BEST marina in the Med?

[Dolphin460]

My opinion after sailing the Med for eleven years: least expensive, safe, close to all needs, friendly staff, decent yard, good weather, and a great live aboard community; Marina di Ragusa. The cost to moor during the winter is probably the best in the entire Med. A 14m catamaran cost about 2,000 to 2,200 euros from October thru April including water and electricity. I personal have been here for the last seven winters and will be returning this coming winter. Hopes this helps.

[Tom and Maje]

Originally Posted by drcot3

Look no further Sant Carles de la Rapita mainland Spain 45340
No extra charge for multihulls just length

Regards David

David,

Do they have a good boatyard nearby?

Maje

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Tom and Maje

David,

Do they have a good boatyard nearby?

Maje

there is definitley a boat yard at st carles

[Alita49DS]

I have spent the last 15 years in the Western Med. Mainly between Gibraltar and the Balearics. I am going to move to Genoa this summer.

Taken in its entirety, I think that your question is impossible to answer. Much is simply subjective. Further, you give no indication of any ceiling for annual cost. Mention by others of low season is hardly going to help assess. Annual rates are also where the discounts are. The other option being to buy a berth.


You might like to start with a fundamental question. Are you going to be on the boat all the time or are you going to have to get back to work/home/relations? If you are, then somewhere miles from an airport without cheap fares to your target destination is going to be a real pain. Both in the wallet and in wasted time.


Next, some places are seriously expensive. Unless you have very deep pockets, such as the Balearics other then to visit and anchor in a cala are prohibitive. If you want to go there Valencia is a lot cheaper and is a wonderful town. Conversely, there is nothing much of interest close by the sail to.


At the other end of the scale, places like Almerimar are cheap for a reason. There might be good facilities, and it might be a great place to stop for fuel and repairs, but otherwise it is a ghost town in the middle of nowhere. The dream is about as moribund as the hotel project. What it is like in winter I dread to think.

Cartagena is one of my favourites, but I am not sure I would want to be there all the time. It is a long way to the airport, there are other downsides and you want to be careful which of the two adjacent marinas to pick.

Perhaps the best advice I can venture, certainly it is what I did in relation to the South of France and Liguria, is to do background reading from pilot books and/or on line, fly to the approximate area that you have in mind, hire a car and then drive and visit marinas. Talk to the staff, talk to people who have boats there, look for yourself. Find out what the real annual cost will be and if there is space. Is there life out of season? For instance, Smir in Morocco is alive for about one month a year.


Then, when you think that you have found what might be the right place, come back here and ask the members what they think of it. For example, I could tell you a lot about Gib: but to what point if that is not your idea of a geographical location?

[Tricolor]

Originally Posted by Valiente

Dave, Being no tax expert, my advise is research VAT enforcement rules at whatever EU country you choose, so no nasty surprises in 6 months!

Also keep in mind the 183 day rules in Spain (EU) If you stay longer in Spain the Tax Man will pay you a visit to tax you for your world wide income. Shakira learned a 18 million Sterling lesson for staying 193 days....

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...8-MILLION.html

[Paul L]

Mike
Things change fairly often in Mexico. Like I said when we cleared in insurance was required that year.. Easy to obtain and cheap, but required at the port of entry we were at. Here's the link to quote I posted earlier http://www.latitude38.com/pix/BoatingInMexico.pdf

[Catapault]

Last year we stayed at Limassol Marina in Cyprus for 5 Months

Beautiful Marina, very secure, very clean, Lots of stuff nearby.
Not much community, no other live-aboards about.

Our main reasons for there were:
- Outside Schengen
- Good flights to the UK for some trips we had to do to other places.
- Excellent Cattery where we could board our 2 cats (of the feline kind !) for a couple months.

Cost about Euro:1500/mo for 3 months, then dropped to 900/mo. We booked in late so missed the 'early booking' discounts so could of been cheaper.

Good restaurants, bakery and other food nearby, very good supermarkets within easy taxi reach.

We had some service done onsite in our slip.
- Raymarine in Cyprus is excellent
- Yanmar service was also good. (for end winter engine maint).
- Marina staff are very helpfull, and they accept deliveries from overseas / Amazon etc and will deal with customs if needed.


Biggest downside. It is a LONG way east.

We are looking at alternatives for this year. Currently considering Cartegna, and Regusa for the EU part of our overwinter,. (Prefer not EU, but thats tough in western Med). Or maybe Gibralter IF we can get a berth.

Croatia is too cold / windy for our preference for wintering Afloat.

Regards

Mark.

[Catapault]

Originally Posted by Alita49DS

Then, when you think that you have found what might be the right place, come back here and ask the members what they think of it. For example, I could tell you a lot about Gib: but to what point if that is not your idea of a geographical location?

I'd for sure like to hear about Gibralter. We are considering it, but so far the Marina responses havn't been brilliant, and they can't confirm a spot.

Regards

Mark.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by mwmsea

I know that in Sardinia (not Porto Cervo) but near by in town of Cannigione there is a marina that is not expensive. Town has good services. Also check the marina called Portisco-a bit sleepy in winter. Olbia is 25 minute drive for catching flights.Quote on line was 4,128.52 euros from october to June 1-includes water and electricity. about 590/mo.


