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ROQUETAS DE MAR
Almeria, Spain
This venue report was submitted by Kathleen Tocke and Anna Tunnicliffe, who received a Southport Sailing grant to help them attend the 2008 Snipe Women's Worlds in Roquetas De Mar,
Roquetas de Mar, located 4 hours southwest of Valencia, is a tourist town with long beaches on either side of the port. There is a boardwalk that runs along the water for miles all the way to the port/yacht club. There are tons of hotels and apartments in all price ranges. Most people in the town speak only a little English, but all the restaurant menus are in English. Grocery stores are in walking distance of most hotels. Restaurants and grocery stores are open late. Grocery and other stores are closed on Sundays and often close at mid-day for siesta. The Italian restaurants are the best bet and there is an excellent Chinese restaurant as well. Energy bars and drinks are non-existent in stores, so sailors should bring their own. There is also no marine store, so sailors should bring spare parts, equipment or risk a trip back to Almeria.
Wind Conditions:
Wind Forecast:
Tide Table:
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Roquetas is a beautiful place to sail. The water in this part of the Med is very clean, blue, and warm. Over 8 days, we wore just about everything we packed. Some days we sailed in just leggings and our bathing suits, and on the windy, cloudy days, we wore hiking pants, water-heater tops and spray-tops. Like much of southern Spain, racing does not usually commence until 12:00 or 1:00. It is very warm in the drysail area and the club is protected from the wind, so often what you wear in the morning at the club is not what you are wearing for the first race.
The wind in Roquetas was similar to what I have experienced racing in Valencia. As mentioned earlier, most races do not start until 12:00 or 1:00. There is light wind in the morning. It dies around 10:30-11:00 and then shifts right around noontime, and continues to build until around 5:00. Most race committees wait for the breeze to shift right before sailors leave the harbor. The first race of the day is usually light to medium. The last race of the day tends to be breezy (14 +). In Roquetas, there tends to be a prevailing shift to the right as the day goes on.
The clouds along the shoreline are a good indication of what the breeze will do. If the clouds build and become higher above the hills , the breeze will usually build. If the clouds start to move off the land towards the water, that is an indication of where the breeze is as well. If the clouds do not build, it may be a light day.
When there are waves in Roquetas, they are not choppy, but beautiful ocean rollers. The waves tend to build over the course of the day. Roquetas is either wavy or very flat.
- K. Tocke, RI (x)
Valencia (4 hours) and Barcelona (8 hours) are the closest major ports. There are car ferries that run out of Barcelona – to France, Italy and other places in Europe. The port of Barcelona is not dangerous, but there is quite a bit of car and boat theft. Always have someone with the vehicle. Do not leave it unattended until your car/boat is in line at the loading area for the ferry. Ferry information is on the web. The ferry from Barcelona to Genoa (Italy) cost about $750 RT for a car, boat trailer, and two passengers. There are sleeping rooms and restaurants on many of the ferries, so bring a pillow and sleeping bag for overnight trips.
Southern Spain has a great network of yacht clubs and sailors who are very helpful finding charter boats. Prices ranged from cheap to very expensive. You get what you pay for. Also consider chartering a boat from another country. Some sailors don’t mind bringing an extra boat if they can split the transportation costs for an event. Gas is very expensive in Europe. Cars are all standard/stick.
Getting there:
The closet airport is Almeria, a city of 300,000 only 25 minutes away. Most flights connect from Mardrid or Barcelona. There are also direct flights from London Gatwick, Munich, Düsseldorf, and Palma.
Car Rental - You can rent a car pretty cheap. We rented ours for around $300 for 10 days from a European company with a simple search on the web. In Europe, the local companies are much cheaper than the big companies like Hertz, Avis, etc., and don’t charge a lot of hidden fees like the bigger companies.
You can also take a bus that runs regularly from the airport to Roquetas. Roquetas has lots of local busses to and around town that run by all the hotels. A car worked well for us so we could store our extra sails and equipment, and we were not subject to the bus schedule in the morning. We ended up giving lots of sailors rides to and from the hotel.
- K. Tocke, RI (x)
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