WIntering on the South of Spain

Queensway gave me a quote for the winter that was very competitive but I decided that Gib wasn't the place we wanted to be. Now we are in Almerimar. Very fair prices.
 
[ QUOTE ]
What do you call "fair prices"? Can you give some exapmles as it all depends on the size of your wallett!

[/ QUOTE ]I'm not going to reproduce their price lists here and would comment that price per metre isn't the whole story but here is their website and I would point out that they speak perfect English, so just phone for information. http://www.marina-almerimar.com/

I am paying far less than I was at Chichester Marina, and the service I am getting is better. On top of that the location has advantages over Chichester for wintering /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Thanks, we cantacted Almerima but they have told us that they no places but to contact them later. If you are in with the Marina staff, could you have a word for us? We are going over to Smir on Friday to check that out. Any comments on the place?
 
We're moored in Almerimar too. It was impossible to book in without actually being there with the boat - we even offered to pay in advance, but they just weren't interested. However the staff were very helpful and told us (last year) that we would be unlucky to not get a berth if we arrived before a certain date, but they couldn't guarantee an empty space. Other than that, there is a turn over of boats leaving the marina even in the winter months. Hope you get a berth.
 
As Cynthia says, I think you will need to arrive first however if you give them a particular date they will probably indicate whether or not there is likely to be a place for you. The marina is getting very full though some boats go onto the hard for the winter and others are leaving every day.

Smir is not a wintering place; there is almost nothing there and if we go back it will only be to go sightseeing and visit other towns in Morocco. OK if you have transport and speak French and/or Arabic and are happy with the local Moroccan services, or if you are a party animal and like boogying with rich Moroccans until the small hours....otherwise, consider alternatives.

How about Gib? There is a lot to be said in favour of wintering in Gib but the downsides are the weather and nasty surge in the marinas (nobody knows yet whether Queensway Quay will be better with the new island - it might be far worse, I fear).

We loved La Duquesa but you would need a car (you are best with a car here in Almerimar but you can manage very well without). La Duquesa is very expensive, as is its sister marina along the coast at Estepona. Both quite chic. Nice thing is that you can hop between the two if you are a berth holder. Good but pricey!
 
When we drove down to ask, two months ago, both Duquesa and Estepona said they'd almost certainly be able to find us a berth, but neither would take advance 'reservations'. But we can retract our keel to draw less than 1m, so that probably helped. Estepona is ok but berths near the cafes can be noisy. Duquesa looks nice from our various visits by car, but again might be noisy at some times - ??
From what I've heard Gibraltar is now full up, what with Shepherds no more. Anyone care to comment? And the movement in Queensway (? - the one in the main harbour) is extremely uncomfortable.
Where we are - Bajadilla - has had the full notices out for months, but we still managed to retain our berth and 9 month contract by sheer persistence. Best place on the entire Malaga-Gib coast, i.m.h.o.
Although we quite liked it - rough charm? - Fuengirola is always full, and we hate Benalmadena. European marina of the year. Not.
Our marina office refer people to La Caleta (t'other side of Malaga) and we've berthed there - nice, but think probably no 'liveaboard' community and out in the sticks somewhat.
Of course I haven't mentioned Sotogrande or Puerto Banus . . . . €€€€€€€€
 
Have you considered Aguadulce? I was there in 1999. It is much closer to Almeria than Almerimar and had then quite a number of live-aboards. I like Aguadulce in winter better than Almerimar, because the mountain directly behind the marina protects it from northern winds and also gets heated up by the sun, which radiates back during the night. This makes the climate in winter more pleasant, but in the summer hotter than Almerimar. There is also a quite big hard-standing area. The marina is situated quite close to the village and one gets more possibilities to see the real spanish life. Since it is so much closer to Almeria, there are more frequent buses, and it is not necessary to change buses as used to be the case in Almerimar, first to el Ejido and then to Almeria. Henk.
 
Aguadulce is a very real alternative to Almerimar. We chose Almerimar out of preference in 1998 purely on the basis that, at that time, it was quieter. The main east-west motorway runs just above Aguadulce and there is a continuous background noise of distant traffic. That said, it has, or at least it did in 1998, have an excellent liveaboard community and it is very convenient for Almeria town and airport.
 
I was told this afternoon by an old hand who has been around this coast for some time, has wintered in Aguadulce and Almerimar (presently at Almerimar) that Aguadulce now have a policy of discouraging liveaboards. Don't know why. The person who gave me this information seems highly respected by the community here but that is all I can tell you.
 
At the time I was there, 1999, there were ships up to at least 20 meters as far as I know. I have not been there since and don't know anything about a policy to discourage live-a-boards, as reported to this thread by Lemain. It is possible, but I would not know why that would be the case. Henk.
 
Hi there!

We have our boat in Estepona and it is quite expensive 12m=17.?euros a day. 15m=24.? euros a day, although it works out quite a lot less in winter oct-1st march. There seem to be quite a lot of berths free at the moment too. We would like to have moved but we are ending up staying for another winter. Estepona has a good night life but as someone said before - don't be to close to the restaurants/clubs! We found that Estepona port is open/active until about 4am most days (through the summer at least) but you generally can't hear too much noise. The pantalans are secure and there are plenty of restaurants etc, nice town too. We considered Almerimar as it seems to be the cheapest along that coast. As with other people, they wouldn't let us pay in advance but also said if we got there by a certain date we would probably be ok. Looks really nice on the website.

Going off at a tangent slightly - can you really hop between Estepona and Duquesa if you're a berth holder? That being, do you have to pay at Duquesa AND Estepona if you are on a daily rate or is this facility just something for annual holders?

Would be interested to know please!

Good luck with your hunting and let us know where you end up! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

alorwin
 
When we stayed for a night at Estapona, in August, I checked into wintering there or Duquesa and they told me that you could hop between the two without charge - or that's what I understood, anyway. Maybe there is some charge or restriction?
 
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