Recommendations for a Med marina please

[ACE]

That has suprised me..................what has happened over there? I loved the peace and quiet and remote feel to it and the beaches were far better than the cattle markets of it's neighbours.

Absolutely the beaches are superb for the area it's just that nothing seems to be getting done in Cabopino and capt Peter the port isn't making ANY investments into it... The port is thriving,busy and the commercial business do not seem to be harmed at all but it's VERY expensive for what you get I could go along the coast a few miles and save myself at least £4k easily ......

As I said I love it here but would i recommend it to another fellow boater...... I'd have to say unless you absolutely want/have to be here there are other ports cheaper AND better..............

 

[taz]

Absolutely the beaches are superb for the area it's just that nothing seems to be getting done in Cabopino and capt Peter the port isn't making ANY investments into it... The port is thriving,busy and the commercial business do not seem to be harmed at all but it's VERY expensive for what you get I could go along the coast a few miles and save myself at least £4k easily ......

As I said I love it here but would i recommend it to another fellow boater...... I'd have to say unless you absolutely want/have to be here there are other ports cheaper AND better..............

What a crying shame, a change of management seems the best and only way to go. He obviously doesn't realise he has the jewel in the crown, potentially.

 

[Nautorius]

duquesa 30 mins from gib what are you driving paul? its 20nm door to door

Clive, I meant by Car! By Power Boat more like 50mins! By sailing boat about 4 hours!

 

[madabouttheboat]

Thanks for all the recomedations so far. It gives me somewhere to start, which I didn't have before

Keep em coming if you have any more.

 

[El Bee]

have a look at torrevieja marinas, there are three here. Marina internarional (nice atmosphere very helpful) the new marina salinas (all new and trendy, good work shops and cheap boat lift -130euros to lift my 13m boat;-) ) and theroyal yoacht club (very spanish and a bit posh), all 40 mins from alicante, 25 mins from Murcia (san javier) airport. moorings good value,.massive harbour you can go out by the sea wall and anchor , swim etc if too windy for you but you want to have a play, lots of little anchorages and lots of little marinas. (going south towards cartagena theres one every 7 miles) Mar menor 14 miles away which is great for children and water toys with even more marinas in there.

I would heartily endorse this suggestion, well, I would, living just outside Torrevieja

Moorings are quite cheap at the new marina in Torrevieja, around €1200 pa for a 6m spot, around €1700 for similar at Campoamor and a bit more still at Cabo Roig and you might even see a sea horse in the Mar Menor!

Lee B

 

[Hurricane]

and you might even see a sea horse in the Mar Menor!

Lee B

Strange - I thought they only lived in Studland!!

 

[John100156]

Thanks for all the recomedations so far. It gives me somewhere to start, which I didn't have before

Keep em coming if you have any more.

Well having brought my Targa 34 out to Sant Carles in 2008, I am today sitting on my next boat, an F43, looking out over the lagoon under clear blues skies and it's 90+ degrees. The wife has taken my daughter and grandson to the beach which is a 5 minute walk and I am about to open a cold beer, so what am I doing reading threads on YBW!

Anyway, as Hurricane has said, SC is a great marina, 45 mins door to door motorways (AP7 and A7) from Reus airport. 12m finger berth with free: electricity, water and WiFi, a nice berth holders lounge and swimming pool and good security. Lots of Brits out here, motor and sail, a large sheltered lagoon to play in adjacent to the Ebre National Park with flamingos and other exotic birds seen regularly.

We did Majorca direct on our T34-110NM but you could always hop down to Denia-112NM passing Valencia and then across to Ibiza from there, it's only ~50NM.

We have large beach resorts near to us at Peniscola-18NM and a nice little marina Las Fuentes-26NM with sandy beaches. Then up the busier end towards Barcelona, we have Cambrils with several marinas in between. OK we do not have lots of interesting nooks and crannies to visit, but for short stays the lagoon is great fun to play in.

A one year 12m berth costs around €4,900 which includes a complemtary lift, scrub and relaunch.

Usual negatives include mosquitos and heavier fouling, but with a free lift and relatively cheap lifts/scrubs after that, a new boatyard where you can work on your own boat and new fuel station all within the Marina, it makes for very easy boating indeed for long weekends and with Ryanair it does not cost an arm and a leg to get here and when you do 99% of the time you chose when you want to go out not the weather!

