Saidia Marina, Morroco

[multihullsailor6]

Has anyone visited the new marina in Saidia, Morocco? I understand it is now open but what was it like, what are the berthing costs?

[SoundOfSilence]

Any news regarding Saidia, Marocco. Has anyone been there. Experiences, berthing costs etc?

Rune

[ludeen]

Bump , anyone got any news on this, in melilla at the moment,
but gonna have to move after xmas ,
thanks L.

[beneteau-500]

well there is a you tube vid on the marina which was done in August 2012 i know of two yachts there now and they say it is good

[beneteau-500]

google saidia marina moroco regate de voiliers

[bil56]

Marina Saidia

[ludeen]

thanks for the info guys
L.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, ludeen.

[ludeen]

Cheers

L.

[Sergei]

I visited Marina Saidia for few days last summer (July 2013) and plan to bring my boat for the winter stay later in October this year. Marina looks comfortable, very secure and inexpensive. It is run by a Belgium manager, Pascal (key selling point for us). Knowledge of French and Arabic is a plus ) or at least some Spanish when talking to locals, but Pascal speaks perfect English. Customs procedures are strict, but friendly. Since we visited Marina Saidia during Ramadan, most of restaurants and shops were closed. Entry may be very difficult in strong northern winds since depths drop before entrance to marina and waives get big. I would advise to head to Melilla as a port of refuge for an anchorage in the harbor in bad weather. And CALL ON RADIO wherever you go on the coast (Melilla, Islas Chafarinas, Marina Saidia, etc) - you are always watched on radars by Morocco and Spanish coastguards.

[Frix]

So far, I can only support the positive posts.

I delivered my boat there for "hybernation", as they call it. It is currently at Saidia.

A word in advance: Saidia is one of the King's prime projects to get more quality tourism up and running in his country. So its in the government's focus.

Here are some of my experiences:

Staff: Pascal, the habour master, and his staff are extremely helpful. Preparation was smooth, they helped with mooring and will keep an eye on your boat while in port.

Customs, Police, Immigration:

Usually you will be greeted by these three. I was a little surprised, since they do not really look the way we would expect officials. There was a brief survey of the boat (two or three cupboards opened, a short tour through the hulls). The typical questions were asked: Any weapons, drugs, hidden passengers. All quick, courteous and very professional.

Customs was very, very helpful in getting all the paperwork for the hybernation done. Have in mind, that this country is not part of the EU. But the hybernation offer seems to be wanted and well established, so everything went well. The customs officer offered his cell number in case there would be questions when we would be leaving the country. In fact, there were questions. The guy at the airport (again, very courteous) called "our man in Saidia". A few sentences, everything was fine. Oh, by the way: All without any bribes or unpleasentries involved. Simply professional and very keen on solving our problems.

The port itself:

The port was planned pre-finance and EU-crisis. For the moment I would guess, that the inner habour is only 60% full. There is an outer basin for larger vessels. Not even pontons have been installed there.

Current pics on Google Earth are out-dated. They do not show the outer basin. There are some promo flyers showing the new layout on the web.

Security is based on "private sherrifs" on patrol and guards at every ponton. They were quite strict and keen when on post. The place had a lot of those guards. But as such systems go, sometimes someone may be off post and a bad guy may slip through the net. There are no gates etc at the piers (which I would have preferred). In any case, it felt safe enough to leave our boat there...

There are two marine yards, one run by a Spanish guy from Mellila, one by some local guys. They can do all the standard repairs. Isidro, the Spanish guy is certified for Volvo Penta service (and knows Yanmar etc.). They are able to do all the paint and hull works including anti fouling etc.

There are two yacht service companies, one is Isidro. They will check and clean your boat regularly. Compared to EU the price is very affordable. These guys speak Spanish and Arabic, only. Maybe the locals speak a good frensh, I didn't check on that. English is not always the weapon of choice.

