Spanish cruising compared to Greece. (newbie)

[paulswaiting]

Hi all
this year i hope to become the sole owner of my own yacht and interested in one located in Spain at the moment, my dilemma is that 90% of my cruising has been done around the Greek islands anchoring up in bays and town keys. looking at the Spanish mainland it looks more like marinas. Those of you that keep boats in Spain do you tend to sail from marina to marina an if so would you just turn up unannounced an radio in for a space or phone ahead before leaving your existing berth, also i notice the daily rates can be expensive so would you book a berth by the month or daily for the amount of days you are intending to stay ?
Hope my questions don't sound to silly but the sailing experience looks to me like it could be quite different to what i am used to.
Thank you in advance for any help.
Paul

 

[Resolution]

Buy it in Spain but then have the enormous fun of sailing it in stages across to Greece Croatia or Turkey.

 

[blampied]

Hi all
this year i hope to become the sole owner of my own yacht and interested in one located in Spain at the moment, my dilemma is that 90% of my cruising has been done around the Greek islands anchoring up in bays and town keys. looking at the Spanish mainland it looks more like marinas. Those of you that keep boats in Spain do you tend to sail from marina to marina an if so would you just turn up unannounced an radio in for a space or phone ahead before leaving your existing berth, also i notice the daily rates can be expensive so would you book a berth by the month or daily for the amount of days you are intending to stay ?
Hope my questions don't sound to silly but the sailing experience looks to me like it could be quite different to what i am used to.
Thank you in advance for any help.
Paul

Depends on the size of your boat.
Over a 4 year period traveling the entire Med coast of France and Spain, in our 10 meter boat we never booked ahead once just turned up never had a problem. However once you reach 12 meters I know some of the French ports require you to book ahead.

Spanish day rates can be expensive, however there is almost always a monthly rate which is about a third of the cost.
So unless you only want a very brief stop, tell them your staying for a month. As long as you stay 10 days you haven’t spent any more than if you had been on the day rate.

Also To keep costs down in the July August peek months, We found most ports keep you on the same tariff (don’t increase to the July/Aug price) if you turned up a week before it due to kick in and book yourself in for a month,

 

[paulswaiting]

thanks for your reply Blampied, looks like booking in for longer periods at a time then if that's the case, also i have seen there are 'Junta' marinas which sound cheaper, but imagine hard to get a berth in one. It does look like it's going to be alot more expensive than Greece and even looks like being charged to anchor as well !

 

[Mistroma]

thanks for your reply Blampied, looks like booking in for longer periods at a time then if that's the case, also i have seen there are 'Junta' marinas which sound cheaper, but imagine hard to get a berth in one. It does look like it's going to be alot more expensive than Greece and even looks like being charged to anchor as well !

Where are they charging to anchor now? We spent 2 seasons in the Rias at anchor with a very few nights in a marina. No problems finding free anchorages.

Then we spent half a season between the Portuguese border and Gibraltar, mostly at anchor again. Probably more marinas than previous years, but usually a free anchorage. We wintered in Aguadulce for a couple of years and sailed along the coast, out to Balearics, back to Valencia before returning to Aguadulce. Largely free anchorages, perhaps 15 nights in marinas if I had not needed to return to UK to attend a funeral. That was 2-3 weeks in a marina but only due to having to leave the boat unattended.

The following year (2016) was a more rapid trip to South of France, taking a month to leave Spain. Approx. 30% of that time was spent in marinas. It isn't a great cruising area and marina stops become more frequent after Javea. South of France was much better and easier to find a decent anchorage.

I expect that anchoring in the Balearics will now be more of an issue around peak season than it was in 2015.

 

[[3889]]

Spent last summer cruising from French border to Porto and only used marinas out of choice. There was always an anchoring option. We also found Spanish marinas reasonably priced, averaging 25€ / night for an 11m boat, with the notable exception of RCN Santander- 56€! Around the rias several marinas charged 16€. Having sailed both I wouldn't rush to leave Spain for Greece.

 

[rib]

Horses for courses,haveing gently sailed from falmouth to barcelona,then on to ibiza,etc,sardinia corsica sicily italy and most of greece and islands,we think greece is more our taste ,and kinder on the pocket for cruising where marinas can be free even in august

 

[Graham376]

thanks for your reply Blampied, looks like booking in for longer periods at a time then if that's the case, also i have seen there are 'Junta' marinas which sound cheaper, but imagine hard to get a berth in one. It does look like it's going to be alot more expensive than Greece and even looks like being charged to anchor as well !

SW Spain, the Junta marinas were around €31 for 12m berth last year and plenty of space. Never been charged for anchoring anywhere from Gib to UK, via Spain, Portugal & France.

 

[RupertW]

Buy it in Spain but then have the enormous fun of sailing it in stages across to Greece Croatia or Turkey.

