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Many people will remember the spectacular sight on September 8th 2005 on television of two very large buildings being demolished with explosives on the northern tip of the Tróia peninsular.

We heard at that time that this was to make way for a new development. This project is now almost complete and consists of an enormous resort with holiday flats, houses, hotels, swimming pools, tennis courts, a casino and an 18 hole championship golf course. The developer Sonae who is one of Portugals largest companies have also included a marina in the development. Their emphasis throughout the building programme has been one of preserving the local ecology and history.

Tróia was first settled by the Phoenicians and later served as the Roman fishing and fish preserving centre known as Cetobriga from 1 AD, until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 412. The Roman ruins can be found on the estuary side of the promontory about 3 kilometres south of the marina and close to the new car ferry terminal which carries cars to and from Setúbal. Some very important finds have been made since excavations began in 1850. The main visible features are fish-salting tanks as large as 3 metres square, port buildings, tombs and baths with traces of mosaic and marble lining.

This narrow sand-strip 47 km south of Lisbon is totally unique. The wonderful sandy beach extends for a total of 18 kilometers and I am sure that you will not find cleaner water for swimming anywhere in Portugal.

The marina was in fact finished in December 2007, but only actually opened on August 1st 2008, the photographs shown above and below were taken in December. This new marina will provide a useful over night stop for yachts and motor cruisers in transit on the west coast of Portugal. Distances from Troia are as follows: Cascais 38 nautical miles, Sines also 38 nm and Lagos 107 nm.

Contact details for the marina are:

Telephone: 00 351 265 499333 Fax 00 351 265 488330

General Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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The marina reception will be open during the following hours and can be called on VHF channel 9:

May to September 0830 to 2100 and October to April 0900 to 1800

There are a total of 184 berths in the marina.

The latitude and longitude of the centre of the marina entrance is 38º 29'.652 N 008º 54'.173 W

Depths in the marina vary from 2.5 meters to 4 meters and the maximum length of vessel that can berthed in the marina is 18 meters.

The numbers shown on the plan to the right indicate the following:

I. The Marina Reception office.
2. Reception, fuel and holding tank pump out pontoon.
3. The gate that gives access to the pontoons.

There is a supermarket within four minutes walk of the marina plus laundry service, showers and toilets, internet facilities and several restaurants.

To give a rough guide re prices for visiting yachts and motor cruisers between 10 meters and 12.99 meters in length the cost for a one night stay from May to September is 45 euros + IVA and from October to April 18 euros + IVA.

The entrance does have both starboard and port hand lights, however at this time (August 25th) they are still waiting to be notified by the Setubal Capitania as to what they are. As soon the marina let me know I will update this article with that information.

This article is offered as an update and / or to give more information for:

1. Page 997 of the 2010 edition of 'Reeds Nautical Almanac', more information on 'Reeds' can be found at www.reedsalmanac.co.uk

2. Page 192 of the 5th edition of the RCC Pilotage Foundation 'Atlantic Spain & Portugal' pilot book. Details of the books and Passage Planning Guides of the Pilotage Foundation may be found at www.rccpf.org.uk