The best in the med ?

Mood beach club is your nearest as far as i know,but it isnt free

Maybe some of the portals residents will know a better option
 
petem said:
Tony / Pan,

Is there a hotel close to Portals that will let you use their pool for a fee / buy lunch, etc?

Pete
Click to expand...

Apropos nothing, there is a hotel with pool in the marina complex at Alcudia and certainly when we were there, you could walk in and use the pool for a fee
 
Deleted User said:
Apropos nothing, there is a hotel with pool in the marina complex at Alcudia and certainly when we were there, you could walk in and use the pool for a fee
Click to expand...

Not sure you can use the Alcudia Hotel pool for free but I believe the hotel is owned by the same people who operate the marina.
I think it is called Botel but others on here might be able to confirm.

We have certainly poped in there for drinks etc - nice views/ambience.

serve.php
 
Hurricane said:
The marina organised did these free sessions during the summer but they started at 09:00 in the morning.
SWMBO went but I far too early for me!!!
Click to expand...

Quite right. A gentleman should not rise before midday
 
petem said:
Tony / Pan,

Is there a hotel close to Portals that will let you use their pool for a fee / buy lunch, etc?

Pete
Click to expand...

Most hotels in Mallorca will let you use their facilities for free if you are having lunch there, in Portals the most convenient is probably Marina Portals which is a 10 min walk up the (steep) hill, most choose beach clubs nearby (Mood etc). If a pool is important then Andraxt, Adriano & Arenal are the main ones on the south coast.... of course there is always the sea!!
 
Gilbo said:
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.
Click to expand...

SoF fits ,but finding a berth needs to be done alongside finding a boat
Twice I bought the berth 1 st ,collected the rent while searching for a boat .
It actually imho helps cos the dimensions help slim down the prospectives ,I mean you could end up chasing your tail going in circles balancing boat / mooring .
I think all the marinas near Nice airport are essentially full ,or if you happen to find a rent --- you could be evicted .
I have evicted two , one brought to tears ,mid August --- sorry that's my timings -- see that's the point - security of tenure .

Perhaps the Baldricks team can come in on this rentals security ?

There's a whole raft of SoF -- Cote d Azur leases closing down time wise .starting in 2018 Beaulieu s Mer , Antibes early 20 something ?
This means instead of renting ,you buy a 1-4 years remaining lease .
If your wife does not like eg Cap Ferat , well it's hardly slumming it is it ? - just wait 3/4 years or what ever ,then move away try somewhere else .
So for security of tenure and low life ( time left ) leases ,closer shorter flights , minimal mozzi issues ,and as much easy boating ,never out of sight of land for a newby Cote d Azur has a lot to offer .
Italy is 1 hr away -- different !
Corsica 100 miles
Porquerolles islands 1/2 day
Port Grimaud / st Trop -- 30 miles etc

You have not said what your past boat experience is , presume U.K.?
Or which airports (s ) you prefer ?
 
I watched Hurricane's 4 minute clip about Summer 2017. It looks like all the bays shown in the clip were exposed to open seas and it looks like swell is always there. Is Bealearics mostly swells or was it by chance/season/etc.?
 
Eren said:
I watched Hurricane's 4 minute clip about Summer 2017. It looks like all the bays shown in the clip were exposed to open seas and it looks like swell is always there. Is Bealearics mostly swells or was it by chance/season/etc.?
Click to expand...

Havent watched the videos ,but there is rarely any swell in mallorca, what there can be is some chop from wind, from 12 pm ish to 7pm ish.


However the benefit of it being an island is that you can almost always find somewhere completely out of the wind.

Most bays are open to the sea, but its never an issue because you pick a bay thats in the lee of the wind
 
Be assured that the south coast is relatively swell free, prevailing wind is NE mornings turning to SW afternoons, if one bay has a swell you can be sure that there is another within 10-20mins cruising that hasn't... yes I am biased but have cruised the balearics for 20yrs and because they are relatively small islands you can easily move 'round the corner' and enjoy calm conditions.

As regards security of tenure mentioned by Portofino, avoid private berth rentals if possible, otherwise you are at the mercy of the berth owner both on price & not losing your berth, Portals (& as far as I am aware) the other marinas do not 'boot' you off a port rental unless you cause them a problem (don't pay on time, nuisance to others etc). Frankly the marina staff just like a nice easy time & no hassle, are helpful & prefer permenant berth holders, they don't want those that are there for the summer then move in winter and expect the berth back again next summer!
 