There is a travel lift which seems to be able to lift boats from a basin 10 m wide (our Lagoon 400, beam of 7,25 m) can be lifted there.

When we visited in July, they had three shops offereing yacht supplies. One was closed all the time, the others were not a really great source of goods. I guess, there are just too few boats there. Well, you will get some zinc anodes, some paint, some tubes, some sorkeling fins etc. but it seams probable that they won't have just what you need, when you need it.

The commercial development around the habour is a little strange. It is very recent and very much planned. There are lots of restaurants, but they are aiming mainly on a "returning expat" crew (meaning Morrocans living in Europe and spending their holidays here). So you do find all kinds of North African interpetations of European foods (Irish, German, Italian, Dutch etc.), but not a really great Morrocan restaurant. So there is Pizza, fried stuff but the local food is hard to find. Someone advised, that you need to go to the town of Saidia (approximately 4 km from the marina).

So don't expect the "real thing" (which may be good for the ones, that like this extra bit of comfort).

On weekends, there was quite a party in the marina around the boats. Security was tight, so there wasn't a reason to worry, but it was happy and loud and colorful. If you like it very quiet, you may be disappointed.

Everything is a little less shiny as in Europe, here and there you might find a broken floor tile etc. but it is basically very good. Do not forget some risks that may arise from eating non pealed, non cooked, non washed food (I am referring to a little viral souvenir I brought home... . But that was stupidity on my side).

There is a small first aid station.

There are also showers and toilets for the boat residents. These facilities are a just a little neglected and don't show the higher standards you may be used to in Europe. Not the horrible experience as in some of the darker parts of Tanger, but not the Waldorf Astoria, either. A little renovation and a cleaning crew checking them maybe four times a day would be a plus. But again, no horrors ;-).

Shops also aim at tourists. But I found one bank with an ATM willing to give me some dirhams and there seems to be a supermarket. We didn't check it, since we left quickly after parking the boat.

By the way: There is a 14 km beach just outside the habour. It streches from Saidia to Ras al Ma (Cap de l'eau) in the west. The beach is truely excellent! The crew is (as most of them are expats), quite relaxed. So don't expect to many beach burkhas etc. But also expect to be noticed when wearing a Bikini. Men are men, I guess. Some a little more.

To sum it up: For now, I can strongly recommend Saidia Marina. Very nice staff all around, reasonably safe and offering most of the stuff you need for a stay. And it is very cheap, compared to Marinas in the Baleares etc. So far, very much a go.

I will be visiting in February and report, if anything has changed for the better or worst.

Fair winds,
Fritze

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Fritze.

Thanks for your detailed report!

[Salmon17]

Fritze made a very accurate report and useful even for those to have been to Saidia! , I can just add on supermarket and connections to airports:

Supermarket - is actually in the marina, 5 min walking from most berths. It is big - probably 2000m2 and is a part of a moroccan retail chain. It meets most of needs, wide assortment compared to other destinations like Seychelles, but not even close to Carrefour or Mercadona in Spain. Again, you are in Muslim country, do not look for jamon and pork etc. Some items, like bread, wine and meat seem to be on certain days/time. But selection is enough to survive a passage to Spain )))

Transfers to airports seems to be cheap - we paid for five to Nador airport (over 100km) EUR 50 (i not only did not negotiate, but even added on top), and others reported paying for taxi to Oudja EUR 30. You get old Mercedes with a french speaking driver.

[Frix]

Thanks Gord May,
this forum is an unbelivable rich source of great info. Thanks to everybody contributing, it has been of great help bringing quality to our plans!
Fair winds,
Fritze

[bobs]

Just read your story Fritze , thanks for sharing it with us.
I'm also looking for a winterport, next year that is , and Saidia already crossed my mind in an earlier stage.
Its just that you hardly find any info on the how and why , let for all accured prices.
Maybe they do need a public relation manager , or atleast one that cares , to promote their business.

Regards