The best in the med ?

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Gilbo

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After years playing with the idea, the finances and swmbo are aligning and I hope shortly to be purchasing a 55ft'er to base in the med. The question is where ? Palma has a vote from swmbo but that's because she likes Mallorca. The wisdom of the crowd would be great fully received !
 
You'll find advocates for all med areas on here, and rightly so, we all want different things. I moved to the med this year and chose Cote D'azure and these were my main reasons

1. I like the place
2. Lots of flights from London at a reasonable price, even in school holidays that makes weekend trips viable with the kids
3. Also drivable
4. Lots of lovely places to visit with just a short cruise
5. Area not too affected by the Mistral

Do bear in mind that mooring availability will need to be considered in some places, which could well mean the need to buy a mooring rather than take an annual berth.

Hopefully others will be along soon with their opinions
 
A broad question with many variables, not least of which will be availability of a Berth and how much you want to pay. Mainland Spain is cheaper and probably has more availability, but some say that the cruising is not to their liking. We have been in Sant Carles for just over 2 years now, and have found what "works" for us (for now), but I know others that have looked and preferred to go elsewhere.

We moved for guaranteed sunshine and much cheaper berthing, which offset the costs of air travel and hire cars etc. In addition, we had berthed with MDL in the UK, so "more of the same" was a factor, and finger berthing was a big plus for us to start with, although now we have a pasarelle.

The Balearics do have an appeal to us, but we will probably pay 2 or 3 times as much for a 15m berth than we do at present. Out of very high season, we can fly to Barcelona or Reus for around GBP50 - GBP100 return and hire a car for 10 - 14 days for less than 30 Euros for the duration. I know a number of berth holders that use Sant Carles as a base, and explore the islands during a long summer cruise. Further South, Denia is an option with the islands c60 NM.

However, it is a very broad question, and what have we considered since being in the Med ?

SoF - would be great but, as far as I can tell, limited availability for renting a berth.
Italy - MDL have marina near Salerno, Marina de Stabia. That looks perfect, but flights and car hire are less frequent and more expensive.

Frankly speaking, if costs are less of an issue, and you can find a berth I would for with what SWMBO guides, as that is one less hurdle to overcome :)

Good luck with whatever you decide
 
My reasons are the same as markc but went for puerto portals. TBH there are lots of nice ports. Take a long weekend and visit as many as possible. I bought a berth as dont want the hassle of having to find another mooring if the lease isnt renewed. Quite like the idea of being hidden/protected in the large palma bay as well
 
I agree with Andy Bav.
We base our 67 footer in Sant Carles as well.
By far the cheapest place to keep a boat in the Med.
And only 100 miles to the Balearics so if you are considering a 55 footer (planing boat) the crossing is around 4 hours.
We usually run slower and take longer and enjoy the crossing timing our arrival to suit us.
We usually anchor out but Mallorca has plenty of marinas.
You could berth a 55 footer in Sant Carles for around 4000 euros p.a (inc electricity, water and WiFi etc) in Sant Carles if you rent privately.
On the other hand a berth for that size of boat in (say) Puerto Portals could be in excess of 50,000 euros p.a.
So, you can see that there could be change after a few runs to the islands each year.
Sant Carles is right next to (inside in fact) a natural lagoon (7 miles long by 1.5 miles wide and 6m deep) where we pop out for the day to play with water toys etc.
The berth holder community there is great - we have loads of friends there.

This is a video that I made from last year when several boats from SC boats met in Mallorca - note some sailing boats, some catamarans and some motor boats.
This shows how easy it is to cruise the islands from Sant Carles and the camaraderie of our base on mainland Spain.



Full screen link http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=2LPNoX7cI7Y
 
Hurricane said:
You could berth a 55 footer in Sant Carles for around 4000 euros p.a (inc electricity, water and WiFi etc) in Sant Carles if you rent privately.
On the other hand a berth for that size of boat in (say) Puerto Portals could be in excess of 50,000 euros p.a.
Click to expand...

Portals would be €35k per annum for an 18m berth but I get your point!

We're hoping to be in Palma over the Winter then potentially Portals next year. Portals is open all year, it's not too far from the airport, has nice cruising grounds and I like the marina. Only downside is that the restaurants are rather pricey (€12 for a Full English) and Deleted User reckons it's full of orange Germans. I imagine that there are cheaper restaurants outside the marina, can someone confirm?
 
If you think portals has a lot of orange germans then you need to go to port adriano, the place is full of them. They all wear polo shirts with the name of some fictitious yacht club embroidered in elaborate font across the back of the shoulders. It seems to be the uniform of choice for them
 
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portals split is probably 25% english, 25% german, 25% spanish and the rest. Pontoon 2 (15m and 18m moorings) i would say is 50% english judged by the flags. As well as the port I also go to Lili just outside the port (not any cheaper though). Restaurants in the village are cheaper. Any restaurants in the marina over looking the square (rather than the port) are also cheaper.
 
TonyR123 said:
portals split is probably 25% english, 25% german, 25% spanish and the rest. Pontoon 2 (15m and 18m moorings) i would say is 50% english judged by the flags. As well as the port I also go to Lili just outside the port (not any cheaper though). Restaurants in the village are cheaper. Any restaurants in the marina over looking the square (rather than the port) are also cheaper.
Click to expand...

