Living aboard in the Med for Winter (Recommendations Please)

[TaikoHax]

The short version is I've reached decision paralysis and I'm hoping some wiser and more experienced heads than I can help me break a deadlock and make some recommendations for places to Winter in the Med.

In essence I'm lucky enough that I can work remotely (or, if the relevant residents visa precludes working, then I can live off existing dividends until a Digital Nomad visa comes in) and I'd like to take my boat, a Beneteau Oceanis 45 (45ft, 2.3m draft) and my two cats (they have EU Pet Passports), down to the Med this September - winter for 6 months [somewhere] and then ideally head East, do a clockwise loop into Greece and back out of the Med before doing the Atlantic in 2023. My intent is bypass the Schengen issue by getting either a Digital Nomad visa (if/when it comes in) or one of the residency ones - but that's not the purpose of this thread, i'm only interested in locations really.


What I'm ideally looking for is :

• Close ish to a decent airport for ad hoc flights back to the UK (maybe less than 2 hours away ish?)
• Short walk from a decent enough beach to carry on learning (badly) how to Wing Foil - in fairness mostly for my own sanity and staying healthy so it's pretty important
• Some kind of civilization/niceness for shops, food, culture etc - aka not in the back end of beyond
• Some kind of Marina community/acceptance of liveaboards would be lovely (and probably necessary in some visa situations)
• Must have decent internet access. Even if i'm not working I have enough stuff that I'm involved with (I help with a charity) that i need decent connection - I may solve that with a starlink)

With bonuses for :

• Better than UK winter weather pls, i don't want to go to all this effort to freeze to death in a different country!
• er...i guess a cattery nearby is kinda important but not necessarily something anyone on here would know about
• Bonus if the airport is a major carrier rather than a budget one (budget carriers won't allow me to cargo cats, major ones usually will)
• Within striking distance of other interesting sailing once the weather starts to clear

I'm currently organising logistics of getting the boat moved (with or without me - i'm currently still under contract with a client and I have to balance the money earnt working those weeks vs the positive experience of taking the boat across with more experienced skippers), visas and refitting.


I have looked at :

Marina Di Ragusa - Consulate may have (new) issues accepting a boat as a residence for visa purposes (which makes me nervous), dunno about cattery :

Cartagena - No beach

Port Ginesta - looks like a possibility?

I'm interested in :
Er...anyone done livea boarding in the French Riveara? Saint Tropez etc? Any experiences?

I've ruled out :
Greece - looks like it's one too many complexities i'd prefer to warm up to, plus 3-4 weeks to get my boat over there (which i couldn't afford to take off OR pay someone else to do)
North Coast of Africa - can't depend on the internet plus i'd rather warm up to it
Croatia etc - too far East again, can't afford the time off right now

So folks.
Any recommendations for marinas etc that might fit the bill?



P.S. apologies but i'm going to cross post this on some other liveaboard forums, apologies if you see this multiple times.

[SV Tom Crean]

I lived over the winter on a boat in Antibes. Enjoyed it, not too cold but also not beach weather either. You need heating on the boat for Jan/Feb. Close to an airport (Nice) and a great train service to get you anywhere. I had my Tesla parked at the boat so taking trips to the Alps was also done.

Not the cheapest place in the world and you can get far better deals in Spain/Algarve.

[boatman61]

Spain I suggest Almerimar or Agua Dulce.. both have beaches and I have enjoyed my winters at both..
Don't know the flight situation from Almeria since Covid but there used to be two flights/wk to the UK, however Madrid is just a fast train away.
Sicily anchor out at Syracuse or enter the marina at Ragusa.
Malta is very nice. has seven marinas in Valletta to choose from.

[seadago]

In Spain, Torrevieja, near Alicante. Large, easy access, mostly non commercial harbour with beach included, and three good marinas to choose from. Comparatively inexpensive wrt other Costa Blanca places, Costa del Sol, and certainly much more affordable than the Balearic islands or the Costa Brava.

[Borja]

Cartagena and Ragusa are possibly the ideal places for this IMO, if you can sort out those issues.

Especially Cartagena - good and cheap marina, right in the middle of a vibrant city, lots to do in and around the city, liveaboard and land-based diverse communities.

There are a couple of small beaches near the marina but admittedly not ideal for wing foiling. But some 20kms away there's Calblanque, one of the best spots for wing surfing in Spain, great in the Winter. Also Mar Menor relatively close.

Port Ginesta is sort of an insular marina, have you been there? Might take an hour to get to Barcelona, Castelldefels is pretty sleepy, Marina community is heavy with British retirees, a bit like the aforementioned Almerimar (which is huge and more diverse), or marinas like San Carles de La Ràpita, or Lagos in the Algarve. I wouldn't commit to spending months there without trying out the place. It's also a bit more chilly than the southern coasts.

As mentioned, SOF near an international airport is orders of magnitude more expensive than all of these other places and there's a real Winter with cold and rain. Lots of people winterize their boats on the hard. Lots of nice places to be, but it's a completely different vibe.

Algarve has Lagos for the liveabord community, but it's an uninspiring town, especially during Winter; Olhão/Faro is a nice urban agglomeration, new marina, great beaches for wing foiling accessibly by dinghy, don't think there's much of a liveaboard community.

Torrevieja is also a decent option but Cartagena is a more interesting city and a better marina, imo.

You should have great internet access with local sim cards, a starlink seems excessive.

[Sailer_Med]

I would pass on the little urbanization ports between Sitges and Barcelona (this includes Port Ginesta) simply because access to the world (Barcelona) is 1.5 hours more or less by train. Sleeply little villages they are!

You didn't explicitly exclude Barcelona but the section of coast from Barcelona to Blanes is worthy of consideration. Up to Blanes you have good rail service into the city. All the little harbours are backed by towns. I am aware of a live aboard culture in El Masnou and Mataro. They will get sleepy in the winter.

Barcelona does have seasons so it will get chilly in the winter but I've been looking at moving my boat there for the winter and have been surprised how economical slips are as close to the city as Port Forum Marina.

[donradcliffe]

I spent the winter on the boat in Vibo Marina and loved it. Don't know about cats.

[goboatingnow]

In my opinion having had a house near Torrevieja, Spain is too cold in winter.

Why not try the canaries. Warm cheap ( ish ) good flight connections

However if you are not a EU resident , you need to get all that completely sorted first otherwise your plan is just hot air