From the Travely-Family archive · Atlantic
Marinas and Anchorages of the Canary Islands
An original publication from the former Travely-Family website. This English translation was preserved from the technical-site archive without editorial rewriting.
Reference Information Canary Islands.
Marinas and anchorages we visited between February 2015 and March 2016. Prices are per day for a 40-foot yacht.
Information updated.
Tenerife — marinas and anchorages — south — Marinas:
Marina San Miguel — €20 per day—we negotiated €15 and stayed for a month. The marina is large, and the marina staff drive around the grounds in electric carts. Laundry, showers, bar.
Infrastructure: golf courses and apartments for golfers and their ilk. On the other side, there is a sort of town with hotels and restaurants. Car hire is a 15–20-minute walk from the marina. The supermarket is roughly the same distance away.
In February, it was very windy in the marina. In November and December, on the contrary, it was calm. Possibly seasonal.
Marina San Miguel. Tenerife
Golf courses in San Miguel
Marina del Sur (Las Galletas) is slightly more expensive and smaller than San Miguel. At this marina, we spotted the boat of the well-known sailor Viktor Yazykov. It is considered a charter marina. Vacant berths are rare. Charter boats with Russian crews are more common here than in other marinas in the archipelago.
Infrastructure: a small town, market, supermarket, a promenade for strolling and sitting around, a children’s playground (!) and exercise equipment.
Anchorage:
next to Marina del Sur — depth 7–8 metres, sand, rocks.
Los Cristianos — depth 8–14 metres, sand, rocks. Our anchor only set on the fourth attempt. Los Cristianos is a bustling resort with all the usual amenities.
Masca Gorge — sand, 8–10 metres. Ideal if you like wild anchorages. At night, it is just you and nature. From here, you can zip over to Los Gigantes in the dinghy (if you like zipping around in the dinghy:)) and to the caves if you head in the opposite direction from Los Gigantes. From around 9–10 a.m., the stream of tourist boats begins. Especially at weekends.
Here are our notes on our stay in Tenerife:
Gran Canaria — marinas and anchorages north-east
Marina
Las Palmas — €8 per day, including water and electricity. We negotiated a summer berth for €238 per month. This is where you will find the best yacht services—repairs and shops—in the islands. Not far from the marina is the El Sebadal industrial estate, where, if you speak Spanish, you can find or have made practically anything you might need for a yacht. Las Palmas is an official port of entry/exit. About clearance procedures here>>> and here>>>
Anchorage
Las Palmas — right next to the pontoons. Sand, €2.50 per day. For that, you can fill up with water and use the dinghy dock and showers.
Infrastructure: the island’s capital, with all the trappings of city life, cafés and various services.
south
Marinas:
Puerto Rico.
€25 per day for a 50-foot boat (if you pay for six months).
Puerto de Mogán. Price: €20–25. After check-out, a member of staff checks the water and electricity meters. There may be an additional charge for exceeding the allowance. A supermarket and children’s playground are nearby. Restaurants and shops. This has the most picturesque, pastoral waterfront of all the marinas in the area.
Anchorage:
Pasito Blanco — you can anchor nearby.
Arguineguín — you can anchor there.
Mogán — an anchorage next to the marina. Depth 8–10 metres, sand. Very picturesque. At low tide, a narrow strip of beach appears beneath the sheer cliffs. At weekends, many tourist vessels anchor here.
You can enter the marina to fill up with water.
Lanzarote — marinas and anchorages south
Marina:
— Rubicon. New. There are almost always berths available. It is located at the very southern tip, just beyond Fuerteventura and the islet of Lobos. €40 per day. There is a supermarket nearby.
