Almerimar

Hi everyone,

We spent two nights at Almerimar, giving us only one full day to explore the town.  The marina is large and surrounded by apartment buildings.  Our berth was well into one of the marina channels and an apartment building was right behind us.  Turned out that wasn't a bad thing when the wind came in on our first night.  Quite well protected, unlike those on the outer berths which weren't.

Zen Again 'Med Moored' in Almerimar

Once safely in our berth with the help of a Marinaro we had a quick walk around the town.  At that time it was hot and humid and we didn't think much of the place.  We'd been motoring for a day which doesn't put one in the best of spirits!

Overnight a set of thunderstorms brought in plenty of wind and sandy rain from the Sahara.  Despite that we slept well.  In the morning we explored again and got to like the place.  The Moorish influence on architecture is obvious, including on new buildings.

Modern Apartments, Moorish Style!

Plenty of Palm Tree-lined streets

The town appears to be built around the marina complex.  The marina channels 'cut' into the heart of the town.  They're lined with apartments and also many, many bars and eateries.  Pretty nice overall.  There's a good chandlery and an excellent supermarket.  Sadly many of the boats in the marina look unloved, perhaps due to Covid travel restrictions.  The sun here is certainly harsh on untended boats.

Almerimar is a popular over-wintering spot for cruisers and there's even a cruiser's lounge.  In summer the marina isn't cheap, but the staff were helpful and a few had some English.

View from the head of one of the marina channels

Throughout our one full day in Almerimar the westerly wind blew pretty strong.  The harbour is open to the west but there wasn't much surge apparent.  However getting out of the harbour in a strong westerly would be 'exciting'.  The kite surfers were having a great time.

Harbour Entrance

Port Control Tower

During the day we met the crew of US sv Gerty who like us are heading into the Mediterranean.  We all had a nice evening meal at Mario's where beers are E2.40 and beers plus tapas are E2.90.  Good deal!