Monastir - General Info
Where is Monastir?
Monastir is one of the principal towns in the eastern part of Tunisia and is 160 Km from the capital, Tunis. Monastir is 187NM from Malta and 180NM from Ragusa, Sicily. It is a useful place to visit if you need to reset your Schengen or VAT clock or to spend the winter.
The “monastery” after which the town was named, was built by an Islamic religious order in 797 to defend the town from roaming nomadic tribes and Byzantine warships. The fortress houses a lovely museum of Islamic art and artefacts.
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Entrance Notes and Cautions for Monastir:
Cruisers report that despite this being a good place to spend the winter, it is a windy and dusty spot so you will most likely need to wash your boat on a weekly basis.
Cruiser Highlights for Monastir:
There is a good marina and boatyard here (with haulout for catamaran), however, space on the hard is limited so advance booking is recommended. Prices are moderate and quality reported to be good. Fuel is reported to be cheap. Popular spot for wintering on board (read report 2024 here).
Every Sunday afternoon is a cruiser’s BBQ. The marina provides the venue, the BBQ grill and the tables and chairs. Cruisers provide the BBQ coals and do the setup and cleanup.
Position:
35° 46′ 11″ N, 10° 50′ 5″ E (marina)
Last updated: July 2024
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Monastir is lovely arrived here from Malta, cost me 380 euros for two months and that includes electric and water in price, amazingly clean Marina and toilets and showers are very clean.
No problems with customs or police took about an hour to check in, no backsheesh or asking of booze or money and very pleasant people to talk to. Was a small charge of 5 dinar (£1) at customs for a stamp and is very cheap here compared to Med. Would highly recommend Monsastir and a lovely city to wander around.
The distance to Ragusa Sicily is 180nm
Mar 22, 2019 03:50 PM
Any info about local surveyors?
Posted by Vic on the main Tunisia page:
Update for Monastir – Tunisia.
We just spent a month here to haul out and do our antifouling.
The boatyard in the Marina was as good as it was last time we were here, hauling us out without any problems. We ended up letting them do the top side cleaning and polishing at a very fair price.
The haul out, pressure wash and three days on the hard, plus cleaning and polishing was 680 DT – that’s around 230 Euros.
One month’s Marina fees for our 12.5m yacht was 185 euros plus water, power and tax.
Checking in was straightforward, although they did ask us to remove the plywood off our water tanks to check underneath. No gift was offered this time and looking back, maybe a small gift would have saved us some work.
There are plenty of security guards around the Marina day and night and other than the odd person walking on to the boat to have his photo taken, we had no problems at all. Most are very honest people, although like anywhere else you have to take care.
The Marina is very clean; two or three times a day the staff would go around and collect any rubbish that’s in the water. It’s the only Marina that I have ever seen the cleaners removing the bins from the post and washing them out!
We weren’t once bothered by shopkeepers trying to get you into their shop and if we did enter they were polite and let us look around without any pressure to buy.
Fuel is very cheap at around 45 cents a litre, so it’s worth buying cans and filling up.
As it happened, the money we saved on fuel will cover our haul out costs!
Vic – bluewater sailor
April 2016:
We went from Malta to Monastir to get the antifouling done. In the Cap Monastir marina, we were VERY safe.
Checking in was easy, did not cost anything and was done in 15 minutes.
Mohamed Mrad’s team in the boatyard did a great job on our antifouling (copper coat – everything scraped off manually first). The antifouling I brought from Malta as it is not available in Tunisia.
Fathi, the recommended Mechanic (Phone +216 55 338 113), did a good job on various little tasks we had done.
Mohamed and his sons Mehdi and Abdel (BCHIR Services – phone +216 22 850 338), did a great job on canvas work – fender socks, adjustments to the sprayhood, a cover for the dinghy and other small things.
Prices for all works were very moderate and the quality of the work was very good.
We felt very safe also in the old town of Monastir where we went shopping regularly.
The only downfall is the communication – it is not easy to get in contact with any of the service companies from afar.
That is where Mike Turner from Hammamet (Yasmin) helped a lot (mtmarineservices@gmail.com). He made everything possible with his excellent communication and help between the parties (and it helps if you speak some French ?).
We would go there again anytime and can only recommend it to all sailors!
For more information, you can always contact me on info(at)gross-doux(dot)com.
Robin
SV GrosDoux
Amel Super Maramu #56
July 2014 – Monastir Tunisia is a very attractive harbour and a nice marina facility. On entering you’re are overlooked by the very impressive Ribat, the big fort that was built during the Muslim conquest of North Africa to keep the marauding Sicilians and Byzantines at bay. The buildings surrounding the harbour – the restaurants, hotels, and apartments – are all whitewashed with bright blue trim, making the harbour look somewhat like a tiny Greek village. It’s an attractive port.
The facilities are comfortable and the office staff is helpful. Most everyone is friendly and welcoming in Monastir. That said, there is an exception. The customs office is a few doors down from the marina office, and these guys are an unfortunate relic of Tunisia’s past. There is a complete lack of professionalism as these burly officers do board your boat and do ask for “gifts.” Some say it’s just a cultural thing, and others think it harmless, but as Tunisia’s Democratic future progresses, hopefully, the “baksheesh” will be banished for good. If you want to smooth the way in the meantime, carry a small bottle of the cheapest whiskey you can imagine, and offer it to them.
For our 13 meter boat, the mooring was around $30 USD per day including electricity. The price for Diesel is 1.25 Turkish dinars, or € .54 or $.73 per litre, about 1/3 of the cost of our next European fuel fill. Go with empty tanks of you can.
The town of Monastir and the “Medina,” the walled old city with its narrow streets and lively markets, is just a short walk from the marina. Also, a very short walk away is the mausoleum of the founder of Modern Tunisia Habib Bourguiba and his family. It’s pretty impressive and along with the Ribat defines the town.
We travelled in Tunisia during Ramadan, the month-long fasting holiday for Muslims, and I would recommend against that. Many non-tourist restaurants are closed, and the scene is much quieter and less predictable than it would normally be.
Tunisia’s infrastructure needs massive improvement, and the Government is now running in fumes. It’s evident when you see the beautiful beaches and many city streets that are filled with trash and yet no trash cans can be found. This fascinating country, the only survivor of the Arab Spring, and now with a modern and progressive constitution, should see much better days ahead. I think it is well worth a visit for sailors.
We arrived in Monastir just over a week ago.
Entrance is straightforward.
clearing it was very straightforward and in all took no more than forty minutes, first, the police then custom followed by a quick look over the yacht, only advise is, a little present will help to smooth the way.
offseason charges 12 mts are 30TD a day water 2.75TD electric 2.75TD if you are planning to stay longer than 17 days then a month rate would work out better @ 400TD month
Shower and toilet are very clean.
Fuel 1.10 TD .
Office staff speak English and are very helpful.
The yard hoist will take a max 22 tons but is unable to lift cats.
The price for our haul out was 180 TD in and out and the presser washes 46TD.
Hardstanding 21 TD a day
Water and Electric were just a little higher than the marina.
Yacht to be sanded and antifouled by the yard are turned around in three days unless there is a problem.
The work we had done was good.
There a small supermarket outside the marina
Monistir town is a ten minute’s walk, where you find two large supermarkets and a street Market. Fruit and veg looked good and the fish very fresh.
There are a few people who wintered out here and they felt safe and had a good winter and would winter here again.