This is our base. The boats you can take without a licence, the jet skis and every one of the activities leave from here.
The Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola is our base. From here go the small boats — the ones you take without a licence — the motor boats with a skipper, the jet skis and all the watersports kit.
It is also the handiest marina for a short trip: two hours is enough to run along to a cove, anchor for a while and come back. For long days or the big boats, boarding is in Puerto Banús or Estepona.
The office is at local 367 in the marina. You can just come by, although in July and August it is worth calling first because the trips fill up.
By car, on the AP-7 or the A-7: both have a direct exit for Fuengirola and the marina is signposted from the edge of town. There is parking inside the marina itself and more right next to it, although in July and August both fill up by mid-morning.
By train it is even easier, and a lot of people do not know it: the C-1 Cercanías line links Málaga airport and the city centre with Fuengirola, and the station is a short walk from the marina. For a group coming from Málaga who want a drink on board, it takes the car problem away.
Rather more than you would think. Leaving Fuengirola, in two hours you can run along towards Benalmádena, anchor for a while off Carvajal or Torreblanca beach for a swim from the boat, and get back with time to spare.
What does not fit into two hours is reaching Marbella and coming back. That trip needs half a day at least, and if the idea is to eat at anchor on the way, a full day. When somebody asks for "a couple of hours over to Marbella", what they actually want is a half day.
From July to mid-September, days ahead. The boats you take without a licence are the first to go because they are what most people are looking for, and August weekends disappear fast.
From October to May you can book almost from one day to the next, and that is when there is most choice of time. The exception is the long weekends and Easter, which behave like August even with the water at fifteen degrees.
Boat hire in Fuengirola is only part of what leaves this marina. From the same base go the jet skis, the watersports kit — kayaks, paddle boards, wakeboard, water ski and jet surf — and the beach activities such as parasailing, the banana and the donut.
That lets you build a whole day without moving: a boat in the morning, lunch in the marina and an activity in the afternoon. It is the formula that works best with families and with groups where not everyone wants to do the same thing, because each person picks their part of the day.
With children, no problem: there are child-sized life jackets and on the skippered boats the pace is comfortable. What is worth telling us when you book is the age and number of children, because the safety equipment prepared depends on it.
With reduced mobility it depends a great deal on the boat and on the particular pontoon. On some boats access is straightforward and on others there is a high step down from the quay. It is a question to ask by phone before booking, because the answer is not the same across the fleet.
The Fuengirola marina sits right on the seafront promenade, so around it there are restaurants, beach bars and sand on both sides. That is a practical difference from other boarding points: if the group arrives early or somebody is running late, there is somewhere to wait.
It also lets you string the day together without touching the car. A boat trip in the morning, lunch in the marina or on the promenade, and a beach activity in the afternoon, all on foot. With families, that is why many people choose to board here rather than at a bigger marina.
If it is not here, call us: two minutes on the phone and it is sorted.
At the Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola, local 367. You can just come by, although in July and August it is worth calling first because the trips fill up.
The boats you take without a licence, the motor boats with a skipper, the jet skis and all the watersports kit.
The yachts, the schooner and the fishing boats are moored in Puerto Banús and Estepona. It is arranged from here, but boarding is there.
Two hours gives you time to run along to a cove, anchor for a while and come back.
Leave us your number and we will call you. In July and August it is worth booking ahead.
Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola, local 367. You can drop in and see the boats before you book.
At no charge. Going out to see what happens is never worth it.
Life jackets for everyone on board, included in the price.
