Renting or Buying a Berth

Renting or Buying a Berth

If you have decided to buy or rent a Mediterranean marina berth, it is important to note that even as an owner of a berth, there are only a small number of marinas that will allow you to rent the berth out and keep income from that rental. In those marinas that do not allow it, any potential renter will have to book a berth directly with the port and the income will be kept by the marina operator. However, this can mean a rental berth may not necessarily provide security of tenure.

Whilst there may be empty berths in a particular marina, the berth is most likely owned by someone else and the marina operator will be quite happy to rent it to you – But should the owner want his berth back, either to sell it or place his own boat on it, you will be required to move immediately. Cleary in this situation there is very little that can be done, other than to move to another berth of that size if available, or move the boat to another marina. This is but one of the of several reasons most boat owners prefer to buy their mooring.

It is true however, that there are many boat owners who have been in the same marina on a rented berth for years, but very often the marina will move the boat from one berth to another if it suits them. This is particularly so in the French marinas, where the marina operator will only pay a portion of the rent to a private owner, but this is only after a typical three day stay. After that time the marina operator is very likely to move the boat to another berth to avoid having to pay the previous owner any of the rent.

Therefore, any rental berths advertised on our listings are ones where we have used our best endeavours to ensure, and have received confirmation as such from the owner, that the marina will allow the owner to rent the berth out to another boat owner. However we can take no responsibility, nor can we offer any guarantee that you will be allowed to stay on any berth rented via ourselves or shown on our listings, as some marina operators have been known to change their rules when a new local marina manager has been appointed, or the existing owner has subsequently made the decision to sell their berth without any prior reference to ourselves..