kashurst
Well-Known Member
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Med Marina Suggestions/Costs
- Thread starter Paul_S123
- Start date
petem
Well-Known Member
Thanks Kashurst, and for your PM too. Could your 1 1/2 hours from Alicante to Altea be a bit pessimistic? Google maps suggests 45 mins.
kashurst
Well-Known Member
oops yes you are correct, time I said is from Torrevieja, not Alicante
MapisM
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't put it that way, M. Your marina prices aren't cheap, they are fair.
It's only because there's people willing to pay ridiculous prices to stay in posh places, that we got used to call some other places "cheap".
As I always said, there's nothing cheap with boating - anywhere, and with anything (not just marinas).
The price range only stretches between fair (at the very best, and rather rarely) and ridiculous (rather common).
Each to their own ref. picking the preferred poison, of course.
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Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Its nothing to do with people willing to pay ridiculous prices to stay in posh Med marinas at least not for the ordinary boater on this forum. Its all about accessibility. The closer the marina is to an international airport and the greater the number of flights there is to that airport, the higher the berthing fees the marina can charge for the simple reason that owners want to get to their boats as quickly and flexibly as possible. SCM and Carloforte, to name but two, are lovely places but they cannot get away with charging the same kind of fee as Port Vauban in Antibes or Club de Mar in Palma because they are 2hrs away from their nearest international airport and the number of flights serving that airport is limited. After 15yrs of keeping my boat in the Med I am well aware that the door to door journey time to my boat and having a choice of flights is absolutely vital to my enjoyment of Med boating which is why I, and many others, are willing to pay inflated marina prices in so called posh places. To tell you the truth, in many ways I prefer Carloforte to Antibes but the minimum 11hr door to door journey to get to my boat and at best the choice of just 2 flights a day from London airports was killing it for me so I was willing to pay the extra in Antibes to reduce the door to door journey time to 5hrs and have a choice of 19 flights a day from London airports. My decision had bugger all to do with relative poshness
Hurricane
Well-Known Member
Its nothing to do with people willing to pay ridiculous prices to stay in posh Med marinas at least not for the ordinary boater on this forum. Its all about accessibility. The closer the marina is to an international airport and the greater the number of flights there is to that airport, the higher the berthing fees the marina can charge for the simple reason that owners want to get to their boats as quickly and flexibly as possible. SCM and Carloforte, to name but two, are lovely places but they cannot get away with charging the same kind of fee as Port Vauban in Antibes or Club de Mar in Palma because they are 2hrs away from their nearest international airport and the number of flights serving that airport is limited. After 15yrs of keeping my boat in the Med I am well aware that the door to door journey time to my boat and having a choice of flights is absolutely vital to my enjoyment of Med boating which is why I, and many others, are willing to pay inflated marina prices in so called posh places. To tell you the truth, in many ways I prefer Carloforte to Antibes but the minimum 11hr door to door journey to get to my boat and at best the choice of just 2 flights a day from London airports was killing it for me so I was willing to pay the extra in Antibes to reduce the door to door journey time to 5hrs and have a choice of 19 flights a day from London airports. My decision had bugger all to do with relative poshness
I appreciate your point about having a boat close to an international airport.
Thats a big point and I know that you consider it above all other points.
But there are other things to consider.
Not everyone can afford the prices that are charged in the likes of Palma (in fact anywhere on the Balearic Islands) and (say) Antibes.
It also seems from this thread that a lot of emphasis is also put on the marina having a swimming pool.
Staying on the subject of travel and with reference to Sant Carles.
The two hour drive to Barcelona (in fact it is less than 2 hours) gives you a big international airport with links to a huge range of airports.
I'm currently looking into flying my son over in August from Portland Oregon and flights across the pond do terminate in Barcelona.
With regard to local airports, yes, the flights are limited but it isn't too difficult to plan flights for long weekends (say) Wed to Sunday night.
And these flights are generally with the low cost airlines.
The whole point I'm making is affordability.
And in order to afford it, you give up the convenience of flying any time you like.
My point on affordability wouldn't be such a thing if the difference in prices were so extreme.
For example keeping a 15m boat in Sant Carles can be as little as £3500 - in Mallorca it can be more that ten times that which makes it a complete "non starter" for most boaters.
As you know, I spent a very enjoyable summer in Carloforte (thanks to MapisM) but even they are more expensive than Sant Carles.
I'm sure I will be proved wrong, but (everything taken into consideration) I don't know of a cheaper place to keep a boat.
I agree that the water in our lagoon isn't clear but there is nowhere on the mainland compatible.
Our lagoon is very underestimated - just 6 miles into it and you have completely isolated beaches protected from the open sea thus making it a safe anchorage without having to go miles.
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Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
I can't argue with any of that M and it is great that there are still excellent places in the Med like SCM where you can park your boat for a reasonable amount of money. My point was really in response to Mapism's post in that most people with boats in so called posh places are not there because its posh but because the transport links happen to be more convenient
NGM
Well-Known Member
yes it's pretty straight forward, the majority of boaters want a secure marine, close to the very best cruising grounds and with frequent, quick transport links. If it ticks all boxes you are going to be at the top of of pricing, good parking, restaurants, boat services, shops, will elevate that pricing even further. As you untick each one you can start saving.
adey
Well-Known Member
It's a half an hour at the airport collecting the hire car, then a 2 hour drive along a toll road.
It's about twice that in Alicante and worth every penny to avoid the mozzies and isolated location. Take off the car hire and road tolls and it's looking good value.
The Mar Menor?
This was Alicante at 2pm yesterday.
Last night was the bonfires (I'll post a video later)
I'm currently anchored off the beach where I'll stay all night as there's fireworks on the beach at midnight. In fact the fireworks are every night this week.
Anything happening in SCM? Nope, thought not!
