Marinas between Alicante & Barcelona any Recommendations

[statgar]

I'm planning on moving my Fairline P46 from Lagos (Algarve) to a marina fairly close to Valencia where my son is going to university. St Carles looks great but I'm warming to Denia as it is closer to the Balearics but then there's quite a few marinas along that coastline, I don't really want to be in the city of Valencia. I'm going out there next month and will drive up the coast from Alicante but in the meantime does anyone any experience or advice they can give me?

 

[Hurricane]

Going North from Valencia
The coast between Valencia and Oropesa is very uninteresting.

Never been to Oropesa itself but friends tell me it's OK but a bit cut off - maybe a bit small for a P46 - worth a look though.

Las Fuentes is the next reasonable sized marina - my parents had a villa there for about 10 year about 25 years ago and we've been back several times recently - Las Fuentes is a nice Spanish resort - marina can be a bit "bumpy" in rough weather.

Working north - no marina at Peniscola - shame because it's a really nice place

Next marina would be Benecarlo - I was invited to race with some yachties last summer and we raced to Benecarlo - its OK - some restaurants in marina - apart from a Mercadona not a huge number of supermarkets.

Next north would be Vinaros - Small Marina - Small club - only Spanish berth holders - not much was happening (bar closed etc) when we visited last year to help Elessar with his survey

There are other small marinas but the next main option is Sant Carles - by far the largest and most comprehensive within 100 miles north of Valencia - note the lagoon and the English community.

Working North from Sant Carles there are numerous marinas but nothing like Denia or Sant Carles.

If you want to be close to your son, IMO, it has got to be either Sant Carles or Denia
Denia is just under 60 miles to Ibiza but about 120 miles to Mallorca
Sant Carles is about 100 miles from everywhere - in the middle

When we checked the area out, we didn't like Denia but I know several people who have stayed there for a few years.

IMHO, of course, you can't beat Sant Carles - it's probably cheaper than Denia as well
Do you know Sant Carles?

 

[Elessar]

Next north would be Vinaros - Small Marina - Small club - only Spanish berth holders - not much was happening (bar closed etc) when we visited last year to help Elessar with his survey

coudn't wait to get the boat out of there to somewhere it felt safe. Between paying the deposit and taking the boat, a tank was syphoned. They would have done the other I'm sure but with both fillers to starboard the pipe run to the port tank makes syphoning impossible.

I was happy to leave her in st carles where the marina not only felt safe, but community you describe would I know have looked after the boat.

 

[jrudge]

I called round when I was looking for a Mallorca berth. Port Forum (new marina Northern suberbs of Barcelona) was the only one I could find local to Barcelona that had a berth. It was cheap - give or take E4000 for a 12m boat from memory.

I did not visit, looks like a nice safe boat park, so fine as a home berth but probably not somewhere you would want to go and spend significant time at. But for that you can always hop 10 mins to the main Barcelona ports.

 

[statgar]

Thanks Hurricane for your very detailed response you are sort of confirming my thoughts as St C looks great as a marina but I'm just a bit worried about where we go from there am I right in assuming that you spend long periods on your P? and enjoy quite long cruises unfortunatley for me SWMBO plus daughter love the boat but not passage making. Having spent £5k on fuel just to get my boat there the budget is going to be a bit tight this year for more cruising!

 

[BartW]

Between Alicante and Valencia,

Moraira and Calpé are very nice,
both marina's are right near the buzzy but nice villages
worth a visit

Altea is OK, but not near the village, you need a car.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

We had a season in Denia a few years back and it is a nice modern marina with good facilities. It is also just about the closest jumping off point for Ibiza and the Balearics which is good because you'll soon get bored with the coastline thereabouts and the microclimate which seems to cause a strong onshore seabreezes to blow up every afternoon causing quite lumpy seas and the few anchorages along that coast to become untenable. Moraira is smaller and cosier but the same issues occur

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks Hurricane for your very detailed response you are sort of confirming my thoughts as St C looks great as a marina but I'm just a bit worried about where we go from there am I right in assuming that you spend long periods on your P? and enjoy quite long cruises unfortunatley for me SWMBO plus daughter love the boat but not passage making. Having spent £5k on fuel just to get my boat there the budget is going to be a bit tight this year for more cruising!

