Marina in Summer in Balearics ?

[Gull]

Hi

We are planning on doing the Balearics this summer. Husband works 4 weeks on 4 weeks off, so while he is with us on boat am quite happy anchoring or mooring but think I would prefer a marina for me and kids (and dogs !) when he is back at work. Am not confident or experienced enough to sail without him Any suggestions on not too pricey marina on the islands or do you think best bet to go back to mainland, probably Cartagena or Denia ?

 

[chinita]

Hi

We are planning on doing the Balearics this summer. Husband works 4 weeks on 4 weeks off, so while he is with us on boat am quite happy anchoring or mooring but think I would prefer a marina for me and kids (and dogs !) when he is back at work. Am not confident or experienced enough to sail without him Any suggestions on not too pricey marina on the islands or do you think best bet to go back to mainland, probably Cartagena or Denia ?

They are horrendously expensive in the high season. Often it is possible to get into one of the smaller, Government Marinas but they only allow just a few days.

I would have little hesitation in going to Cartagena, La Manga (Tomas Maestre) or Denia. These are not going to be giveaway prices either!

 

[Nautorius]

Hi

We are planning on doing the Balearics this summer. Husband works 4 weeks on 4 weeks off, so while he is with us on boat am quite happy anchoring or mooring but think I would prefer a marina for me and kids (and dogs !) when he is back at work. Am not confident or experienced enough to sail without him Any suggestions on not too pricey marina on the islands or do you think best bet to go back to mainland, probably Cartagena or Denia ?

I would definitely head back to the mainland. For a start Flights will be cheaper and berthing as well. Think of Sant Carles as a base....

http://www.mdlmarinas.co.uk/mdl-santcarles-marina/

Paul

 

[chinita]

I would definitely head back to the mainland. For a start Flights will be cheaper and berthing as well. Think of Sant Carles as a base....

http://www.mdlmarinas.co.uk/mdl-santcarles-marina/

Paul

Good idea, forgot that one - and reasonable prices. Not a lot of amusement for kids though!

 

[vyv_cox]

It depends to some extent whether you are prepared to spend lots of money. The marina on Formantera to the south of Ibiza would be a fabulous place to spend a month with kids but it has the reputation of being the most expensive marina in the western Med. Pollensa on Mallorca has always had berths when we were there, but again, not cheap. Ciudadella on Menorca is reasonably priced but not such a comfortable place to be. Berthing is alongside in rafts of two, so you could get a place against the wall by waiting a day or two. Not sure about water/electricity here though.

 

[sailinglegend420]

Porto Coloum on Majorca has a huge sheltered harbour for anchoring and a cheap public pontoon and an expensive marina.

 

[Steve Clayton]

Denia has 4 marinas:

Marina de Denia; on your port side as you enter.

Club Nautico; on the nose as you enter

2 marinas on the starboard side; one is a small boat marina and another one:

http://www.elportetdedenia.es/

Neither M de D or C. Nautico will be cheap; El Portet (not Moraira!!!!!) will be less expensive.

 

[multihullsailor6]

Hi Gull,

The Yacht Port Cartagena marina will charge you €767.75 incl. VAT as a monthly rate during high season for a boat in the 10.5m to 13.75m range. Have more info on prices if you are interested.

 

[Gull]

Thanks for all the replies. We are a 15m monohull so I know it will be pricey everywhere unfortunately ! We are actually in St Carles at the moment getting boat ready. Have been here over winter and want to move bit further down coast and start exploring more. Think Cartagena seems best bet for next base for a while, although hubby now thinking of Valencia ! Have certainly got more ideas about our options now thanks

 

[Sy-Revolution]

Have you thought about moving her down to Tunisia? If you're thinking about heading east eventually that might make sense. Would be very much cheaper plus there's some great travel/adventure oppotunities here while you wait........

Moving on, it's a relatively short hop to Malta or Sicily.


Cheers,

C.

P.S. Some anchorages we stayed at in the Balearics last summer: http://www.sy-revolution.com/blog/blog6.php

 

[Gull]

Hi

Hope to do Tunisia - maybe next winter ? Then onto Sardinia and Corsica ? We are taking it easy just now as I need bit more confidence Hubby and son would love to venture off but I still want safety blanket of a base, so just moving little bit down coast if Islands too difficult and expensive for longer periods. So far so good though and enjoy learning in sun, not that we've seen much this week !!

 

[gonad]

mooring

another vote for porto colon majorca very friendly place porto cristo on the public quay for a few days not far

 

[lurob]

I would go for Valencia, rates are about the best you're going to get at Marina Real Juan Carlos 1. Also there's loads to do in the city, great beach and very easy transport links to rest of Spain & UK. We were there for 3 weeks in Sept 2009 and liked it very much. My OH was working on the rigs at the time (now retired) and commuting 2 on, 3 off and I was spending periods on the boat by myself and, like you, wanted to be tucked up in a marina - no kids or dogs for company though!

