Kids' favorite marinas/anchorages

For the kids, their favorite marinas and anchorages are rated on proximity to ice cream, internet, and swimming, although I try to make them also conveniently close to interesting historical/cultural/nature sights (and inexpensive).  So for any other families cruising with kids, below is a list of all our anchorages/marinas and how the kids rated them.  In some cases, the notes on internet access are only applicable if you have a wifi booster.

Azores

 ·   Horta marina on Faial – easy walk to town for gelato next to Peters Sport Café, great kid’s swimming beach at Porto Pim just a few blocks further. Convenient car rental for trips to trips to museums & hiking, several museums in walking distance. Spotty internet.

 ·   Angra do Heroismo marina on Terceira – good kid’s swimming beach an easy walk through the marina to the north. Easy walk to churches & museums.  Good internet.

 ·   Ponta Delgada marina on Sao Miguel – pretty industrial but looked like a good pool south of the marina above the boardwalk, although we didn’t have a chance to try it. Convenient car rental for island field trips. Some sights in walking distance.  Good internet.

 ·   Santa Maria marina – pretty and simple marina, great swimming and waves at Praia do Formosa, but you have to take ½ hr bus or taxi to get there.  A good hoof uphill into town.  Small island, so we arranged taxi drop off/pickups instead of renting a car.  Good internet.

Portugal

 ·   Oeiras marina near Lisbon – nice marina with ice cream cafes on the dock and a free salt-water swimming pool (huge kid points) an easy walk just above the marina.  Good internet.  A bit of a hike/train ride to Lisbon, but swimming pool made up for it.

 ·   Parc do Nacoes marina in Lisbon – I liked the quiet, heavenly showers and the super-helpful marina staff, but not much for kids. Like a ghost town (combination of overenthusiastic Spanish construction boom and local boats go south to Algarve for August vacation?).  Close to Oceanarium and Vasco de Gama shopping mall (good for replacing clothes/shoes and a big walmart-ish grocery/household store for other provisioning). Spotty internet.

 ·   Cascais anchorage – we didn’t go ashore but kids enjoyed the rock concert and fireworks from the boat. Good internet.

 ·   Sines anchorage– nice beach for kids, but fairly industrial port, not quite the ambiance of other places. Quite a few boats anchored in the little harbor and in the marina too. No internet.

 ·   Sangres anchorage – we had a huge offshore wind and big swells, so not good for us, although beach looked good if the conditions were better.  Only a few other boats were toughing it out with us. No internet.

 ·   Lagos marina – not much for kids in or around the (expensive) marina, but they liked taking the dinghy to the beaches west of town and walking from beach to beach through the tunnels in the cliffs.  Big grocery store an easy walk from the marina, which is great for provisioning.  Lots of boats, but mostly in storage and not as many people as I would have thought for a marina that size. Spotty internet.

 ·   Isla de Culatra anchorage – kid favorite – they absolutely loved the beach – beautiful sand and shells, perfect for swimming, great fun to play in the outgoing tide at the eastern end of the spit, and then wade out onto the sand bars at low tide.  Very popular anchorage - lots of other sail and pleasure boats.  Very fast internet.

Spain

 ·   Guadalquivir River anchorage just past Sanlucar – we didn’t go ashore so no points on the kid-scale, but I loved it.  Sailed up the river past the horse races being set up on the beach at Sanlucar, then anchored out of the shipping channel (fun to watch the ships going downriver and see where they were going on AIS), woke up to the sounds of all the birds in the Donana National Park, and watched the fishermen coming home from a night out fishing.  No other sailboats anchored here.  No internet.

 ·   Barbate – no kid points scored…marina is far from town/beach…but inexpensive and great showers.  Also very empty and quiet with empty buildings. No internet.

 ·   La Linea Alcaidesa marina at Gibraltar – first time we’ve had to pay for internet, but very inexpensive marina.  Room to run for kids, but a hike to supermarket.

 ·   Ceuta marina (Spanish enclave in Morocco) – very quiet marina, no internet, but right next door is an amazing maritime park with half a dozen beautiful salt-water swimming pools surrounded by lush landscaping, with quite a few restaurants tucked in the corners.  Freezing water though, only our sea-dog Maggie swam.

·    Caleta de Velez marina - ghost marina, even on a Saturday night.  Just us and a couple locals, a lot of deserted-looking boats, fishing fleet, hundreds of seagulls (pee yew!) and a few stray cats. 
·    Almirimar marina - perfect place to have the prop break.  Not much in the way of culture nearby, but nice clean marina with internet, nearby supermarket, restaurants, chandlery and boat lift.   Easy walk to a pebbly beach/ice cream shops to the west.  We dragged the kids on the bus to the "big" nearby weekly market in El Ejido but wasn't really worth it - mostly clothes and much easier to just hit the local supermarket. 

