If you plan on visiting Barcelona, Spain, you now have another very good option for mooring. The Marina del Badalona is a new marina located about 3 NM northeast of Porto Olympico. It hasn’t been listed in any of the cruising guides yet, but we read about it in an article in the UK magazine, “Yachting Monthly.”

We sailed from Menorca direct to Badalona and while the entrance is a bit hard to see, the GPS waypoint (41-25.9N/02-14.6E) provided in the article was spot on. Coming from the south, watch for three very large matching power station chimneys, the entry is just to the right. The waypoint brought us right to the small red buoys and the green light on the end of the breakwater that leads the way in. You head for the beach with at least 5 meters of depth, then a hard turn to starboard brings you behind the breakwater. There is a sign for the marina, VHF channel 3, but we had no response when we tried calling them. We came alongside the fuel dock and walked into the office to check in.

The daily charge for transients is; length X beam multiplied by .7 for the summer rate and times .5 for the winter rate plus 7% tax. It was cheaper for us to take the monthly rate for 311 euros (we’re 12.7 meters) since we had planned on staying at least 10 days. If you are thinking about wintering in Barcelona the 6-month rate is 1810.25 euros plus 7% tax for a 12 X 4-meter boat. Water and electric are extra but fairly reasonable. They promise WIFI for the Internet by July or August. There is a small chandlery, new travel lift, and hardstanding area. New restaurants and cafés line the north side and are very popular. They do play live music on Saturday and Sunday night, but it wasn’t too loud.

We were happy with the mooring, though a bit of a surge does make it’s the way in with a strong south wind, so make sure you have compensators for the mooring lines. The heads with private showers are large, generally clean and have plenty of hot water. There is also an excellent Laundromat in the marina.

The town of Badalona is very nice. There is a large Mercadona supermarket in Badalona in addition to all the other normal amenities you would expect. There is a very nice beach just outside the marina. The wide paved area next to the beach makes the walk to town nice. The only downside is that the town and train station is a 15-20 minute walk away. A bicycle would have made we stay a bit easier. Access from Badalona to Barcelona was very easy once you figure out the trains. A train leaves for Barcelona about every ten minutes, so it’s very convenient. A round trip ticket to the centre of the city was 2.40 euros, but if you purchase the T-10 multi-trip ticket for 6.65 euros is a better deal. The T-10 is good for 10 trips and includes multiple transfers to buses, metro, etc. Plus the T-10 can be shared. If you’re wintering there you can get 1 month passes for even less.

Marina del Badalona is great new marina with a hard-working staff and is a less expensive option to the marinas in Barcelona.

Pete Peterson s/y “Brilliant”