 

[Hurricane]

OK then - giving John a bit of support

If you CLICK THIS PHOTO you will link to the Sant Carles Marina Bertholders Forum Photo Gallery.

See for yourself - just click any photo and the slideshow will begin.
I took the photos at the end of last year (November) - early in the morning before everyone was awake.

 

[Montemar]

You could look at Rosas, also called Roses, in Costa Brava. It is not far from Empuriabrava. Check out http://www.portroses.com/esp/index.asp
Beautiful countryside, coastline and nice town. 1 hour to Girona or 1 hour to Perpignan for airports.
Also connection from Girona by Transferbus.com who can collect and run you into Roses or Empuriabrava for about E20.
It would not be as hot as the Costa del Sol.
Good luck

 

[John100156]

We looked at a boat in Empuriabrava and looked at several marinas close by, I did like the area and it is closer to France.... But what put me off was the excessive costs for lifts, scrubs and boatyard work.

Take this morning in SCM:- Free annual lift and pressure wash booked for last Monday, had to cancel at short notice, I found a few jobs that needed doing first, re-booked for Friday, 10.00am no problem at all.

9:45 two dockmasters called round to make sure all was OK and asked if I needed any assistance, SWMBO me and our daughter had everything in hand, so they said that's fine, the slings will be dropped as planned at 10.00am.

9.55 Nicolas MDL marina manager popped down to check all was OK just in time to slip a line and off we went.

10.00am lifted as planned, during pressure wash bow thruster prop came off, it was fouled and when I tested it yesterday it didn't work, just a grinding noise from then motor quickly switched off, I think with the fouled prop, the motor may have damaged the bolt.

Boatyard manager quickly called over a Spanish maintenance engineer working on another boat, the engineer promptly found a suitable bolt which was too long, he went to his van, cut it and secured all the bolts on the bow thruster. When I asked him how much, he said he would speak to his boss, few moments later, no problem, no charge.

Within no time all work completed, relaunched, 600 litres at fuel station where the boatyard manager asked if he could hop on the boat to attach some sling markers, Sealine could not help me trying to locate them so I best guessed from looking at the bulkheads, one was very close to a scoop but fortunately all went well. No charge for markers.

Soon out to play in a hot and sunny lagoon!

Fantastic service all round, all I had to pay for was the fuel! A credit to MDL this marina, a helpful ethos permeating all aspects of the service that we enjoyed today.....

 

[Montemar]

I know Roses well because we holiday nearby and often have a walk around the marina. I do not recall seeing a lift anywhere nor is it listed. I do know there is at least one in Empuriabrava.
I could not find it on the port website so worth delving into I suspect.

 

[DavidJ]

I know Roses well because we holiday nearby and often have a walk around the marina. I do not recall seeing a lift anywhere nor is it listed. I do know there is at least one in Empuriabrava.
I could not find it on the port website so worth delving into I suspect.

Just a 5 min blast from Empuriabrava to Rosas so not a problem if you particularly wanted Rosas marina. A problem you need to resolve is where to park your trailer. There are companies that will store it for you at Empuriabrava.
Also look at the new marina at St Margarida half way between Empuriabrava and Rosas.

 

[dereklise]

I am toying with the idea of putting our sub 30ft sportscruiser on the Med for a season or two.

What I am looking for is a marina that is reasonable value, one that is not too far from an airport, say an hour or so's drive, and one that has an intersting cruising ground. The local airport needs to be served by a budget airline with regular all year flights taking off from any London airport.

Number one criteria is to keep the overall cost, (both of keeping the boat there and visiting), down as low as possible, so I am guessing that Monaco is out

Sant Carlos looks like it might fit the bill although Barcelona and Valencia airports look some distance away.

Any other suggestions?

Cheers

Hi
Most marinas in the south of France are very full with often 2 -5 years waiting lists. Also preference is given to French nationals particularly locals !
We waited 5 years for a berth at Marseillan and we live there year round.

A Spanish alternative would be Ampuriabrava which has lots of moorings and is OK for Barcelona & even nearer Girona which is Barcelona as redefinde by Ryanair !