MOORING and BERTHING CHARGES

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hidenseeker

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Does anyone have a rough idea of the charges for a single hull cruiser at the Marina at Vila Real de Santo Antonio...... Weekly, monthly and annually. I have searched everywhere on the net, but as the wife says, I must be looking in the wrong place!! Be most grateful for any guidance on this to save being 'keel hauled' by the wife.....again.
Many thanks
 
Thank you very much for this info. Have emailed them for their latest 2015 charges......don't know why they are so coy about listing their fees, the entire Algarve comes under one Port Authority, so they set the charges. Anyway many thanks. hidenseeker
 
hidenseeker said:
Thank you very much for this info. Have emailed them for their latest 2015 charges......don't know why they are so coy about listing their fees, the entire Algarve comes under one Port Authority, so they set the charges. Anyway many thanks. hidenseeker
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The Port Authority do not control the marina prices throughout the Algarve, all are different.
 
Bom Dia :D

If you don't get a reply to your e-mail & can wait, we will be in VRSA next week. PM me the exact details you require.
 
I'm a newbie on this here website....how would I PM you? This will be very useful and I thank you very much in advance. Indeed, if you don't mind, I would like to pick your brains privately on Vila Real marina and harbour. Many thanks for your interest and hopefully your further assistance.
 
hidenseeker said:
Thank you for putting me right there. Do you know who sets the charges for the Vila Real Marina then? Many thanks
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No idea who sets the charges, the Associacao Naval do Guadiana run it, marina tel. 00351 281541571, fax. 00351 281513186. Never used the place, tide runs hard through it so best in/out at slack water. Generally anchor off and dinghy to Spain or Portugal as the mood dictates:)
 
hidenseeker said:
I'm a newbie on this here website....how would I PM you? This will be very useful and I thank you very much in advance. Indeed, if you don't mind, I would like to pick your brains privately on Vila Real marina and harbour. Many thanks for your interest and hopefully your further assistance.
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Just left click my name ''Sandyman''. Box drops down then click Private Message. Or top of page click Notifications.
 
hidenseeker said:
I'm a newbie on this here website....how would I PM you? This will be very useful and I thank you very much in advance. Indeed, if you don't mind, I would like to pick your brains privately on Vila Real marina and harbour. Many thanks for your interest and hopefully your further assistance.
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If you want to pm me fine, follow Sandyman's instructions above but I suspect he has far more info than I, we rarely use Algarve marinas and never Vila Real.
 
We paid 22 euros per night for casual berthing in 2012 (12.5m). They are therefore at the lower end of the market. I don't recall any availability of space inside, so you are inside the breakwater pontoon. Entry and exit can be tricky, and slack water is to be preferred. Where are you based? You could look at El Rompido, some 10 nm to the east, in Spain.
 
Thank you for all the replies. I contacted the link sent by nimbusgb and I have the full bill of fare. I am now trying to find out what everyone thought of the marina, town etc. Good things as well as bad things, so if you have any thoughts or comments then I would be grateful for a PM.
Once again many thanks.
 
hidenseeker said:
Thank you for all the replies. I contacted the link sent by nimbusgb and I have the full bill of fare. I am now trying to find out what everyone thought of the marina, town etc. Good things as well as bad things, so if you have any thoughts or comments then I would be grateful for a PM.
Once again many thanks.
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Since it's general information I'm posting rather than PM-ing

Vila Real San Antonio (VRSA) was at the lower end of pricing when we stayed in Aug 2014. As others have said the entrance is a bit narrow when you consider the speed of the tide so you need to get a good run up and aim carefully to take account of it or wait till it's slack(er).

The town close to the marina is attractive, particularly the square closest. Lots of Brits as I recall. There's a Lidl a short way out (5 mins by bike) but other smaller supermarkets are available a bit closer. No laundry facilities at the marina but the office will direct you to a 'proper' laundry shop run by scary ladies who will wash, dry and fold your precious nautical clothing into neat clear bags for not very much money at all, less than most marina machines charge.

The marina tends to charge 1200 to 1200 so you should aim to be away before 1200 on the day of departure. If you don't make a fuss about this in the office it's unlikely that anyone will care if you don't get away till 3 or 4. Nobody bothered us.

They charged us by berth size rather than boat length, saying they would move us to a smaller berth if one became available. We think one or two did, but we didn't get moved.