·    Cartagena - family favorite...great cultural sights, nearby supermarkets, ice cream and room to run.  Also great place to watch the big ships load/unload and cruise ships.  We were in the marina to the south...a bit rolly, but for a big boat better than being in the north marina where we would have been right on the main walkway with no privacy.  Go during the Roman and Carthiginian festival in September if you can - it's awesome!
·    Ensenada de Xarraca on Ibiza, Balearics - a good anchorage if the wind is from the east, looked like a good walking trail and restaurant on shore.  Unfortunately, we had the wind from the northwest, so it was a bit roll-y and we didn't venture to land.

Italy
·    Palermo, Sicily - no kid points for the marina.  We were stern-to on the south mole (mole sud) in the main Palermo harbor.  Very helpful staff, but definitely a bit more rustic than other marinas we've been to in the past, with shared mens/womens bathroom/shower and a long walk into the more gritty section of town.  Laundry service was 5 Euros per kg, so we humped it all to the "delfino blu lavanderia" in town."  High point for the kids is the marionette museum near end of south mole and marionette theater in town.
·    La Buena Fonda, Lipari, Aeolian Islands - there are three docks in town, and all had people waving to us trying to encourage us to go to theirs.  One of the benefits of visiting off-season!  We took the one we happened to be heading for:  La Buena Fonda, closest to the ferry dock.  Go stern-to on the end if you have an option, will avoid rolling side to side from ferry wash. Easy bus or taxi ride from town north to a good pebbly swimming beach. Big hit with the kids after a long time without beaches. 
·    Stromboli, Aeolian Islands - we anchored just east of the mooring balls, then took the dinghy to shore.  Rocky little beach, but fine for kids.  No internet.
·    Taurmina, Sicily - we anchored below the town off of Gardini Naxos.  Good long but rocky beach for kids.  No internet on the north side of the cove, but we found it by moving to the south.

Greece
·    Argostoli town quay, Kefallonia (Ionian Islands) - no beach, cafes with ice cream, internet through ships agent on quay.
·    Messolongi - sizeable overwintering crowd, but not much for kids although cafe in marina had ice cream.  Several small city museums although we didn't try them out.  Looked like there was a trail along the channel to see flamingos in wetlands that could have been fun for kids.
·    Galaxidi - great little anchorage just off of the town with many little beaches for kids, ice cream in town, nice walk through hillside park, small maritime museum, and internet.  Easy taxi ride to Delphi.  Definitely a family favorite.
·    Zea Marina in Athens - very helpful staff, but worst internet connection we've had all trip so thumbs down from the kids.  Carrefour next to marina for provisions, easy walk/train ride into Athens.  The new Acropolis and National Archeological Museums are great, particularly the new shipwreck exhibit at the later.  Acropolis Museum store had an English book on "Greek Pottery: a culture captured in clay" that is perfect for kids.
·    Aegina - we anchored just outside the main town harbor and rented a car (less expensive than taxi and far more convenient than winter bus schedule) to visit Temple of Aphaia and Byzantine village.  Kids loved the scramble through the abandoned village. 
·   Sounion - we actually were heading for southern Evia, but the wind shifted and picked up, making the beat across Kolpos Petalion hopeless.  Sounion was the perfect spot to wait it out, nice little beaches and a scramble up the hillside to the Temple of Poseidon. 
·    Paros (next to Naxos) - marina is small but perfect if you can get a spot.  Hands down family favorite.  Very pedestrian-friends waterfront, so kids could walk by themselves to get ice cream, and down a little trail by the water to a perfect beach where we could still see them from the boat.  Good restaurants, fast internet, little grocery stores, and inexpensive car rentals.  Great hike down the Byzantine Road from Lefkes to Prodomos, taxi back to car in Lefkes.  Very glad we Googled it first...hard to find start of trail.  Only drawback was the mega-yacht that came in during the bad weather and put his anchor chains (and bow) across the entrance to the marina, shutting out anyone else looking for safe harbor.

·    Amorgos - anchored in the head of the inlet.  Good ice cream and internet, we all loved the hike from the  monastery to Podromos (we did taxis on either end). Good bookstore in town with puzzles for kids and trail maps. 

·    Astipalya - we just anchored in the dark deserted Vathi inlet. Great shelter and great starwatching to the sounds of goat bells dinging all around. 

·    Nisyros - tied up in Mandraki, marginal internet, tiny little beach but works. Great island though...rented a car and kids loved the trip to the crater (hike around the one in the middle and up to the one on the hillside) and the black volcanic sand of Pali beach. 

·    Symi - bought a trail map and kids enjoyed the mountaintop hikes to old ruins and tiny churches.  The beach at the end of the road north of town wasn't that great, and we didn't have a chance to try any others...too busy dealing with med moor anchoring nightmares...anchor refused to hold and then got stuck twice - once on the fishing boat's anchor rope which stretched across the entire harbor, and then on a huge old ship chain. Luckily John was able to dive down and free it and our second anchor finally held, just in time for the NW gale. 

---then we went to Turkey---rest of list below is after our winter in Turkey/Israel.

·    Ios - great internet, nice little town quay with a mini-Carrefour grocery store, kids LOVED the beach within easy walking distance. 

