Canary Islands

[tolly]

Anyone have any experience of sailing in the Canaries, marina fees, costs if leaving the cat for a longer period of time, taxes etc?
We have a plan to sail our cat down to there, put it in some decent and not to expensive marina (preferably in Tenerife or Gran Canaria) for a year or two, and then occasionally fly down and sail around there, before we definitely take off for a longer journey.

[GTom]

I am also interested in the canaries, just found this, I'll take a deeper look later tonight: https://puertoscanarios.es/en/tasas-y-tarifas-en/

[GTom]

No luck with mobile phone on the "tax calculator", someone sitting in front of a PC can check.

I hope I can find something in the range of the portugese rates, somewhere <2k€/year for a 10m boat ( e.g. Pricing - Douro Marina)

[barnakiel]

I am here, now. (in LPGC)

You do not want to leave her in Las Palmas marina as this one asks you out during the ARC (late September till late November). So you cannot be here year round.

Otherwise, great choice of marinas on most islands: for all lifestyles and pockets. Simply think up the area you want to stop first, email the marina and ask for the fees. Some marinas show their fees on their websites.

As long as you are an EU boat and you (the owner) are not a tax resident here, there is no tax. There is a lighthouses and lights fee that is applied in very odd ways - some marinas, e.g. the SC de Tenerife one, are said to apply a half year lights fee on your first day. Odd, but I did hear this more than once from very angry (aka pissed off) skippers.

So. The basics. The rest you learn as you go.

Just do not expect great sailing here. It is not like the Med Lake. We are here in the Atlantic, with associated swells and periods of strong winds too. Most EU sailors find it too rough (alternatively too calm) to sail. But a few actually enjoy it. ;-)

Have fun, learn Spanish, bring a credit card.

Cheers,
b.

[barnakiel]

The link at #2 is fine BUT it only shows some fees in the public marinas. These are few and normally very basic, often way below the level expected by a visiting continental person. Mind harbour fees may not be all the fees that apply in a public port.

Aside from public ports, there is a big number of privately owner marinas that offer (not all though) better facilities.

So this is like whoever comes, one should be able to find something that matches their tastes and budget.

Cheers,
b.

[GTom]

Year round storage with occasional visit means little need for luxury in my terms, but that's only me. I am guessing a "no free lunch" situation here.

Taxes are usually the smaller part of the expenses, I am much more interested in the yearly mooring fee. I haven't found a marina in Tenerife publish this like the clear price tables of Croatian and Greek marinas, only "no place for visitors", "used at full capacity", "overloaded", etc.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by GTom

Year round storage with occasional visit means little need for luxury in my terms, but that's only me. I am guessing a "no free lunch" situation here.

Taxes are usually the smaller part of the expenses, I am much more interested in the yearly mooring fee. I haven't found a marina in Tenerife publish this like the clear price tables of Croatian and Greek marinas, only "no place for visitors", "used at full capacity", "overloaded", etc.

SCT and Los Cristianos are public ones so the prices are as per #2 .

Private marinas can publish the price list or not. They are private undertakings and it is up to their management to decide their client policies.

This much said, each and any time I have mailed any of the marinas, they always provided a presupuesto ('+- pro forma invoice) in a timely manner.

There is as a rule a discount for long stays. This requires a pre-payment of the whole period though.

Not all marinas accept one year long term deals. E.g. Las Palmas does not (because of the ARC limitations). Since a marina makes more money on a daily stay, they are not always willing to offer year round deals. It is a mix and match pattern as dictated by each location specifics.

The best bang for your buck on long term storage is normally a middle of nowhere marina that is publicly owned. Just mind it will take a ferry and a bus or taxi transfer to get to the nearest airport every time you come and go. This adds to the total storage cost (add EUR 100 or thereabout).

b.

[GTom]

I have no problem prepaying a longer term (I even saw some portugese offering 2 year terms with aroind 10% additional discount compared to a single year), money nowhere makes as high return as the monthly vs yearly difference.

You're right on accessibility, this starts with an airport that I reach with a cheap airline if I want to see my boat on long weekends. The "bus accessible" Gran Canaria would be great, since I have direct flights almost from my hometown for <200€ and the total travel time is half a day.

[Suijin]

Try the Marina San Miguel at Amarillo Golf, south coast of Tenerife. Not sure how it stacks up cost wise except when I asked a crew member to come up with an affordable marina that is where we ended up. Good floating docks but the wind is from the SW it can get bumpy inside the sea wall.

[ObracJ]

Originally Posted by tolly

Anyone have any experience of sailing in the Canaries, marina fees, costs if leaving the cat for a longer period of time, taxes etc?
We have a plan to sail our cat down to there, put it in some decent and not to expensive marina (preferably in Tenerife or Gran Canaria) for a year or two, and then occasionally fly down and sail around there, before we definitely take off for a longer journey.

This is my first post @Tolly, so bare with me . I live in the islands and continue to be part of the sailing world. Most notably I would recommend Tenerife for your sort of petition. As a previous member mentioned above, Gran Canarias gets awfully congested towards the last quarter of the year, the ARC is a buster for newbies sailing to the islands unaware of this. I would reccomend, with humility, that you search in Tenerife or perhaps La Palma or La Gomera. All three are great options, the first my preffered choice, know it by heart.

Regarding your choice of briging the CAT I have to say that it's not very fun to sail the islands with a CAT, swells are rather high and will easily make your regret having a CAT during force 4, or stronger, weather. It's too rigid, unless your up for that sort of thrill and wouldn't bother much the bumpy ride, and trust me I say, it will be bumpy. If you need help in find a marina let me know, I can share more insight, however, look for one that offers the least year round costs. As mentioned above, they can often be hidden fees and depending on the duration of your stay some might be waived, but others, like port fees for example are nearly impossible to waiver, and that's something you should consider. Las Palmas for example is said to waiver them from time to time, but then again it's best that you garner as much info as possible. In Tenerife you have Marina del Atlantico, Marina San Miguel, Marina del Sur (Las Galletas) and Los Gigantes. I would only recommend the first three. Los gigantes is somewhat small, specially for manuevers in and out of port, it's right next to a beach and the waves often break right at the entrance. Radazul is already packed, a Cat wouldn't have much leeway since space is hard to comeby. I hope my post helped.

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Try the Marina San Miguel at Amarillo Golf, south coast of Tenerife. Not sure how it stacks up cost wise except when I asked a crew member to come up with an affordable marina that is where we ended up. Good floating docks but the wind is from the SW it can get bumpy inside the sea wall.

I've booked Palarran a berth there from October 1st to December 1st. My friend who is going to stay is happy because he can walk to golf every day. It also would allow him to use our tender to blow around on when the weather is calm. Should be fun for a few months.

It wasn't really easy to get the reservation though. We probably sent 6 inquiries before finally getting the booking set. I think they are pretty full and not highly motivated to add more. La Palma was more responsive and less expensive, but didn't have the golf selection.

[listhecorpus]

Hello!
I am Belen, from Spain (28 years old).
I am an experienced sailor, I work in traditional sail boats since 2013. I am NOW looking for a small boat where I could stay for few months in South Tenerif while I am working. I can take care good care of your boat all aspects in mantainance including painting, wood work, regular checks or other jobs needed onboard while you area abroad and pay the mooring.
If interested please contact me by email :lis_thecorpus@hotmail.com

Fair winds!