Impressions of Almerimar
This report is a compilation of comments received by cruisers from 2011 to 2014. There are however more recent comments posted by cruisers at the bottom of the report.
Published 10 years ago, updated 6 years ago
Posted by Hugh Moore – 2 November, 2014
We spent a month in Almerimar, and once again it proved that for us it was the perfect place to stop and effect repairs before leaving the Mediterranean. Almerimar has no real attraction for tourism, other than the beaches, but for having everything you need in one convenient stop it is hard to beat. There are two well-stocked chandleries, one British owned and the other Spanish. You can find just about anything you need between those two.
We found the services of Inox Almerimar Stainless repair invaluable once again. The owner, Stuart, is as creative and innovative as any metal worker you will ever meet. He repaired blocks, welded engine parts, crafted a custom swim ladder (amazing work), and helped us solve a myriad of other problems. This is the best resource you will find for anything metal related.
Also, we had great results from A&C (Angela and Colin Cuberos) services, phone 669 277171. Angela measured and remade all of our interior upholstery and repaired a canvas stackpack, all to perfection and at a very reasonable price. Easy to work with and very talented, she alone was worth the visit to Almerimar. Her husband Colin is a rigger and provided us with a rigging inspection and some minor repairs, also for a very reasonable price. They are highly recommended.
Almerimar is inexpensive, it has fuel, a real supermarket, loads of great restaurants, great internet, and an environment conducive to cruisers. Recommended.
Posted by John Tyler – June 10, 2014
Very welcoming marina. Excellent English is spoken by Paco & Fumi at the capitanaria. Interesting marina layout. Lots of boats for sale. Big yard for servicing/repairs etc & English/Spanish spoken there. Some excellent restaurants too. Highly recommended. Low winter charges too [€3K/yr for 12 m boat].
Almerimar / Almeria
Time of Visit: March 2014
786Global.com
* Location: Some 20 miles SW of Almeria with its airport and plenty daily international flights.
* Approach: Very easy – even at night; Just follow the lit buoys marking the canal for the entry. It’s wide and comfortable to navigate. Once inside there is lots of room to turn and get ready for docking. If no one answers calling in on Ch.9 VHF just tie up at the reception berth, next to the fuel station and right in front of the conspicuous office tower.
* The basin is huge with plenty of free spaces up to 30m no problem.
* Ample depth even for our 3m draft
* Good rates – at least in winter! We did pay € 27.00/day (18m berth)
Absolutely excellent rates for wintering. (We were quoted some € 2.300.00 for 6 months!)
Hardly surprising that there seems to be quite a large community wintering in Almerimar.
* Standard Electricity-Plug, No adaptor needed –Electronic access key cards to access the facilities and the pier during night time.
* Staff is friendly and quite international. Marineros are professional and competent.
* Infrastructure: Surrounding the port there is an artificial tourist village. Home to many vacation apartments but also offering a fair range of pubs, bars, Cafes and restaurants as well as the odd shop and yacht-brokerage. Of course, we did visit in Winter so the noise level during season is hard to judge, but the type of establishments do not look like they would cater to the party crowd.
A large supermarket is located within the complex and in walking distance.
Rather unique: There is a special area for motor-homes to park and stay (right in front of the office tower)
* Facilities: Clean and nice Toilets and Showers accessible with key-card. .
* Two Coin-Laundries on site – maybe even more, but those I have seen.
* Pay-Wifi – but there is a number of bars & restaurants that offer WiFi for free
* Piers accessible for cars but one needs a special code on the key-cards. Access to Marina for the public is only in theory restricted. Gates are wide open.
* There is a boatyard with a pretty big Travel-Lift, don’t know exactly but would guess some 80 Tonnes capacity. Some people say they are happy with work performed there – some say the exact opposite.
* Diesel is available at Reception-Pier at € 1.35/L (March 2014)
Summary: Big, professional run Marina with great terms and all the facilities and amenities you could ask for. Nothing immediately outside the marina but the fairly big city of Almeria is not that far away. Easy to enter even at night, with vigilant marineros on duty 24/7 (we know, we showed up at 3 am and had not yet tied up and a marinero was present to help). The only negative remark we could make would be the truly ugly hinterland, with miles and miles of plastic covered vegetable- farms.