·    Serifos - beautiful long beach next to the pier, but the first day we had a big swell coming into the harbor that kept threatening to pop our fenders out from between us and the too-short pier (we were alongside instead of stern-to).  We put out an extra anchor from the side which helped (but then got stuck on a derelict chain, John dove down to free it).

·    Epidavrous - least favorite stop in a long time.  Beach was trash filled (including a pig head), and the mooring rings were so rusted one of them actually broke as we tried to moor and the rest were close to breaking too.  Can't imagine what it will look like in high season filled with charter boats trying to find things to tie to. 

·    Poros - no beach, but kids loved the ice cream store on the waterfront and the ridge-top hike behind the beautiful town.  We were there early season and had a prime alongside spot on the pier. 

·    Hydra - no beach, but an absolutely beautiful town with good ice cream and internet.  We lucked out and had fairly calm weather (we've heard horror stories of being there in bouncy conditions).  Tough anchoring...took us a couple tries and boat next to us got stuck and had to dive to free their anchor.  Only drawback is that Hydra's reputation attracts powerboats...including the obnoxious powerboat next to us who ran his generator non-stop and gassed us out (insisted it was his country and he could do whatever he wanted), and the mega-yacht that loomed over us on the last day.

·    Porto Kheli - not that nice of a town compared to other Greek island towns, but good solid anchor holding, which is worth a lot! 

·    Koiladia - great anchor holding, and a nicer bay than Porto Kheli.  Mesolithic cave to explore, and two good beaches nearby.

·    Monemvasia - good ice cream in town, good internet, and we were tied alongside in the quasi-marina south of the causeway.  Nice big dock for kids to play on, and great walk to old city and hike to top of hill.  Family favorite.

·    Porto Kagio - we didn't go to shore, but it was a good stopping point between Monemvasia and Kalamata.

·    Kalamata - nice secure marina and a great jumping off point for exploring Sparta, Mystra and the Mani peninsula.  Kids loved the olive oil museum in Sparta (we skipped the rest of the ruins and went to Mystra instead) and the Diros Caves at the end of the Mani peninsula (warning, long drive!).

·    Pylos - anchored near the north end...only good anchorage in settled weather.  Nice beach, no internet or ice cream.

 

Turkey

·    Yacht Marina, Marmaris - we picked this one for overwintering because it was non-Schengen (meaning we wouldn't overstay our visa for the Schengen countries, which include most of the EU countries), and it was the only one we found with kids.  Lots of room for kids to play, great place to get things fixed, and nice hiking nearby. 

·    Bozuk Buku - nice little anchorage where we holed up for a night on our way back to Greece.

Israel

·    Ashkelon - Israel only has 6 marinas, and we picked this one because it's an official port of entry/exit, was inexpensive, was well-located near Dead Sea, Jerusalem and Petra, and the only one to return our e-mails requesting a berth.  Great beaches for swimming nearby, good internet, and fairly quiet, only drawback was the dodgy bathrooms.

 

Montenegro

·    Kotor - our only stop in Montenegro. 

 

Croatia -  kids are tired of towns, no matter how beautiful they are, so we focused on finding secluded bays where we could putter along the shoreline (while also avoiding expensive private bays.)  Only places we found internet were in Vis, Pula, and Marinkovac.

·    Lupud - anchored in Uvula Lupud. Nice little bay with beautiful town (despite the big hotel on the end). Kids liked the pizza place with ice cream on shore.

·    Korcula - We anchored in Uvula Kneza, then refueled from the dock opposite Otok Badija, messy affair with diesel leaking badly from the pump.

·    Vis - anchored off of Kut, next to town of Vis.  Lot of floating trash. Didn't pay to anchor, but had to track down a voucher from a store in town and pay to get internet. 

·    Kakan - we had a mooring ball in Uvula Potkucina, 250 kuna regardless of whether you anchor or use a ball.  Pretty trashy shoreline.

·    Molat - anchored in the little notch just barely outside of Luka Jazi.  Trash and tar ball covered shoreline, but nice to hear the church bells from the boat.  

·    Unije - anchored off the town in Luka Unije.  Super beautiful town.

·    Pula/Marina Veruda - not a bad place to reprovision, do laundry and get camping gas (76 Euros/night).  Marina internet wasn't working, but we had it through the Park Plaza hotel, but only because we had rented a room there anyway for a few hours to get a solid phone connection for an interview.

·    Raza Zaljev - anchored in mud behind the defunct shellfish farm across from Uvula Teplica so we could meet up with our Slovenian friends.  Nice little beach and freshwater streams.

·    Silba

·    Zut

·    Zirje - one of our favorite anchorages.  We had a mooring ball (200 kuna) in Uvala Stupica Vela and had a fantastic walk to the castle ruins 5 minutes above the bay.

·    Hvar - we anchored in Uvula Zdrilca next to Otok Marinkovac in the Pakleni Islands.  Great secluded spot to explore shorelines, and easy dinghy ride to Hvar town for groceries and exit customs.