Absolutely - we've done the journey the other way over a few seasons and have enjoyed each cruising ground in different ways - alas rushing too quickly through Sardinia and Sicily so will need to go back eventually. But from my tiny experience of Spanish waters so far, the Balearics are great for anchoring in as well as a few expensive marinas.

My favourite cruising ground so far is mid-Croatia, but Greece had a lot of merit too (from the two bits we spent most time in, Ionian and Sporades). But a new country every year or two is a lovely way to enjoy a boat, we've found. One year doing lots of small trips to explore locally, and the next year one big trip to leisurely get to the next base.

 

[LadyInBed]

I mainly anchor and only use marinas in City's like La Coruna and Vigo.
You can also get a 'Marinas de Galicia Pasaporte', I pick one up in Sada (free) and get 15% off (upto 5 days) in selected (9) marinas. It also gets you 20% off lift out and storage (1/7-31/8) if you need to come out in summer.
They have a website, but it looks like a 'placehold' www.marinagalicia.com

 

[[3889]]

Do you not find Greece a bit Ground Hogish? Stern to quay, mousaka/ stifado/ kleftico. All very pleasant for a couple of weeks but far less diverse than, say, A Coruna, Laxe, Isla Cies, Vigo. But as you say, horses for courses.

 

[mjcoon]

Do you not find Greece a bit Ground Hogish? Stern to quay, mousaka/ stifado/ kleftico. All very pleasant for a couple of weeks but far less diverse than, say, A Coruna, Laxe, Isla Cies, Vigo. But as you say, horses for courses.

But at least maybe not for meat course? (As in France...)

Mike.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Do you not find Greece a bit Ground Hogish? Stern to quay, mousaka/ stifado/ kleftico. All very pleasant for a couple of weeks but far less diverse than, say, A Coruna, Laxe, Isla Cies, Vigo. But as you say, horses for courses.

Its a matter of preference; if you avoid the tourist areas and go to local harbours and the mainland, away from the popular places and the hectic Ionian, you can then experience the real Greece and the opportunity to mix with the local yachties (they avoid the tourist sailing charter groups like the plague); but as you said horses for courses. Personally, I can't remember the last time I had moussaka, stifado or kleftiko.

 

[paulswaiting]

i have not yet got to that stage, but as i have only done holiday sailing over periods of 1-2 weeks i was also looking to build up my confidence in familiar waters and types of mooring.
This is my first yacht and even unsure of when going to a marina an say i'm staying for the month, when going out day sailing do you just leave the ships papers in the marina office an come and go as you please, or would the marina be looking for some kind of payment upfront or just pay at the end of the month.
But i can also see your point in the variety of destinations in Spain and also the balearics.

 

[[3889]]

But at least maybe not for meat course? (As in France...)

Mike.

You make it sound like a bad thing. Supermarket lasagne has gone down hill in the last couple of years, IMO.

 

[[3889]]

Its a matter of preference; if you avoid the tourist areas and go to local harbours and the mainland, away from the popular places and the hectic Ionian, you can then experience the real Greece and the opportunity to mix with the local yachties (they avoid the tourist sailing charter groups like the plague); but as you said horses for courses. Personally, I can't remember the last time I had moussaka, stifado or kleftiko.

Fair enough, but I'm not just talking Ionian. Done the Pelops, Corinth and Aegean as well.

 

[mjcoon]

You make it sound like a bad thing. Supermarket lasagne has gone down hill in the last couple of years, IMO.

Downhill at the gallop? I don't have anything against eating horse, though not having knowingly done so...

Mike.

 

[vyv_cox]

We have spent the last two winters in Med Spain, land based but moving around a lot by road. We obtained a few quotes for berthing for information purposes and mostly found marinas pretty expensive. Our main concern for the area as a cruising ground is that the options for cruising seem fairly limited to up and down the coast, with few anchoring options. Most seem to head for the Balearics whenever possible.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Looking very likely we be heading back to some old cruising grounds this seasons , south of France , west cost of Italy ,
so I keep reading and getting told , not many places to Anchor ,
maybe it's just luck or maybe we don't feel we need a almost enclosed bay to anchor in to feel safe ,
but we never had a problem in finding good Anchorages in years gone by .

 

[vyv_cox]

Looking very likely we be heading back to some old cruising grounds this seasons , south of France , west cost of Italy ,
so I keep reading and getting told , not many places to Anchor ,
maybe it's just luck or maybe we don't feel we need a almost enclosed bay to anchor in to feel safe ,
but we never had a problem in finding good Anchorages in years gone by .

Same for us Vic but on the Costa Brava during the past three months there have been significant swells for almost every day, presumably generated by all the activity in the Adriatic and Aegean. Anchorages offering protection from the east are few and far between along that coast.