Tunisa Anyone?!

[jrudge]

Next year my plan is to take the boat to Cannes, and then drift down Corsica and Sardinia.

It strikes me that Tunisia is not much further on, and that (a) it could be an interesting place to visit and (b) possibly somewhere to leave the boat over winter and then carry on the journey.

Google brings up a number of articles, mostly favourable ( certainly not that negative) but they are generally quite old, and this area has had the Arab Spring etc. The Foreign Office web site says most of it is fine with a few bits to avoid. The coast is "ok".

Has anyone on the forum actually been to Tunisia by boat? What are the marinas like - are they even worth considering wintering in? One article mentioned good security ... but again it was old.

Any guidance appreciated.

Jeremy

 

[jfm]

Next year my plan is to take the boat to Cannes, and then drift down Corsica and Sardinia.

It strikes me that Tunisia is not much further on, and that (a) it could be an interesting place to visit and (b) possibly somewhere to leave the boat over winter and then carry on the journey.

Google brings up a number of articles, mostly favourable ( certainly not that negative) but they are generally quite old, and this area has had the Arab Spring etc. The Foreign Office web site says most of it is fine with a few bits to avoid. The coast is "ok".

Has anyone on the forum actually been to Tunisia by boat? What are the marinas like - are they even worth considering wintering in? One article mentioned good security ... but again it was old.

Any guidance appreciated.

Jeremy

Nothing first hand Jeremy but:
1. Loads of the captians in Antibes take the boat they work on there to Tunisia every 18 months, as it the closest place outside the EU to dock in and a get a receipt, as is needed for Swiss/Americans/etc who pay no VAT due to TI. They generally don't love the place and do one night there only

2. That said, there seem to be reports of nice ports as well as not so nice ports. Hurricane went there en route to MaLta iirc and posted about it 4-5 years ago. He didn't love it - no retrun of passports till presents handed over kinda thing. Magnum went in his Pred72 (he is non EU) and also didn't love it iirc, and he posted about it maybe 4 years ago

3. William Parton at Parton yachting knows the area very well indeed and has sent me many emails extolling the virtues. He admits there are good versus not good places and he would be of much help. suggest you email him (easy to find on www if not tell me)

EDIT - if you send me an email address I can fwd you all WP's emails to me about Tunisia. (Has to be in next hour, else Monday)

 

[MapisM]

I also don't have any first hand experience, but from where I'm based it's just a 100NM or so passage to Tunisia, and I considered going there several times - if nothing else, for cheap fuel.
But based on reports from other boaters who have been there (mostly for the same reason), I always came to the conclusion that I still enjoy a bit of civilization, after all...

 

[Montemar]

We went there many years ago on a package deal which was not remotely boaty.
Main topic of conversation in the hotel was the state of one's digestive system, everyone was afflicted. Also it was Ramadan so not very exciting unless you like dogs barking when the locals come out after sunset and start their day. They do nice birdcages though and that is my most positive memory I regret to say!
From a boat is probably the best way to see it.
Try San Tropez and maybe the Costa Brava.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I was part of the crew for Hurricane's trip to Malta via Tunisia in April 2009. Not a nice place. Our stop was at Bizerte.

I'm sure the man himself will be along shortly to explain all.

 

[MrB]

I visited there for two weeks.....(non boaty)....never again.

 

[Hurricane]

Yep - we did not enjoy our time in Tunisia

As Jimmy said, we arrived in Bizerte early one morning and I gave the guy that took our ropes a tip.
I thought that would be all but then the heavy gang appeared in the form of the official police/customs officers.
We then went through a detailed roasting which ended up in me paying a bribe to them
50 euros to the actual policeman who was dealing with us and 150 euros for "his chief".
And that was just the start of it - they were even going to charge us again to leave.
Thanks to djefabs (on this forum) who was also with us - standing up and flexing his mussels, we managed to convince the guy that we didn't need any of his paperwork to leave.
I think that they see visiting yachts as a soft touch to rip them off.

We all decided never to go back.
However after some more research back in the UK, I got suckered into calling into Sidi bu Said (I think thats how it is spelt) on our return from Malta.
Sidi bu Said was slightly better but we still got an interrogation when we arrived and the saga we went through with refuelling was something else.

Surfice to say that we took joy in opening our holding tanks and pushing the button as we left that god forsaken country.

Our next port of call was like chalk and cheese - a few hours after leaving Tunisia, we arrived in the charming port of Carloforte - a place where I'm currently planning to return next year - if our plans all come together.

So my advice is, yes do the Corsica and Sardinia thing but give Tunisia a miss
Maybe we will see you in South Sardinia next summer

 

[Aardee]

No personal boaty experience of Tunisia, but we were on holiday in Yasmine Hammamet in the summer and the marina there looked (a) impressive and (b) full of larger European-flagged boats. On a more general note, we loved the place (but I've spent a lot of time in the Middle east, so maybe my expectations have been adjusted )