Don't ride your bike on the pontoons, the marineros will tell you off.

Showers are in the restaurant/clubhouse, small but adequate and relatively clean.

On arrival you'll be asked to go alongside on the inside of the long outer pontoon, immed to stbd as you enter. We witnessed several scrapes and a couple of what could have been expensive near-misses as larger yachts tried to turn in this area in the strong current. It's best to get off this pontoon and onto an inner one as soon as you can or slack water allows. We were on a hammerhead which was ok but a finger would be better.

Personal observation: don't rely on the rather bossy marineros instructions when berthing - have your own trusted regime and stick to it, ignore them. It's your boat at risk not theirs!

There are noisy seagull-scarers along the pontoons which emit loud screeches and distress calls during daylight. They don't affect the seagulls at all but can be a bit annoying to humans for a while!

The Portuguese bureaucracy LOVES paperwork so be prepared for everything in triplicate, twice. If you arrive from the west you'll have had this already. Handy for Faro airport, the bus station is right next to the marina as is the ferry to Ayamonte across the river.

In summary, it's a good place to stay and the tide perils aren't at all difficult if you plan properly. Go upriver to Alcoutim if you can, it's a great trip to a different world!
 
We were in the marina when concentric was there and can confirm everything he says. The marineros were pretty good at boat handling and turned our boat using wind and tide without any problem, so well used to working the tides without engine. They did move one boat without asking and the owner was convinced that they had waited until they saw him go into town before moving it.

My main gripe was with the noon-noon thing. It was explained when we arrived just after noon that we'd need to leave by noon or pay another day. I said that we'd stay an extra couple of days if I could leave around 16:00 instead of 12:00. After some discussion the 2 ladies in reception appeared to give agreement. However, a mariner appeared around 12:30 and asked us to go to the office. Suspecting foul play, we waited a little and went there to find they'd closed for lunch. We dashed off to grab some supplies before heading to Alcoutim. After lunch the office staff said we'd have to pay an extra day as we were leaving after 12:00 and denied agreeing to a late departure. We refused and left immediately to anchor until the tide was suitable for the trip up river. The main pontoon was about 30% full that day so we weren't blocking paying customers and arrivals were highly unlikely due to the tide height at the entrance.

We also had a problem getting Camping Gas anywhere in town even though other boats had bought some a few days earlier. The gas shop was full of freshly painted Orange gas cylinders and a few blue ones waiting a paint job. They wouldn't sell Camping gas, just the re-painted 907s. Most other suppliers refused to even talk to us about gas. One did take us to a quiet corner and explained that someone had complained and he'd had a visit from the Police to warn him off. I think that the gas shop might have decided they should have the monopoly on refilling cylinders as shopped the illegal suppliers. I doubt this problem crops up very often.

Wifi isn't great on most of the main pontoon even with a decent booster.

Town was quite nice but I intend to avoid the marina when possible.
 
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Mistroma said:
We also had a problem getting Camping Gas anywhere in town even though other boats had bought some a few days earlier. The gas shop was full of freshly painted Orange gas cylinders and a few blue ones waiting a paint job. They wouldn't sell Camping gas, just the re-painted 907s. Most other suppliers refused to even talk to us about gas. One did take us to a quiet corner and explained that someone had complained and he'd had a visit from the Police to warn him off. I think that the gas shop might have decided they should have the monopoly on refilling cylinders as shopped the illegal suppliers. I doubt this problem crops up very often.

Town was quite nice but I intend to avoid the marina when possible.
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Camping Gaz available across the river in Ayamonte at the hardware shop near the market. Orange Galp bottles (look like repainted 907s) are available in some Portuguese places, cheaper than Camping Gaz but, supplies limited and non that we found in Spain.

We have always avoided Vila Real marina, too many problems outside slack water, also very exposed to winter gales.
 
GrahamM376 said:
Camping Gaz available across the river in Ayamonte at the hardware shop near the market. Orange Galp bottles (look like repainted 907s) are available in some Portuguese places, cheaper than Camping Gaz but, supplies limited and non that we found in Spain.

We have always avoided Vila Real marina, too many problems outside slack water, also very exposed to winter gales.
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Yes, also readily available in Alcoutim. We checked via the forum last year and had immediate confirmation that it was available in Ayamonte but easier to leave it until we arrived in Alcoutim.
 
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