If we stop there our boat will be in Riff Raff Row with all the other T34's.
 
julians said:
If you think portals has a lot of orange germans then you need to go to port adriano, the place is full of them. They all wear polo shirts with the name of some fictitious yacht club embroidered in elaborate font across the back of the shoulders. It seems to be the uniform of choice for them
Click to expand...

Or maybe Arenal - the marina is great but outside the gates it is like a bigger German equivalent of Magaluf.
 
petem said:
Portals would be €35k per annum for an 18m berth but I get your point!

We're hoping to be in Palma over the Winter then potentially Portals next year. Portals is open all year, it's not too far from the airport, has nice cruising grounds and I like the marina. Only downside is that the restaurants are rather pricey (€12 for a Full English) and Deleted User reckons it's full of orange Germans. I imagine that there are cheaper restaurants outside the marina, can someone confirm?
Click to expand...

Portals is an excellent marina both in location & choice of restuarants etc, it can be quite busy lots of people come for a night out, we have been there for over 20yrs and would say that the mix is more like +30% Brits with boats, nowhere near as many Germans as Adriano, only problem is it's usually full, getting a port berth is 'dead mens shoes' particularly 18m, so it would need to be a private one, with a bit of a premium probably E35-40k, or buy E350-400k, the port has recently re-negotiated an extension until 2035 with the ports authority.
South Mallorca marina's....Santa Ponca small & quiet, Adriano very sophisticated super yachts galore attracts more Germans but it's a bit remote landside, Andratx Club de Vela sophisticated & large but has super clubhouse & swimming pool nice town, Puerto Portals sophisticated (expensive) lively, great choice of restuarants etc most still open in winter, good access to Palma & airport, Palma several individual marinas very large & little in the way of marina social facilities (Palma city 15 mins walk though) a lot of people I know berth there but when on holiday usually don't hang about in the marina but get out & cruise the islands, C'an Pastilla very small mostly locals, Arenal quite good marina but the town (enough said above), Sa Rapita again mostly locals absolutely dead in winter & a long way from Palma & airport (not a winter place)
If you are unsure get a rental berth anywhere on the south coast for a season, cruise around & try the various marinas overnight then decide what suits you, yes it can be a bit expensive but worth spending to find what you want.
 
pan said:
Portals is an excellent marina both in location & choice of restuarants etc, it can be quite busy lots of people come for a night out, we have been there for over 20yrs and would say that the mix is more like +30% Brits with boats, nowhere near as many Germans as Adriano, only problem is it's usually full, getting a port berth is 'dead mens shoes' particularly 18m, so it would need to be a private one, with a bit of a premium probably E35-40k, or buy E350-400k
Click to expand...
.

That is closer to the price for a 15m berth - 350k is about right for the 15m berths. The 18m berths are going for 600k+. The marina is always busy though with various markets/shows/etc throughout the year.
 
Gilbo said:
After years playing with the idea, the finances and swmbo are aligning and I hope shortly to be purchasing a 55ft'er to base in the med. The question is where ? Palma has a vote from swmbo but that's because she likes Mallorca. The wisdom of the crowd would be great fully received !
Click to expand...

I spent 5 yrs with my boat moored in Club de Mar, Palma and the location has a lot going for it. Plentiful flights from the UK all year round, short transfer from airport, long boating season (because its relatively far south), all boating facilities on your doorstep, year round city life in terms of bars, shops, restaurants (doesnt shut up shop for winter as some Mallorcan marinas do), sheltered from mistral winds, good anchorages within easy cruising distance. Downsides are the marinas are not cheap, all the marinas are next to the Paseo Maritimo main road so constant traffic noise, swell coming into the marinas from vessels in the harbour and sterngear fouling is bad there. Overall though you could do an awful lot worse and it would be an excellent introduction to Med boating life plus the fact that actually Mallorca is a very attractive island in itself. You could also look at Cala d'Or or Alcudia, both nice marinas with good facilities to hand

If the marina berthing costs put you off, San Carles has already been mentioned. South and SW coasts of Sardinia offer good value as does Croatia albeit to a lesser degree. Speaking entirely personally I would avoid the Costas Blanca and Brava because the nearby cruising opportunities are limited and the mistral wind can blow hard and anywhere on the Golfe de Lion and on the N Sardinia coast for the same reason
 
Just to follow usual Forum procedure, mine is better then yours advisory ;) the best in the Med is Malta.

Loads of flights from the UK 16 m berths are about 7k EUROS a year. Two dozen of nice anchorages around the islands archipelago.
Season is eight months long March to November with July and August weekends being your busy months locally. Sicily is only 50 nm away, Eolian Islands only about 200, Greece 300.
The food in Sicily is from another World especially fish.

A new Azimut managed marina just opened in Valletta. So you can find a berth. Yacht repairs and craftsmanship is pretty good as well.

Best news is that the people who live Malta always return back for good.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. We visited Portals and Adriano last month. Enjoyed Portals (Adriano is not really us) but was aware that it's at the premium end of the market ! As we would be learning what we like / want my intention would be to try to find a rental berth with easy access ( cost effective as well as frequency) from the UK with an interesting cruising area. Seems Palma could be a sensible option (recognising that it is next to a main road). Are there any other locations in SoF that would meet the criteria ? I'm guessing a road trip might be a sensible next step.
 
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