enjoy eating out there but its not for everyone.

15m boat, inc power and water is €4500 per year. for that ill take the fuel cost when we want to go to the islands.

Hopefully the others will be along in a minute to give you other options

 

[longjohnsilver]

PeteM is actually in Mascarat, Altea, about 25 miles south of Denia. Plenty of different ports if you’re prepared to look S of Denia.

 

[jon and michie]

There's also valencia which has the airport fairly close by

 

[petem]

Starting in the North, I have heard good reports of the cruising area in the Bay of Roses / Empuriabrava area.

Going South, if you like Barcelona (I'm not a big fan) then there are a few marinas there which are an easy commute from Barcelona airport.

Further down (100 miles or so) you have Sant Carles De La Rapita which is a great marina but a lengthy transfer from Barcelona or an easier transfer from the Reus and Castellon airports (very infrequent flights). We found the local cruising around Sant Carles a little too limited hence we moved further south at the end of last year.

Then you have Valencia would be an OK place to keep the boat over the winter but again local cruising is rather limited and the marina is a long walk from the town.

Denia has a great marina with a pool and lots of restaurants (excellent showers too!) and is close to Ibiza. Deleted User reports that it can be windy and again the marina is a long walk to the town and close on two hour transfer from Alicante airport. I believe the transfer from Valencia is shorter.

Note that the coastline between Sant Carles and Denia is a bit bland, lacking pretty coves / anchorages.

So this takes us to the Costa Blanca. As has been pointed out above we are based in Marina Greenwich (aka Mascarat / Campomanes) just to the east of Altea. We're an hours drive from Alicante to which there are multiple daily flights from our local airports. We haven's spent a season in our new marina yet but I believe the local cruising grounds are quite good. To our north we have Calpe, Moraira, Jabier and Denia and to the south we have Altea, Vila Joiosa, Alicante and the Mar Menor farther afield. Ibiza is 50 miles or so for us. In the immediate vicinity there are supposed to be some nice anchorages for lunch too. I know of at least two forumites that rate Alicante highly which of course is very convenient for the airport but we felt it was too city like.

Price wise as a very general rule of thumb for our 10.5m boat, Sant Carles was around £3k per annum, Mallorca would be around £9k and Greenwich / Altea in the middle at around £6k.

 

[jordanbasset]

There are three marinas in Deia, when last we checked the Real Club Nautico de Denia was closest to town and the cheapest (all relative!)
The other two marinas are El Portet (smallest one) and the Marina de Denia
Denia is a lovely town but not he cheapest for marinas, I would also consider looking farther South
The other thing we notice is that when you get south of Valencia the weather is much better in the winter than further North

 

[petem]

There are three marinas in Denia, when last we checked the Real Club Nautico de Denia was closest to town and the cheapest (all relative!)
The other two marinas are El Portet (smallest one) and the Marina de Denia
Denia is a lovely town but not he cheapest for marinas, I would also consider looking farther South
The other thing we notice is that when you get south of Valencia the weather is much better in the winter than further North

Indeed, my reference to Denia above was to the "Marina de Denia" but I'm a bit of a sucker for a purpose built marina village type set-up having kept our last boat in Port Solent, our current one in Hythe then Greenwich (and also hankering after Puerto Portals, Empuriabrava and Port Grimaud).

 

[All_at_Sea]

We wintered in Valencia, not the full one but the Juan Carlos one which virtually has it's own tube stop, which also goes to the airport. Cheaper than many so worth a look.

 

[A_8]

Thanks all, have few marinas to look closer at now. Currently in Barcelona and indeed it’s quite cold.

 

[BartW]

Close to marseille we’ve spend one winter in marine corbiere, very close to the airport. And not expensive. Closer to cote d’azur, we were 2 seasons in Toulon, right between cote varoise and cote dazur, both interesting, the latter on average less windy, flights to Marselle or Toulon /Hyeres.

 

[DavidJ]

Indeed, my reference to Denia above was to the "Marina de Denia" but I'm a bit of a sucker for a purpose built marina village type set-up having kept our last boat in Port Solent, our current one in Hythe then Greenwich (and also hankering after Puerto Portals, Empuriabrava and Port Grimaud).

I’m a sucker for marina village set-up too. In my case in Empuriabrava it’s more of a marina town with a resident population of 5000. This means lots of really good supermarkets and many average restaurants open all year round.
Our cruising ground starts just 10 mins away. I pay £5000 a year for 12M to the marina which includes parking, water, electric, security and shower facilities but there are private mooring available, if you do a search, for half that price but of course don’t have the above facilities.
My cruising ground

 

[petem]

Does it get windy?

 

[DavidJ]

Does it get windy?

We often get a daily cycle of f2 rising to f4 early afternoon then back to f2 but there is always somewhere to hide in the many coves.
Now and again we get the tramontera which is wind roaring down the Rhône valley into the Gulf of Lion for sometimes 2 or 3 days.. Forcasting of these is very accurate so you are never caught out.
The weather app “Windy” shows this really well.

Just noticed a bit of a f7 howler going through on Thursday. Fortunately being on a canal system we don’t get the swells that I have experienced in other marinas.

 

[Whitelighter]

How do the private moorings not have security or a shower?

 

[DavidJ]

How do the private moorings not have security or a shower?

It’s not like most marinas with renters and owners on the same pontoons. The private owners will have houses or apartments or even a spare bit of land on the canals with a mooring attached. There is no connection to the marina management.

 

[Whitelighter]

Got you

 

[petem]

For the record, Altea is around €1000 per month for a 15m boat (all inclusive).

 

[Bojangles]

DavidJ, I’ve had a look at Empuriabrava, looks superb, I wasn’t aware of this type of development in Spain. It looks a lot like Cape Coral in Florida with the canal network and houses with private moorings. I’d consider renting a property there to see what it’s like, can you tell me if there’s more than average mosquitos there? I only ask as Cape Coral had more than their fair share of midges due to the environment, it was a bit of a pain. Also wondered if any rentals include a rib/sportsboat with a villa, there’s a huge market for this in Florida.

 

[DavidJ]

DavidJ, I’ve had a look at Empuriabrava, looks superb, I wasn’t aware of this type of development in Spain. It looks a lot like Cape Coral in Florida with the canal network and houses with private moorings. I’d consider renting a property there to see what it’s like, can you tell me if there’s more than average mosquitos there? I only ask as Cape Coral had more than their fair share of midges due to the environment, it was a bit of a pain. Also wondered if any rentals include a rib/sportsboat with a villa, there’s a huge market for this in Florida.

Mosquitos have never been a particular problem maybe because the canals are salt water unlike further south of Barcelona in the rice growing Ebro delta region.
There are loads of rental properties with moorings on Airbnb and HomeAway but if bringing your own boat most of the properties will be on the other side of canal bridges whose height prohibits any kind of fixed arch, check before you buy.
I’ve not seen properties with boat attached but you can rent independently eg Thalassa Rent a Boat.
When we have family over we tend to rent an apartment.. The below gives an example of one of the canals.

 

[jrudge]

Interesting. I have looked on air Bnb but there is not much in the outer part , and the one I found was too small for the boat. If you know of any that will take a 17m boat or where to look I would be interested.