Ports & Marinas Survey. Port of Girolata: few services, wonderful spots, helfpul staff

Let’s continue our survey on the Mediterranean ports and marinas with a highly popular destination: the Port of Girolata, in Corsica.

Situated within the namesake gulf, in the municipality of Osani, Girolata is one among the most famous anchorages of the southern part of the French island. This is why it is always very crowded, especially in summer.

The highlight is, of course, the scenery, the chance to enjoy exciting underwater excursions and the astonishingly clear sea water here.

The bay can be reached by land through an arduous lane; this is why it is generally reached by sea.

Description

Consisting of a group of picturesque wooden buildings and stone houses, the bay offers some tourist services including restaurants and a supermarket. As we have already said, the highlight is the landscape, with a wild pristine nature overlooking western Corsica.

All berths, except for those situated along the quay (about 3-4 on a wooden jetty), consist of two mooring buoys. Yachtsmen can have head-on or stern-on moorings, efficiently supported by the helpful staff of the marina providing, of course, with a dinghy service.

All yachtsmen are required to contact the port on VHF channel 9 before entering the port for mooring assistance. Especially in summer, it is highly recommended to book in advance by calling the marina at the following phone number: +33 495 50 02 52.

The anchorage offers 40 berths for boats under 12 metres and 33 slips for boats from 12 to 20 metres.

Open from April to October, the marina is run by the City Council of Osani.

Staff

The captain of the port is Jean-François Luciani, who can rely on a 10-person team that kindly welcomes guests, give information and assist yachtsmen in their mooring manoeuvres. The port also benefits from a team of 3 professional scuba divers who promptly intervene in case of emergency in order to keep the port always safe.

Quays

Boats can moor alongside the quay only from 18:30 and leave by 10:00 of their departure day. Mooring posts are all reliable; however, it is highly recommended to follow the staff’s instructions, always. The marina is really small and berths offer no electricity or water intakes.

Approach procedure

When approaching the port, yachtsmen should use caution to the surrounding low sea bottoms. It is therefore important no to cross the yellow buoys situated at the entrance of the channel before without prior authorization (on VHF channel) by the port staff.

Access

The anchorage is easily accessible. However, it is highly recommended to use caution to the dense marine traffic within the bay, especially in summer. A weak point of Girolata is indeed represented by its tight spaces.

Manoeuvring spaces

Because the limited size of the bay, manoeuvring spaces are really minimal. You might feel like a parking inside a shopping centre on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, however, the mooring assistance service offered by the marina is quite efficient.

Toilets and showers

A really weak point for the Gulf of Girolata is that it exclusively offers pay showers (€ 2.00) and toilets (€ 0.50). Moreover, toilets are not alway sufficient to support the huge flow of tourists in August, which often results in long queues.

Rubbish collection

The port offers several waste collection points with a view to promoting sustainable development and an efficient environmental policy. Unfortunately, however, not all visitors are respectful enough and , in windy days, some rubbish can be found on the beach.

Technical Assistance

This is maybe the weakest point for the Gulf. Girolata offers no assistance centres, no shipyards, no winterizing areas, no filling stations. The closest filling station is in Calvi.

Rates

Boat size	From July 15th  August 28th		From July 15th  August 28th		From June 20th to July 14th		From May 16th to September 25th
	Mooring buoy	Quay	Mooring buoy	Quay	Mooring buoy	Quay	Mooring buoy	Quay
< 6 m	14	20	13	18	10	14	8	11
6 -> 6.99	17	23	15	21	12	16	10	13
7 -> 7.99	21	35	18	30	15	19	13	17
8 -> 8.99	27	42	23	38	18	23	15	20
9 -> 9.99	32	51	29	46	22	27	17	22
10 -> 10.99	41	60	35	54	26	31	20	25
11 -> 11.99	49	66	43	60	30	36	23	28
12 -> 12.99	55	74	49	66	34	40	26	31
13 -> 13.99	61	80	55	72	39	45	29	34
14 -> 14.99	67	85	60	76	44	50	32	37
15 -> 15.99	72	89	64	81	48	54	35	40
16 -> 16.99	78	95	71	86	53	59	38	43
17 -> 17.99	86	101	76	91	57	66	41	47
18 -> 18.99	91	106	81	95	62	70	44	50
19 -> 19.99	97	112	87	101	66	74	47	54
20 -> 20.99	105	120	94	107	70	79	50	58
21 -> 21.99	112	129	100	114	74	85	54	63
22 -> 22.99	120	141	106	124	79	91	58	68
23 -> 23.99	132	153	113	133	86	98	63	74
24 -> 24.99	140	166	121	143	92	105	69	80
25 -> 25.99	151	179	129	154	99	112	75	87
>26	163	192	138	165	106	120	81	95

Technical File

Technical File

Valutazione dei servizi

Hospitality				5
Vhf assistance				5
Mooring assistance (at dock)				2
Mooring assistance (dinghy)			5
Toilets				1
Showers				1
Filling station	YES=5	no	0
24/7 Mooring Assistance	YES=4	no	0
Parking	YES=4	no	0
Waste Collection Points				3
Emergency Dock	YES=3	no	0
Supermarket in the surroundings	YES=3	yes	3
Laggage Trucks	YES=4	no	0
Scuba divers	YES=3	yes	0
Laggage Assistance	YES=2	no	0
Weather Forecast	YES=3	no	3
Wi-Fi	YES=3	yes	2
Night watchmen	YES=3	no	0
24-hour video surveillance	YES=2	no	0
Accessibility for disabled persons	YES=5	no	0
Garanges and technical assistance	YES=3	no	0
Sewage and Used waters pumping and drain	YES=3	no	0
Slipway	YES=2	no	0
Play Area	YES=2	no	0
Bikes	YES=2	no	0
Laundromat	YES=1	no	0
Crane (5 t)	YES=1	no	0
Crane (25 t)	YES=3	no	0
Crane (50 t)	YES=3	no	0
Ice machine	YES=1	no	0
Electric chargign columns	YES=1	no	0
Webcam	YES=1	no	0
Hotel/restaurant booking	YES=2	no	0
Moto/car rental	YES=2	no	0
Total			13	17
Total score by The International Yachting Media	30
Daily mooring rate for a 12-meter boat in high season	55.00
Quality/Price ratio Coefficient	0.545