Anchorage:
We went a mile east and anchored in 5 metres. Sand, rocks. Ashore, there is a beach and rolling hills. You can pitch a tent there.
east
Marina Lanzarote
(Arrecife) — new, large, gleaming white and packed with high-tech bells and whistles:). There is a Russian woman at reception. The port is considered an official port of entry/exit. We described how we cleared in here here >>>
Prices (for a marina berth):
less than 6 months — €20 per day
15 days — 10% discount
30 days — 20% discount
90 days — 30% discount more than 6 months — €15 and a 35% discount if paid in advance
Oficina de Capitania telephone numbers: +34 928 663 263; +34 648 524 649
The laundry is for customers only, but by some miracle they let us in. Washing costs €4, drying €5. A measure of liquid detergent from the dispenser costs €1. You need 2 measures per wash.
Marina Lanzarote
Anchorage:
Arrecife Old Port — free anchorage + free mooring buoys. Depth 3–4 metres, sand, rocks.
Old fishermen’s quays and a fishermen’s pub ashore. They sell the fresh catch there too. A waterfront where town events are often held.
Arrecife anchorage (Lanzarote)
Arrecife Old Port harbour
Infrastructure: town, fortress, waterfront—everything where it should be:).
La Gomera — marinas and anchorages east
Marina:
Puerto Santiago — €22 to moor alongside the wall without water or electricity—we made an off-the-books deal for €15. The marina attendant did not speak much English...
San Sebastián de La Gomera — €22 including water and electricity. Good showers. The best water in the Canary Islands. Columbus took on water here before his Atlantic passage (and so did we, before sailing for Senegal:)). On the main street there is a free museum, Casa Colón, though it has only a very tenuous connection to Columbus. But you can see the courtyard and rooms of an old Canarian house.
La Gomera Marina in San Sebastián
Anchorage:
in Puerto Santiago you can anchor next to the port.
Free anchorages in the bays between
San Sebastián and Puerto Santiago.
off
Valle Gran Rey. A hippie settlement that has grown into a small town.
El Hierro — marinas and anchorages north-east
Anchorage:
next to Punta de Caleta — 10 metres, sand, rocks.
The airport is nearby.
south
Marina
La Restinga — €13. Quiet and clean; you can swim straight from the boat.
This is where you will find the lowest prices in the Canaries for hauling out and hardstanding. €60 to haul out, €60 to launch!
Infrastructure: a protected area. The town regularly hosts various events, such as cycle races and open-air concerts.
There is a scheduled bus to the capital, Valverde, with a change en route. A volcanology museum is nearby. Car hire is available only in the capital.
On the plus side, El Hierro has free Wi-Fi almost everywhere. When it comes to internet access, this is the island where communism has triumphed:). Coverage map:
Free internet access points on El Hierro
Our notes about this wonderful island:
La Palma — marinas and anchorages east
Marina
La Palma — €20 (10% discount—password: noonsite).
A high-tech, modern marina. There is a laundry, showers, a McDonald’s, and the Capital City with all the attendant conveniences, museums and boutiques. The marina internet was rather sluggish.
At La Palma Marina
The famous “balcony street,” with its traditional Canarian balconies, is one block from the marina.
You can hire a car right in the marina, but it is cheaper to do so 30 metres from the exit.
We did not find any anchorages—perhaps we did not look hard enough:).
Our notes about La Palma:
La Isla Bonita, and continued
La Graciosa — marinas and anchorages south
Marina
Caleta del Sebo.
Infrastructure: a neat village of white houses, cacti and sandy pavements in a “Wild West” style. Nearby, there is a farm where you can arrange to buy goat’s cheese and milk. There is internet in only one place—the café in the centre of town, next to the palm tree. Easy to find. You do not need a car. There are about two of them on the island. One is an ambulance. Everyone walks; the island is small. Ferries and tourist vessels arrive regularly from neighbouring Lanzarote.
There is a campsite and there are anchorages in the south of the island; the latter are poorly sheltered.
View from La Graciosa towards Lanzarote
Caleta del Sebo. La Graciosa
That is probably all the marinas and anchorages we visited during our year in the Canary Islands.
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