In recent months there has been a lot of talk about new-entrants to challenge the established Mediterranean superyacht meccas of Antibes and Palma de Mallorca and entice owners to consider new destinations for their summer itinerary. There are a couple which instantly come to mind, however with commerce suffering a global hangover from the recession and banks hanging onto their cash, I am not convinced that both will get off the ground in a timely fashion.
The first, Tangier, is strategically situated at the south-west point of the Straits of Gibraltar; making it more Atlantic coast than Mediterranean. It would be a natural port of access/egress and an obvious first or last stop over for the Med and may pose a challenge to Gibraltar. It isn’t (currently) attractive geographically and it certainly is not where most yachts will want to be based for the season. Tangier, ‘the white city’, is approximately 60 kilometers from Gibraltar as the crow flies, has a new yachting marina planned, with construction due to commence in 2011, but finding any concrete information about it has been a less than straight forward.
Abdelouafi Laftit, President of Tangier Port Development said in a statement recently “This major project will make the port of Tangier and its bay, one of the top marinas and cruise destinations in the Mediterranean. Space will be dedicated to sea fishing, which is currently one of the most dynamic activities in the port”. This stretch of the Moroccan coast is defined as a prime development area for resort facilities and is attractive to visiting yachts because of its proximity to Gibraltar and cheap fuel, allowing a visit outside the EU when that becomes necessary.
I am told that the ferry port will move to a new terminal at the massive new Tanger Med Port, which is located approximately twenty kilometers to the east of the city. By moving the ferry port, this will make the city less congested with heavy truck traffic, which will be diverted away from the city by the newly constructed road system. In addition to the marina, a new space will be dedicated to “leisure and cultural activites, which will hopefully restore to the city of Tangier to its pioneering role in the cultural field, and reflect positively on Morocco”, added Mr Maftit.
Attracting commercial investment appears to have been a key driver in the project and there is now massive infrastructure development going on to the east of Tangier. Currently the primary focus is definitely on the Tanger Med Port, which is coming online this summer with a phased introduction, with a view to making Tangier the gateway to North West Africa. There is, however, little evidence of any primary movement on the Tangier Marina Yachting development and it appears that, at least for the moment, it is definitely a case of watch this space.
My crystal ball steers me 3,500 kilometers to the far eastern end of the Mediterranean to the planned Limassol Marina, recently approval by the government, which will provide facilities for the larger yachts and compliment the three existing island marinas, which currently attract local and smaller yacht cruising customers.
Situated to the south of the Limassol St. Raphael Marina, this prestigious project is being brought to fruition by Limassol Marina Ltd, a group of developers, construction companies and international investors. There are good reasons why this €340m development has strong potential to succeed. Cyprus already has a stable tourism industry and offers an excellent all year round climate of 340 days of sunshine annually. Its location in the Med also provides a competitive advantage to the ‘industry’, as it provides easy access to picturesque and increasingly popular cruising areas such as Lebanon, Turkey, Greece and of course provides cruising opportunities to Sicily, Malta and the coast of Croatia and eastern Italy.
The fully equipped marina will have a 600 boat capacity and will accommodate every vessel from conventional sailing yachts from 8 meters, up to the latest mega and super yachts at 100 meters. Each berth has its individual supply of fresh water and electricity, as well as cable TV, high-speed internet, telephone and WI-FI access. There will be haul-out facilities, with a 100 ton Travelift and dry dock for light repairs. I understand that Camper & Nicholsons Marinas will operate the marina.
A man-made peninsular will offer a range of beautiful residential accommodation, from one bedroom apartments to four bedroom villas; a number of properties will benefit from dedicated berths or beach frontage. The waterfront development project is scheduled to accept its first seaborne customers by the end of 2012, with the whole project, including all residential property, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014.
Carol Bareuther writes (Yacht Essentials July/August 2010), that Sohia Paraskeva, public relations officer for Limassol Marina says “Limassol Marina is destined to become the most exclusive marina resort in the Mediterranean and one of the finest in the world”. A bold statement Sophia, however if the end product is as slick and user friendly as the website and as attractive as the ad’s already appearing in yachtie mags such as Dockwalk (June 2010) you will surely attract the type of customer that you will need to succeed: www.limassolmarina.com
My next article will take a look at the benefits of making Malta a destination for your summer itinerary.
Malcy 
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