Malaga - General Info
Description:
Lying about 25nm northeast of Marbella, Malaga is noted for its warm winters which makes it one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol. It has an interesting Old Town.
See the report Impressions of Malaga for feedback from cruisers who have visited here.
Position:
36° 42.58’N, 04° 24.69’W (Marina Malaga entrance)
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Related to following destinations: Malaga, Mediterranean Coast (Spain), Spain
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Just visited Malaga Port today. Mostly closed down for cruisers. Being the latest port on the Spanish south cost I expected to find space for my 55 feet cat for one night. But NO, I was told that the harbour was full. There where 5 cruisers in the entire harbour all moored alongside at the back of the harbour. I was simply role to leave the harbour by Port Control. No attempt was made to make arrangements for us to stay somewhere along the many empty piers.
Reported by Ian McCammon – 6 November 2018:
We are cruising Spanish Mediterranean waters currently and have an update which may be of interest to other cruisers especially as it is contradictory to the Imray Med Pilot.
Our Sailing Vessel “Pamina” is 13m x 4.2m beam with shoal draft of 1.52m. We are cruising the Med from Gibraltar to Almerimar to winter (2018)and then on in the spring up the coast towards Barcelona and onto to France.
We managed to reserve a berth and stay in the lesser known marina called Puerto Del Candado, 3.5nm East of Malaga. The Marinero was very friendly, helpful and professional. One night in November 2018 cost 23 euros for a 13m including electricity and water.
The Imray Mediterranean Spain – Gibraltar to French Border Pilot book makes reference to this marina as “long silted up”, which is obviously not true. I spoke with the manager/owner who told me that they have to dredge the approach almost weekly and re-lay the buoyage as appropriate. According to the marina, they can accommodate up to the 2.5m draft.
Spaces are limited and we were extremely lucky to get a berth, but Puerto Del Candado is well worth a call if cruisers are looking to spend a few nights close to Malaga and don’t fancy a long sail between marinas.
Real Club Mediterraneo is a definite avoid for me. En route to Gib at dusk on 22nd Oct 2018, we had complete electrical failure except for engines and diverted to Malaga. Arrived in the darkness around the end of ships breakwater, and into what looked a nice ‘upmarket’ marina and a safe haven as we had lost instruments and nav lights.
Not 1 minute inside and we were greeted by an angry man in a small dinghy telling us we had to leave or he would call the police. If seas had been rougher, we would have stayed anyway and let him call police as we were in an emergency. We left and went round into the main shipping port, tried to find a small craft mooring to the west but the port police shooed us away.
We went further into the port and miraculously found a stunning small craft marina surrounded by high-end shops, bars etc. Found a space and tied up. No staff or security to be found and police cars wouldn’t stop for us. Anyway next morning we ended up with 3 police cars crawling over us – they moved us a little way down and spent 2 hours checking us over.
Fortunately, the police actually ended up being very very polite and helpful and understanding – apparently we needed to have paid some port tax in Spain for navigation and lights etc that was going to be €604!!! One officer was very helpful, made some calls, got a port manager down to inspect the papers and got the fees down to just €57.00.
We paid it by card machine in the police car and left sharpish in daylight bound for Gibraltar. Very nice place we ended up right in what seemed the city centre (I guess we took someone’s private berth) and there were toilets and showers, coffee, nice shops etc. I would stay here again but it was expensive and if you don’t have a proof boat is resident in Spain and has paid this tax or have the right papers there’s a risk you might end up with a very hefty bill!
Real Club Mediterraneo: This is one of the most overpriced marinas where we have stayed in the Mediterranean. In February 2017 we paid almost 70 euros per night (including electricity, water and various taxes) for our 14m yacht.
For that price, you would expect first class services and facilities, but the marina is only half-finished, the facilities run-down (showers and toilets in containers) and the staff not very helpful.
When we told them that all three showers were broken, they were not the least bit interested. Try a marina further west and take the bus to Malaga.
Caleta de Vélez is a quiet marina. The staff are helpful. The prices are the EPPA standard rates (expensive in high season). Shower facilities are a bit run down but clean. The town is well equipped with shops and bars, cheaper and more Spanish than ports on the other side of Malaga.
The Real Club Mediterraneo is a small private club that takes transit yachts for up to 7 days. The marina is clean and the staff extremely helpful and friendly. Berthing is on the expensive side (30 Euros + 5 Euros of electricity and water for my 9m yacht).
Posted on behalf of Peter, SY Blue Moon:
Marina Caleta de Velez:
Entrance by fishing port, call on VHF Ch 09. The Marina is in poor condition, heaps of garbage, especially plastic, styrofoam and wood, fishy odour. Mostly friendly office staff, but no help when mooring. Price calculated for us not according to vessel length but according to the size of the berth. 19m berth €71 – including electricity and water.
Posted on behalf of Michael K:
We spent a few days at Puerto Deportivo Caleta de Velez in October 2014. The marina is now part of the EPPA network of marinas. The good thing about this is, that the low season already starts in October. We paid 25 € / day for our 46′.
The pontoons are now gated with the standard EPPA key card. Still no WiFi, though, but laundry for 3,- €.
Visitors go mostly to pontoon B (the easternmost) and there is only limited space for them. That corner of the harbour suffers from a lot of floating debris, especially during westerlies, but otherwise seems well enough sheltered.
There are 3 large supermarkets easily reachable by foot (Aldi, Lidl, Mercadona) and some smaller ones as well. So it’s a good spot for provisioning.