S spain recommendations?

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liverpool

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Planning to sail from southern Portugal (Lagos) late June heading for the Med but would like to leave the yacht (14m) for approx 4 weeks from third week July to late August then resume journey to Balearics.

Would welcome any recommendations from those who know this coast for a good marina/port to leave the boat for a few weeks and also places to visit en route from Lagos to Mallorca.

Thanks for any help.
Iain
 
Did the same thing last year. Wintering now in Cartagena - nearly half the price of Lagos - secure, friendly, and the wi-fi works better.

Leave the boat in Torrieveja - again cheap as they have a new marina on the right which is nearly empty. Very good German mechanic in the boatyard. Security not great but it is a long walk from the town so fairly safe.

On the way Gib is OK just to see the rock and monkeys, but the chandlery was very badly stocked in July! Ceuta on the other side next to Morocco is a must and ten times better than Gib. Visit Smir and other marinas further along the Moroccan coast.

Not much of great interest up the SE Spanish coast - and hardly anywhere to anchor. The swell finds its way all along here. Mar Menor is safe and the water much warmer in the large inland sea - but its overdeveloped and looks like Miami.
The Balaerics are very expensive - even in September/October when we went - but plenty of places to anchor. If you have to in bad weather use the few Port Authority Quays @ 18 euros a night instead of the Club Nauticos at 80/night! Sailed the 250 M back to Cartagena for the winter. From Denia to Cartagena there are a few interesting anchorages and marinas.

Formentera and Cabrerra are a must - and hire a car to visit the Mallorca west coast.

PS Persuade yacht Clemmy to come and catch us up.
 
Most of Southern Spain is a concrete jungle, most unpleasant and best passed quickly. Two places to visit - Rota a lovely proper Spanish village and Cadiz to visit the old part of the city.

When you leave Lagos stop at the Olhau lagoons. Turn right as you go in and anchor where the furthest boats are. You can catch squid and octopus in the lagoons (buy a squid lure). Also when the tide is out you can pick cockles on the lagoon side and clams on the Atlantic side which is about half a mile walk across the dunes.

Make sure you visit the Trafalgar cemetry in Gibralter.
 
I don't know if you still can but a few years ago we hired a taxi for a tour of Gib that included admission to St.Michael's Cave and some of the military tunnels.Very good way to see Gib IMHO.

Torrevieja is a good place to stop for cruisers.There is an English Chandlery,Lidl,Carrefour and it is only 40 minutes or so from Alicante Airport.As with most of Spanish coast look out for street crime.
 
Steer clear of Vilajoyosa - a misnomer if ever there was one! We got stuck there in late September waiting for the wind to abate and found it was unwelcoming in the extreme: got told off for not callling ahead on the radio, 75 euro deposit for the key to the toilet block, told off for riding bikes in the port area, wouldn't accept our request to stay for 3 days - had to go and pay for each day as it came. And that's before taking into account the fact that the shops are at the top of a very steep pull up the hill!
Other than that, agree with whats been said above. Also worth considering is Valencia - the new southern yacht base is cheap albeit light on facilities for small yachts whilst the Americas Cup Marina to the north is very nice, good facilites, closer to town and cheap except for the week either side of the Grand Prix in August.
 
sailinglegend420 said:
Not much of great interest up the SE Spanish coast - and hardly anywhere to anchor.
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I beg to differ. The Costa del Sol, it's true, has few sound anchorages, but the Costa Blanca has many superb ones in glorious surroundings. Even the 'concrete jungle' mentioned elsewhere is very patchy on the Costa Blanca. Yes, Benidorm is gross (from the sea it looks like Chicago with a mountain backdrop), but there are good anchorages not far away.
 
Costa Blanca anchorages

Moroira,Calpe, are pretty good anchorages in the right conditions, Id be interested to hear of any others.Last time we set off for Moroira form Denia we changed the plan after 3 hours and ended up in Ibiza where you can always find a good anchorage
 
bill12 said:
Id be interested to hear of any others.
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Sorry, Bill, memory's shot to pieces and pilot books are 1500 miles away. From memory, there was one by a superb beach, immediately to the E of the headland that separates Costa Del Sol and Costa Blanca; another, surrounded by mountains about 6 miles W of Cartagena, at the opposite end of the same big bight; several others I can't remember.
 
