Ports & Marinas Survey. Capraia: welcoming marina but pay toilets and showers

Our survey on the Italian ports and marinas continues with an analysis of the Marina di Capraia. Our visit dates back to last July when, on board a 48-foot sailboat, we travelled from Portovenere to Cannigione. The weather was good but an increasingly stronger sirocco wind forced us to have a stop on this wonderful island.

Small and bare, Capraia stands in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea, 16 miles off the coast of Capo Corso and little more than 20 miles far from Marciana Marina, on the island of Elba. The island hosted a penal colony until 1986, the same year when the natural park was established to preserve the original beauty of both coasts and environment. It is no coincidence that Capraia preserves its original beauty still today, well-protected against the inevitable mass tourism. With just one single road linking the port to the village, the island offers more than one occasion to have an excursion inside, surrounded by a pristine nature.

Description

Run by the So.Pro.Tur society since 2003, Marina di Capraia offers about 200 berths for boats up to 20 meters in length. 40 additional berths for boats up to 20 meters in length are available at the neighboring multi-buoy mooring terminal, established in 2006. According to their size, boats can moor at the dock or the two jetties located on the right of the port entrance. The port is safe enough; however, strong east winds often engender a certain undertow inside the basin.

The Staff

Nice and helpful, mooring attendants are highly competent and provide yachtsmen with all the assistance and information they need. When necessary, a dinghy service is available, too. Assistance service stops at 20:00. The whole port staff is professional and kind and they gave us all the information about the protected area of Capraia, its regulations and limitations.

Quays

The quay and the two jetties are all equipped with electricity and drinking water. The fixed mooring ropes are all well-sized and located at a right distance from the bows, according to boat sizes and therefore the berth assigned by the marina management.

When approaching the port

When sailing from Punta della Teglia on the West, yachtsmen are required to use special caution to the so-called Le Formiche rocks. When sailing from the east, on the contrary, no danger is there. The village is easily recognizable thanks to the tower located at the top of a small promontory. The multi-buoy mooring terminal is on the left while a well-signaled fish farm is on the right. The green-and-red signals on the left mark the entrance of Fiumarella, a small anchorage reserved for small boats.

How to enter the port

The port entrance is conspicuous and with deep sea bottoms. However, the entering manoeuvre can become a little difficult in case of strong east and north-east winds. In this case, we suggest to set sail to the island of Elba. Before entering, all yachtsmen are required to contact the marina on channel 69 for instructions and mooring assistance.

The port is open 24 hours a day. The mooring assistance service stops at 20:00.

Manoeuvring spaces

The basin is wide enough to perform mooring manouvres easily, at the dock, the outer jetty on the right or even the innermost pier located on the left.

Toilets and showers

That’s the sore point of the marina since yachtsmen have to pay to have a shower or go to the toilet. Showers cost 4 euros per person; toilets 1 euro. In addition, they close at 20:00. This means that, if a 6-member crew wants to have a shower, they have to consider a +20% increase in the rate (for our 48-foot boat we paid € 125,00.00).

Rubbish collection

The marina hosts a specific area for separate waste collection. Of course, the quality of the service depends on how guests actually use it.

Technical Assistance

The marina offers no garages or mechanics. When necessary, yachtsmen can ask for external assistance.

Rates

Technical File

Feedback

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From a methodological point of view, the port facility hs been scored according to its services whose quality has been, in turn, scored on a scale from 0 to 5. The final score will enable us to establish a final ranking of the marinas at the end of our survey.

In order to evaluate the price/services ratio, we’ve considered the daily rate required for a 12-metre boat as the standard value by which the total score will be divided in order to have a mathematical coefficient which will reflect the right quality/price ratio.

Both indicators will be recorded on the pages of our online pilot book, accessible from the page of the selected port through a direct link.