If you are worried that your fuel budget won't stand long cruises, then SC is probably the best place.
As I say, have a look at the lagoon at SC - absolutely right on the doorstep.
So trips out and back only take a few minutes - there's even a restaurant on stilts in the lagoon.
I'm afraid that the water isn't the standard of the anchorages in the islands but it won't cost you the 60 miles to Ibiza that you would have to do if berthed in Denia.
SC town is IMO much nicer as well.
Also I find Ibiza a bit exposed - much prefer Mallorca and thats further from Denia than SC would be.

Have you signed up to the Sant Carles forum - if not go to www.scmchat.com and register - its free and run by us berth holders - no MDL input.

 

[statgar]

Thanks to all forum members that have replied, most helpful interesting 'jrudge' about Barcelona very reasonable but its just too far from Valencia. I'll look closer at Moraria and Calpe 'bartw' interesting point about the wind 'Deleted User' I certainley didn't reckon on that, one of the reasons for moving from Lagos is the strong, 30kts sometimes, offshore wind that blows almost every afternoon in July/August! as to SC 'hurricane' I've joined the scmchat.com and it does seem a very lively place and very safe also. It's my intention to coast hop over the next few seasons and end up in Greece so I guess being a bit further north is a bonus. I'm flying to Alicante on 1st March and taking a few days to motor up the coast then flying back from Barcelona hope I'll be able to see all the important marina's in between. Thanks again.

 

[Hurricane]

Have you thought of Valencia itself - very cheap
Two marinas to choose from.
Marina Real Juan Carlos I will certainly want to do a deal.
It is expensive during the F1 but they aren't hosting it this year so it should be cheap all year round.
On the other hand, you may not want the boat so close to your son's university!!

We went in there for the Valencia F1 last year.
See this link


Any of the marinas along that coast should od a deal - I know that Sant Carles would.

 

[nacho2009]

Moraira and Calpe are quite nice, although I find Calpe to be a bit overdeveloped (that's a personal opinion anyway). You may also want to consider Altea, where you have good but a bit dated facilities in Club Nautico (just next to the village) or more modern facilities at Marina Greenwich (this is some 5 miles off the village). I would not worry too much about the coastal winds, they are usually not that strong (around 10 to 15 knots during peak wind times from 13:00 to 17:00) and normally quite predictable.

 

[BartW]

I find Calpe to be a bit overdeveloped (that's a personal opinion anyway). .

a bit ?
you'r very humble,
imo Calpé is totally overdeveloped, but
the marina near the rock, and the village are still charming

its a few years ago that I was in Moraira,
but what I remember,
it is smaller and less touristic then Calpé,
but a typical nice spanisch coastal village, with good, clean and modern accomodation.

 

[nickf]

Was in Marina de Denia (the one on the left when entering) for a year. The best shower/toilet facilities I have come across and very effecient well trained staff. Also liked Denia town a lot. As much a working town as a tourist destination with a lot of festival celebrations throughout the year. If I ever return to the area I would certainly use Denia. Denia has berths that will take very large yachts - Calpe on the other hand, being older, is really only geared up for boats under 12m. I am 39 ft and struggled especially with any cross winds as the pontoons are so close together.

 

[nacho2009]

Sure, Calpe is heavily overdeveloped, I just didn't want to offend any taste here. The port is nice though, nothing sophisticated and better for smaller boats, but with a good local flavour and a couple of really good seafood restaurants. The rest of the village... well, not my cup of tea. Overall I find the piece of coast from Javea down to Benidorm one of the best in the Spanish mainland Med coast, specially for short trips. Landscape is quite nice with cliffs, lots of trees and cool anchorages protected from either Levante or Poniente, the 2 dominant winds in the area. Sea conditions are normally good and you have the big plus of having Ibiza and Formentera (true paradie on earth) just 50 nautical miles away