I see Orkney mentioned in your profile, we used to be based in Lossiemouth and have spent several great holidays aboard in Orkney.

 

[charles_reed]

Hi

We are planning on doing the Balearics this summer. Husband works 4 weeks on 4 weeks off, so while he is with us on boat am quite happy anchoring or mooring but think I would prefer a marina for me and kids (and dogs !) when he is back at work. Am not confident or experienced enough to sail without him Any suggestions on not too pricey marina on the islands or do you think best bet to go back to mainland, probably Cartagena or Denia ?

I'd avoid leaving a boat in the Baleares - it was very expensive in-season when I visited in 2005 and 2007 and has, by all accounts got worse.

The alternatives are mainland Spain, catalan France or Tunisia.

Of those by far the cheapest is Tunisia and, providing you're aware of the Arab baksheesh custom, thoroughly pleasant.

Probably the easiest for travel from UK (if you can stand flying Ryanair) is to fly to Girona and catch the train over the border to somewhere like Argeles. Being SNCF-instigated, train journeys are more frequent and reliable than the rest of the Spanish train system.
When I did it, I got one flught for €0.09 (in typical O'Leary manner that didn't include airport taxes) and, with a Carte Senior, the train was about €8.
I had a lovely (and typical catalan situation) of discussing, at great length the prospects of the Irish team in the 6 Nations, with the ticket issuer at Argeles, as the queue behind grew longer and longer and increasingly restive - when I pointed this out his comment was "Oh! they're only Parisians"..

 

[duncan99210]

Another vote for Valencia Port Real as a place to go. Great marina and just on the edge of town, with a metro stop about 5 minutes away. Prices were reasonable when we stopped there in 2009. One word of warning however: the Valencia F1 Grand Prix in in June this year and the cicuit runs through the marina on a bridge, so prices go up for this month to silly figures, if indeed you can get a berth there at all by now. The marina used to have a deal if you took a berth for 3 or 4 months that gave you the berth through the GP with no increase in price but you had to buy in for all 3 or 4 months.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I moored for 5 seasons in Majorca. Firstly forget about Ibiza and Formentera. The few marinas there are an arm and a leg during the summer. If I was in your position and depending on how much you've got to spend, I'd be thinking about how I was going to be entertaining the kids for 4 weeks because that sounds like a bit of a nightmare. IMHO, Majorca would be the best place to spend 4 weeks with kids. Plenty of beaches, inexpensive restaurants, tacky shops, cheap rentacar and water parks for treats. I would suggest http://www.alcudiamar.es/ingles/a000000i.htm. Alcudiamar Marina has a very safe beach right next door, the traffic around the marina is controlled so the kids can wonder about in relative safety, the town is partly pedestrianised, there are easy to walk to restaurants in the marina and the town, a hotel in the marina with a swimming pool (you have to pay for that) and amusement parks a short taxi ride away. OK Alcudia is a bit bucket and spade for sophisticated adult tastes but kids love it (ours did)

 

[johnf]

I have my yacht in club nautico torrevieja for exactly the reason you want. Lots for the kids to do. Yacht club has swimming pool great bar and restaurant and waterpark in town fun fair lots of child friendly restaurants. And you can walk to Beach.The rates are pretty good and open to negociation. Also an easier sail from Balearics.

I have also stayed in Cartagena. Nice marina and great town if you are interested in roman ruins and interesting architecture, no beach to walk to ( not my kids) otherwise pretty dull for kids in my view and Torrevieja much better.

PM me if you have any more questions

 

[Gull]

Thanks for the recent replies. Will look into Alcudia and Torrevieja, both sound good.

 

[samwise]

Bonaire ( El Cocodrilo) in N Majorca would be a good choice if you can get the space. We spent a while there both ashore and afloat and really enjoyed it. Good facilities, fairly quiet but with a Tardis like mini market, some excellent restaurants and bars plus a good chandlery( run by a Brit when we were there). There is a good bus service to Alcudia if you want bigger shops and the brilliant market. A good beach just around the corner. No fuel though. Perhaps worth a speculative call.

 

[vyv_cox]

Bonaire ( El Cocodrilo) in N Majorca would be a good choice if you can get the space. We spent a while there both ashore and afloat and really enjoyed it. Good facilities, fairly quiet but with a Tardis like mini market, some excellent restaurants and bars plus a good chandlery( run by a Brit when we were there). There is a good bus service to Alcudia if you want bigger shops and the brilliant market. A good beach just around the corner. No fuel though. Perhaps worth a speculative call.

I would have recommended it except that I doubt very much that they have any space. My son wintered there and launched fairly early in spring but had to leave shortly afterwards as all berths were taken by permanent owners. You might drop lucky if some of them are away cruising but I suspect it's a long shot.