There are many marinas along Italian coast line, Sicily and Sardegna (further south and on the west coast) that are very reasonable during winter season from October to or through May.

mwmsea

Pricewise true enough (sort of), but IMHO weather in middle to northern med in winter is crap We were out this weekend for a few days near La Spezia, and it was nice but only 70 degrees and thundery...in mid May! In winter, it just snows nearby, so. For a proper place to overwinter onboard I wouldn't go further north in Italy than Sicily! (which means I'd pick a different country)

Boatman's Almerimar sounds very cool...I added it to my "on the way out of the Med in winter later this year heading west" marina list

[davedindubai]

Originally Posted by Catapault

I'd for sure like to hear about Gibralter. We are considering it, but so far the Marina responses havn't been brilliant, and they can't confirm a spot.

Regards

Mark.

I can help on Gib, we spent a lot of time there, well Hayley has. We did our electrical and solar install there. it's an odd place and features in a few of our vids for more info. The only marina I could spend any time at is Queensway Quay marina - Hayley saying that 3 times on the VHF is hilarious. Send Jackie the nicest email you can compose, she'll say there's no space, so send her an even nicer mail and i'm sure she'll fit you in. She's an interesting character . Shepherd's Marina doesn't have floating pontoons.

qqmarina@gibraltar.gi

Hopefully we'll bump into you in Cartegena.

[davedindubai]

also, fuel in Gib is 0.50/L so try to arrive empty! I filled up there and it lasted us to Miami.

[bluemotion]

Nice and Cannes have competive rates for catamarans from Oktober to April. Speacially Cannes is very charming, harbor is located in the towncenter. There are buses going to Nice airport. Shipshops are close by.
Another nice place for a longer Winterstay with a good value for the money is Porquerolles Island

Bluemotion

[boatman61]

To be frank when sailing the Med a passarelle of some sort is a vital piece of equipment.. floating pontoons are a rarity in many places if you want to keep costs down.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Catapault

I'd for sure like to hear about Gibralter. We are considering it, but so far the Marina responses havn't been brilliant, and they can't confirm a spot.

Regards

Mark.

It's a decent location, but the facilities at Ocean Village marina were poor when I was there. Just two toilets, and a couple of showers for the whole marina, and one of the toilets was broken.

I would not recommend anywhere in the Ionian in Greece, unless you like driving rain accompanied by 20-30knts winds day in day out, and Lefkas will be charging 1.5 times for Catamarans now.

Club Nautico in Palma, seems a bit of a pain. It's a decent walk to the heart of downtown Palma, and the surrounding docks and pontoons aren't very nice. It's not really like a purpose built marina enclosed marina.

Siracusa looks poor too. When i was there (anchored, but visited the marina), I was less than impressed. Again it seemed more make-shift, plus fouling is terrible there.

Cartagena, is nice, but again they need better shower facilities. It's just a portacabin. It is cheap for Cats though, and one of the driest places in Europe, bar Almeria.

Almirimar comes up a fair bit, but of course is in the middle of nowhere, but what about Ameria proper?

Originally Posted by Dolphin460

My opinion after sailing the Med for eleven years: least expensive, safe, close to all needs, friendly staff, decent yard, good weather, and a great live aboard community; Marina di Ragusa. The cost to moor during the winter is probably the best in the entire Med. A 14m catamaran cost about 2,000 to 2,200 euros from October thru April including water and electricity. I personal have been here for the last seven winters and will be returning this coming winter. Hopes this helps.

My cheapest quote was from Ragusa, and they were very good with responding to my emails, but I didn't go in the end as there is nothing there i.e. it's out of town.

[Paramotorgreg]

Cheapest places we have found are Gibraltar (La Linea); Almerimar; and Cartagena. Ragusa and Licata in Sicily have also been recommended for over-wintering but we haven't visited either yet.

In Gibraltar I would recommend La Linea, which is over the Spanish side of the border. The security and shower facilities are good; the price is quite reasonable; and it is a 5 minute walk to the airport. It is very easy to cross the border into Gibraltar by foot to take advantage of the Morrisons supermarket and the duty free purchases in Gib. You can also take your boat into Gib to buy fuel at 50% off normal rates.

Almerimar is cheap and a good place for shipyard services, but it is not a town as such.....the only things there are a marina, a few bars/restaurants and a Mercadona supermarket. The nearest proper town is El Ejido which is a 40 minute cycle ride away up a couple of steep hills. Almeria is a further 40 minutes away from El Ejido by bus. It's pretty bleak there in Summer so must be very quiet in Winter.

Cartagena is not a bad spot - it is a reasonable sized town; it has a large live-aboard community and has good shipyard services but the prices are only really cheap if you book for a long (3/6 month) stay.

Marina Real Juan Carlos in Valencia is also worth considering, it's a great city. You can get from the marina to the airport easily and cheaply on the Metro. The marina facilities and security are good and they give a 30% discount for 3 month stays.

Marian San Elmo in Cagliari, Sardinia is another place to consider. The marina offers good discounts for stays over 1 week, the facilities are acceptable and there are good shipyard services. I'm not sure what access to the airport is like, but it's an interesting and attractive historic city much like Cartagena.