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: 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.

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 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.