Fast forward to 4:55 and apologies for the angle!
Hurricane
Well-Known Member
I did think of the Mar Menor when I wrote that but I've not been there myself but everyone I have spoken to who has says that there is no comparison.
Well, actually, I think it was the Festival of Saint Juan last weekend which is probably the fireworks you mention.
I think you will find that Saint Juan is celebrated in Sant Carles in the same way.
They parade round the town in red suits throwing fireworks everywhere.
Bands and music everywhere.
I think you must have been in Sant Carles during the off season.
During the summer months and the fiestas etc, it is a hive of activity.
Then, later in August we have the food and fashion week when the marina gets taken over by stalls selling all kinds of stuff.
I don't think you gave Sant Carles a chance.
It is a sleepy Spanish holiday town that comes alive during the summer months.
This time of the year there is lots going on.
Whitelighter
Well-Known Member
I think we have all got the message Hurricane really rates SCM and Adey hates it.
Do we really need a ‘my Spanish holiday town is better than your Spanish holiday town’ willy waving contest?
Do we really need a ‘my Spanish holiday town is better than your Spanish holiday town’ willy waving contest?
MapisM
Well-Known Member
Yup, M, that's fully understood and agreed - as we debated also in the past. I'm just not so sure that this reason alone, which is surely critical for yourself and many others, is the most important for the large majority of "posh marinas" boaters.
Apropos, there wasn't any denigrating intention in my use of the term: Antibes, as well as some other places in SoF, is a lovely place, in many ways better than CF or (I guess, since I've never been there) SCM.
But I'm aware of many boaters for which the marina choice is mostly driven by the wish to stay where the VIPs are, so to speak.
And there's nothing aside that specific reputation of some places, to drive their prices upward.
In fact, for some of them with the craziest prices, accessibility is actually rather poor - just think of Portofino, or several Costa Smeralda marinas, as an example.
The point is, whether we like it or not (though the asylum is possibly not so representative of the average boater in this respect), pleasure boats are very much bought and used for their pose value, rather than for actual boating.
And for anyone wishing to show off, Palma is a much better place than Albania, I reckon...
Bottom line, imho this is very often the key driver of marina prices, rather than anything else.
Hence my conclusion that there's no such thing as a cheap marina: the range stretches from fair to ridiculously overpriced, with "cheap" off the scale...!
PS: All that said, back to accessibility, I already told you what is the most appropriate way to tackle that problem. You just need to turn your viewpoint upside down: who cares about how long it takes to reach your boat from your home, when you actually live on the former...?
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kashurst
Well-Known Member
"I did think of the Mar Menor when I wrote that but I've not been there myself but everyone I have spoken to who has says that there is no comparison." - the mar menor is 6 miles by 4 miles with 3 or 4 islands and @ 4 or 5 suitable marinas/towns to explore. Pretty good beaches all around it. If you have a boat you can have miles of beach just for yourselves.
about 4 years ago they had a very big problem in the mar menor with jelly fish and very cloudy water. Turns out after a proper survey by the government that there were over 300 unofficial drains into it, mostly just surface run off from farms bringing in nitrates, but also some illegal industrial carp. The gov had a massive clamp down, fined some people, built new drains, gulleys etc to make sure it all now goes through the proper drainage system not into the mar menor. Last year it was much improved, I was there about 4 days ago and it is now getting very clear again. Going through the entrance canal I could see the bottom (@ 2 -3 m). The broker I bought my boat from last year, grew up in the mar menor area, when he was a kid it was bright blue and crystal clear. So hopefully it will return to that state over the next few years now they appear to have the environment back under control.
about 4 years ago they had a very big problem in the mar menor with jelly fish and very cloudy water. Turns out after a proper survey by the government that there were over 300 unofficial drains into it, mostly just surface run off from farms bringing in nitrates, but also some illegal industrial carp. The gov had a massive clamp down, fined some people, built new drains, gulleys etc to make sure it all now goes through the proper drainage system not into the mar menor. Last year it was much improved, I was there about 4 days ago and it is now getting very clear again. Going through the entrance canal I could see the bottom (@ 2 -3 m). The broker I bought my boat from last year, grew up in the mar menor area, when he was a kid it was bright blue and crystal clear. So hopefully it will return to that state over the next few years now they appear to have the environment back under control.
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Actually I'd be pretty bloody impressed if somebody on here announced they were permanently berthed in AlbaniaAnd for anyone wishing to show off, Palma is a much better place than Albania, I reckon...
petem
Well-Known Member
No we don't. But this does highlight and reinforce what others have said above that various characteristics of a marina have different weightings for different people.
Adey complains about the SCM drive from BCN but for me there are two really convenient and cheap flights a week to Reus from Birmingham. These two are good enough for me, I don't need 10 flights a day. And the drive from Reus is under an hour so we can be on the boat within 90 mins of touch down. But those flights stop in the winter and that will be the killer for me. Plus I know the flights to Reus are less convenient for my partners.
And I think one of the advantages of a boat over a villa is that you can explore different places. You can be more self sufficient on a 50+ foot boat but for us paupers with little boats and little time, exploring different places really means basing yourself in different marinas.
Hurricane
Well-Known Member
petem
Well-Known Member
Oddly, we don't seem to be using the pool as much as we thought we would. We seem to spend more time lazing around on the boat. If we did want to lie by a pool then I'd be pretty confident that we could blag our way into using a hotel (by buying lunch or whatever).
adey
Well-Known Member
Portofino
Well-Known Member
How many super yachts ( SY ) are there in SCM ?
Thinking monopoly board game - Mayfair and the Old Kent Road .
Type of area and clientele about the place as well as mozzies
Thinking monopoly board game - Mayfair and the Old Kent Road .
Type of area and clientele about the place as well as mozzies
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