Bill 12, If I can stick my oar in? I think Macd could be referring to the anchorage under Cabo de Gata. I've anchored close in just off the shore right under the lighthouse on the West side, and had good protection from an Easterly. There's another spot about a mile further West, down towards the salt lake (Salinas.) The other anchorage I can clearly remember is under Cape Tinoso just outside Cartegena. It's deep until you get well inshore but good holding and out of anything Westerly, The marinas in Cartegena are close handy.
 
Puerto Almerimar has a large safe and secure Marina; berths are reasonable here and facilities are good. San Jose (east of Cabo de Gata) has two nice bays, with good anchorages. The southern bay is more secluded, and the town of San Jose is not your typical high rise Spanish jungle - a very nice understated town with some great sea food and a European feel; perhaps one of the hardest places to buy a "Full English" on this stretch of coastline!

In my opinion, skip The Costa Del Sol, but make sure you enjoy some of the remaining unpoilt areas of The Costa Blanca.
 
highandry said:
I think Macd could be referring to the anchorage under Cabo de Gata. I've anchored close in just off the shore right under the lighthouse on the West side, and had good protection from an Easterly. There's another spot about a mile further West, down towards the salt lake (Salinas.) The other anchorage I can clearly remember is under Cape Tinoso just outside Cartegena. It's deep until you get well inshore but good holding and out of anything Westerly, The marinas in Cartegena are close handy.
Click to expand...

I think that's spot-on. If memory serves, there are anchorages either side of Cabo de Gata, protected from E and W respectively. I sat out a gale in the one to the east of the cape. Cape Tinoso anchorage is wonderfully wild.
 
Finding pontoon space at that time of year is likely to be tough. Almerimar is possible but I have seen some recent forum posts expressing concern about security. Having done the passage that you are planning, we parked our boat in a new marina at Badalona, which is just up the coast from Barcelona ( where we were firmly told that there was no room at the inn, or indeed any of the marinas there) Badalona has good security and has most facilities. The people there were very helpful. Barcelona is less than 30 minutes away either by train, metro or tram.

The Balearics may be ok. Your timing should coincide with a thinning of the tourist population and there are lots of anchoring options.

If you were looking to leave the boat for longer it may be worth considering timing this with a haul out for anti foul etc. Space ashore at that time is more widely available and a lot cheaper than a pontoon berth. Many long term liveaboards choose to haul out in July and August, return to the UK for the summer ( if there ever is one!) and back to the Med in September,
 
S Spain

Thanks everyone for all your helpful info - will put these thoughts together with info in pilot guide and develop our plans - looking forward to this summer and visiting many wonderful places in Portugal and Spain. Hope the £ might recover a bit!
Happy sailing
Iain
 
Just caught up on this forum today.
If your looking for somewhere this side of Barcelona and shortish passage to the Balearics then I would recommend Tarragona marina.
The marina is very secure with pass codes on the gates.
The marina office staff are the best I've come across in Spain,speak English etc and the manager is mad about yachts. Prices are reasonable.
A few English liveaboards who will keep an eye on things.
Very good Volvo Penta engineer in main port.
Good genuine Spanish restaurants and Tapas bars in town,5 mins walk.
This place is the real Spain.
Train station is 5 mins walk away and 2 single tickets to Barcelona are 12 euros.
There is a connecting train to the airport.
Avis car hire 5 mins walk away.
Reus airport is closer but is the budget Irish outfit.

We stayed here 2 years and moved on to Greece last summer.
 
Hi Liverpool - did what you're planning last year. Agree with lots of what's been said before. Found the Ballearics great - don't be off with the "ballerics are very expensive and busy - they can be but you'll always find somewhere a) you like and b) can afford - even if its' free !! Have a look at our blog here for more info. http://www.victoriashadow.co.uk/mb_Caladh_0.htm - scroll down the bottom for the parts that may be relevant to you.
 
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