Gilbo said:
The question is where ? Palma has a vote from swmbo but that's because she likes Mallorca.
Click to expand...
We undertook the same search process at the end of 2015. Considerered SoF but finding a yearly rental berth in Mallorca seemed less complicated, so we focused efforts there.
Pros and cons to the various options can be found on previous threads. Our shortlist was Palma or Cala d'Or. The noisy road in Palma turned out to be a showstopper for us. We ended up choosing Cala d'Or and are now in our second season without a single regret.
I wrote this on a similar thread some time ago:

We are new here in Cala d'Or, so early days yet. We decided to come to the Med at the end of last season and initially had a totally open mind on where to base the boat. After reading many threads on here and taking advice from friends already in the Med, we narrowed it down to Cote d'Azure, Mallorca or Mainland Spain.
I love SOF but focused more on Spain simply as it seemed a little easier to find a mooring to rent on a yearly basis. If we fully get the Med bug and decide to buy a long lease somewhere we would revisit SOF in future.
We then narrowed it down further and decided we wanted to be on Mallorca.
The choices are all highly personal and we were surprised that there was so much difference between the various options in terms of cost, and atmosphere. Our final decision was between Palma and Cala d'Or.
Palma was attractive for its more 'year round' offer with a lively City on the door step. I based myself in a hotel in Portals for a week while I looked around the island. Portals is lovely, very high-end and commands top dollar prices, but I didn't think it was quite right for us. Proximity to the airport might have been a deciding factor if we planned 'long weekends' on board, but we don't. We hope to be here for a couple of weeks at a time minimum, so the drive to Cala d'Or is much less of an issue for us than it might be.
As soon as I arrived in Cala d'Or I was sure that it would suit us better and would give us that 'holiday feel' with the white painted low rise buildings and marina lined with Palm trees, against the more industrial feel of Port de Mallorca Palma, and a more laid-back feel than Portals.
The clincher for Cala d'Or is the immediate cruising ground. I can see us being here a season or two without burning any significant amount of diesel!
It's all very subjective and personal and depends on what you are looking for of course. Hope this helps anyone grappling with the same decisions.

Good luck.
Rick
 
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, 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.
Click to expand...

Apart from being very small and full of locals, what is C'an Pastilla like? Would it be bearable for a winter (i.e. not too quiet)? Is the town ok?
 
petem said:
Apart from being very small and full of locals, what is C'an Pastilla like? Would it be bearable for a winter (i.e. not too quiet)? Is the town ok?
Click to expand...

Many years ago we had our first boat there, the town is much better than Arenal and very much cheaper than Portals, it's a bit quiet mainly locals who predominate, but very close to Palma/airport, don't have any idea of cost. Nice clubhouse and you will have access to all year round service personel. Won't be as quiet as some other marinas further away from Palma. Probably very nice for a winter berth.
 
Thanks for the continuing supply of info guys. All proving very useful. In answer to Portofino yes most of my boating has been in the Solent so far. However, I have recently been able to add a couple of weeks in Mallorca On a 70ft Ferretti and a week in Greece in a 50ft cat. The 70 had a captain but useful experience non the less. I'm based SE uk so favourite airports are LGW AND LHR.
 
pan said:
Many years ago we had our first boat there, the town is much better than Arenal and very much cheaper than Portals, it's a bit quiet mainly locals who predominate, but very close to Palma/airport, don't have any idea of cost. Nice clubhouse and you will have access to all year round service personel. Won't be as quiet as some other marinas further away from Palma. Probably very nice for a winter berth.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Would Palma Nova be an option for me 10.5m?
 
petem said:
Thanks. Would Palma Nova be an option for me 10.5m?
Click to expand...
It may technically fit (youd be the biggest boat in there though) ,its probably right on the size limit ,but you wouldnt want to be staying aboard there ,not sure it has any facilities even, itd be fine for a day boat that you dont live on over the summer months though.

Also you wouldnt want to leave it there over winter, whilst palma nova bay is generally sheltered in most weather, the marina is very small and has very low walls.

Have you looked into marina cala nova? I have no idea what its like,but it may be an option?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top