Trinidad/Coral Cove Marina

[georgereavis]

I am bringing my boat to Trinidad for the summer hurricane season and have never been there before. I have a slip reserved at Coral Cove Marina and was wondering if anyone has been there before and if so is in nice etc...

[gerry]

It's three years since we spent a season in Trinidad so bear in mind that my info may be a little dated!
We hauled out at Peake's and were very pleased with their facilities. our friends had their boat at Coral Cove and were very happy there, they particularly liked the swimming pool that helped in the very hot and humid conditions.
My observation would be that Coral cove is pretty 'intimate' ie not much space...
Are you living aboard or leaving the boat there for the season?
Trini has plenty of social activity if thats what you want and lots of specialists and boaty stuff for all the jobs you may need to get done.

www.gerryantics.blogspot.com

[georgereavis]

Gerry thanks for the reply. Could you elaborate on "intimate, or not much space" Do you mean the boats are packed in there or there are not many boats? I am not planning on living aboard, but will be done there hopefully quite a bit.

[gerry]

Well both really! But remember my info is 3 years old. The boats are packed in tight as I remember and its a pretty small marina. Coral Cove is right up towards the corner of Chaguaramus bay and is opposite Crews Inn Marina. having said that our friends were very satisfied with the place. There was a small complex consisting of a pizza pace, store and if I remember correctly a Post office!
They have rooms to let too that have aircon if you find it too hot on the boat.

www.gerryantics.blogspot.com

[Sea Change]

Coral Cove is a great choice. We kept our Tayana 55 there from 2001 to 2005, primarily as a storage facility. They have an attentive staff and small hotel on the premisis. Our habit was to keep Delilah on the hard, fly down and stay in the hotel for a night or two while we prepared the boat for launch. We spent a few days or longer in a slip as necessary getting things ship shape and taking on provisions. The short walk to Budget Marine is convenient.

Crime can be a problem in Trinidad, but we always felt safe at Coral Cove. We kept Delilah in the high security area on the hard and felt that the 24 hour security did a pretty good job. Nothing was ever stolen from our boat. You can pay more, and you can pay less, but Coral Cove is a good value. And be forewarned, Joe's Pizza can be habit forming!

[Osiris]

Well, I am current in slip 8 at Coral Cove writing this. I was here also 3.5 years ago and stayed in Coral Cove because it was 1/3 less money than Crews Inn. To my great chagrin it is now about equal with Crews Inn which has free wifi. Things are always changing, I guess.
But Coral Cove is not tighter than Crews Inn which has maybe half again more slips. But the slips at Crews Inn are graded by boat size and priced accordingly (Dock A=$.45/ft/day(monthly); Dock B,C,D $63/ft/day(monthly) water free, electric $.07/kwh). So you may not be able to get one for your size boat. There are two prices as Coral Cove - one for pier 2 (US$0.50/ft/day (monthly)) and one for Pier 1 (US$0.45/ft/day (monthly)). Water and electric US$2/day for each ($4 total extra per day.) Coral Cove is more convenient to the boat yards and Budget Marine; but Crews Inn has a food store and a wonderful restaurant and expresso bar. So 6 to 1; half dozen the other - as they say.
There are stern to slips at the big boatyards, Powerboats and Peakes, but they tend to be exposed to the swells entering the harbor.
Note: see the security warning about sailing from Grenada to Trinidad and Pirates in the Caribbean Security Net and other places. Travel in company with plenty of other boats when you do the crossing.

[robbie_d]

Osiris,
I looked on the security net board but saw no mention of pirates between Grenanda and Trinidad. I'm in St Thomas and need to get out of the box. Debating the States VS down there on the hard.

[Osiris]

Look at: http://www.safetyandsecuritynet.com/
>>>TRINIDAD HIBISCUS GAS PLATFORM (11.1N 61.7W) -/- 28-Mar-08 -/- ATT ROBBERY -/- NOTHING -/-
N/A -/- ABOUT DUSK, APPROACHED BY LARGE RED BLUE & GREEN PIROGUE WITH 3 O/B & 6 MEN; RIFLE SHOTS FIRED, RETURNED FIRE WITH FLARE GUN; PIROGUE SPED AWAY, TRINIDAD CG BY VHF