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First report sent by Derek Mercer (see more reports below)
November 2011
The marina at Almerimar is grim.
An artificial harbour with prevailing winds (SW) whistling through, concrete pontoons at right angles to the wind, and no security on visitors pontoons (despite 60 euros deposit for “keys”).
We were there on 25 September. They treated this as high season and charged us 200% the rate for a 12m berth as we are a catamaran. The visitors berths were 75% empty, and space for people to overwinter had about 3 boats there, i.e. there was lots of space. Other marinas had been offering us berths at monohull rates, and this was the most expensive marina we had used.
People would wander down the pontoon looking at the boats as the access gate had been left open. We had been issued with electronic fobs to open them, but this was not needed, and any attempt to shut the gate failed.
(Editor’s Note: As with all large marinas where the general public have access to pontoons, cruisers should avoid leaving anything on the pontoons (even if locked) and on deck overnight.)
The office is approximately 2 kms from the visitors berth by foot/bicycle, and the marineros travel by jeep to get to your berth before you.
Wifi is available, at a price. You have to purchase tickets with password etc… from the office. These are time-limited, and if you run out, to get a new one you have to go to the office. This is a massive trip overland, as you are at the end of the exposed pontoons directly opposite the office, and have to go round the entire marina to get there. One could launch the dinghy and go across the water, but this rather defeats part of the object of being in a marina.
The showers etc… are basic, they had been repainted dark blue. The whole room was gloomy, to say the least, and ventilation seemed to be inadequate. As the place was only lightly used, the no. of loos and showers were adequate, but I suspect that they would be very crowded in the season.
Shops, supermarket, etc… are available nearby, and was not an issue. It is, however, a commercial exploitation of the marina with lots of fashion shops, jewellery for sale, etc… rather than a “real” town where the locals go and shop and eat, such as we found in Aguadulce. As a result, the restaurants are expensive and a far cry from the tapas which we enjoy, and are part of the reason one goes to Spain.
You are far better off a couple of hours further North and East in Aguadulce. It is inside the bay, but a very welcoming marina. The staff even lent me their car, free of charge, when I had to go and buy a battery from the local car shop. A natural harbour, located right inside the town, and with a bus stop meters away to get to the wonders of Almeria. Prices are fair, and facilities good.
(For another cruiser’s opinion of this port see Cruising Southern Spain – September 2011)
Following report sent by Mary McKnight, Honorary Local Representative of the Cruising Association in Almerimar
Firstly security. On the whole, we do not have a lot of problems, despite many of the berths not being within the pontoon gates.
Bicycle theft does occur from time to time and cruisers are advised not to leave bikes ashore, even cable-locked to a lamppost, overnight, or unlocked at any time. Most don’t see this as a big problem. Similarly leaving a boat unlocked when unoccupied on berths where people can walk past is rather the same as leaving your front door wide open at home.
The winter season, price-wise, is from 1 October to 31 May, and it is, I believe, still one of the less expensive marinas around here. There are discounts for longer stays which are paid for in advance. I would say Mr Mercer has been lucky elsewhere rather than unlucky here if Almerimar sticks to its price list rather than offering him monohull rates you can’t really blame them. There are no specific visitors’ berths, but there is an area devoted to catamarans.
I won’t quote prices as we are approaching the year-end. They have been held for some time, but I don’t know what is happening in January yet.
There is no problem working on your own boat afloat. The situation in the boatyard has been rather fluid over the past year or so due to changes in its management. The last I heard was that you could work on your own boat, but not bring in other people to help. But cruisers would need to check with the marina office before making any sort of commitment.
Almerimar is very much a holiday town, but its supermarket is right on the edge of the marina – a flat trolley-run to any berth. There are four good chandlers and lots of bars and restaurants, most of whom in the Almerian way, serve tapas free with beer or wine – and the price is a good deal less than the infamous Costa del Sol. Almerimar is a friendly place to overwinter with a number of activities for the cruisers and ex-pats living ashore, many of whom as cruisers who have swallowed the anchor.
Related to following destinations: Almerimar, Mediterranean Coast (Spain), Spain
Stayed Almerimar Feb 2020. Cheap berthing at €17 for first 3 nights then €11 thereafter, plus tax, for our 14m mono. Washroom facilities are aged, in need of renovation and unfortunately the environs somewhat run down too. However convenient for repairs and maintenance. Stuart recommended for metalwork and machining of all kinds – efficient, inventive and reasonably priced.
Delighted with a visit to Clisol for a very interesting guided tour of greenhouses presented (in English) by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic owner, Lola. It is located on the main road just outside the resort, an easy albeit rough walk through scrubland at the East end of the marina. Call to book in advance.
In the summer 2019, we needed to leave the boat for a month in the Med and go back home. We chose Almerimar due to reports from other sailors. We also decided to due some work on the boat.
We chose to lift the boat rather than leave at the dock for the risk to be hit by other boats entering and leaving the slips adjacent to our boat in the busy August month.
Our comments below:
Starting with the Capitania, Fumi is the manager and is always courteous and efficient. He received several packages for us and kept in a safe place. The Marineros were prompt to help with the docking. There is only one thin line to the dock attached to two heavy lines and this creates a problem if you dock by the bow and have davits on the stern, since you pull two lines on one side and need to pass one of them around the stern.
There are some good restaurants and an excellent Marcadona Supermarket nearby. We found in Almerimar the best tapas place in many months of visiting Spain, the name is …”La Plaza Tapas and cocktails”. Really fancy and tasty tapas.
There is only one Varadero to lift the boat out and the manager is Pepe, very capable but they lift only early mornings. The mariners there are very nice. One accepted to connect the boat to the electricity to top the batteries twice a week for little money.
In the Varadero we found a small chandler/repair shop managed by Chris. You are going to love Chris’ occasional brusk attitude, because it is really worth working with him. He is one of the most competent and efficient people we have encounter in one year in the Med. He came aboard, identified the problem of a deck flush pump, explained to me in simple terms and fixed PERFECTLY, something that other yards had failed to do. Other friends sailors damaged the stern of an Oyster 53 and Chris fixed it to perfection. Our friend said he could not see any difference with the non-damaged part. If he cannot do a job, he will tell you clearly and advise you where to go.
There are two other chandlers nearby, one outside the Varadero, managed by Mike, very nice and helpful Brit. Unfortunately, a good deal of their supply is non-labeled and made in China.
Very disappointing has been our experience with A&C Sails. The Angela that someone described positively in a previous report, is probably just a memory of the past and acted very unprofessional with us. She came to the boat to take measurements for several canvas, we agreed on the price even if it seemed to us little excessive and we left home for a month after giving her 50% of the money. I also asked her twice to take a picture of the electric panel, while working on our canvas, to check the status of the batteries. I offered her extra money.
When back, one month later, and after having paid the remaining 50% when she said that the job was finished and well done, we found that three pieces of canvas were not made and one piece was made very poorly. Furthermore, the key to the washboard was broken in two pieces.
She acknowledged to have broken the key, but did not offered any replacement; she said that the piece of canvas poorly made was something that I had to accept, and regarding the three pieces of canvas not made after one month, she said, aggressively, that was not her fault because “I am human”. She also stopped speaking and writing in English and started speaking and writing in Spanish, creating for us a communication problem.
We had to postpone our departure by ten days (extra 536 Euros of docking) in order to have the three pieces of canvas made and she wanted us to go by her shop almost daily to check on them. Two of them were made so poorly that she had to made them again from scratch because the measurements were wrong! When I complained about the delay and poor quality job, she said to me “less drama please!”
I later found out that other business nearby had the same reports from other clients. Several people recommend us instead Sandra Upholstery (+34 627 898432). I saw an Oyster 53 with the dinette totally redone in leather by Sandra and was perfect!
Unfortunately, I found out about Sandra too late!