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Nassau's Albany marina

Discussion in 'Marinas & Waypoints' started by Pascal, Jan 16, 2013.

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  1. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,120
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    All I can say is that I am not impressed!

    The floating docks are obviously state of the art (new marina) and many of the boats there are simply spectacular...

    Fuel is same price as Nassau ($5.30 today, plus 2.5% visa) dockage for a 70 footer is 4.50 a ft, pretty much the same as Atlantis although you don't get hords of tourists staring at you

    But... Like many if the high end Bahamian marinas,staff has an attitude... It s like because they work for nice marina and wear a fancy emerald new polo shirt, they suddenly become VIPs

    And then they wanted to charge us $1200 just for our guests to get off the boat and be picked up to get to the airport, never mind that we were getting some Fuel! No that s no typo! $1200!!! They settled for a full night dockage... Most places I ve been to charge $1 to $2 a ft for pick up/drop off... They want $1200!!

    But most importantly there is really nothing around... It s a very nice marina in the typical Bahamian construction site... They do have nice fences around the basin with ads for their real estate but nothing else that I could see. No shops, restaurant, or bar . Channel is deep,15 MLW but narrow and very shallow on the edge. Strong cross current too. I would hate to have to cross a big boat in there


    Will try it again in 5 years,if they re still around. Staff mentioned they will likely become a private club marina closed to transients... Good luck with that...
  2. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2002
    Messages:
    20,353
    Location:
    South Florida
    Good info. Thanks for taking the time to make others aware Pascal. I'll index this thread. Should top Goggle shortly. Hopefully potential 'transients' will see this and the employees at Albany Marina can thank themselves for being unemployed.
  3. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2005
    Messages:
    14,432
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    I stayed there 1 night in November and had the same exact feeling about the place. There is a restaurant there, but it's a 1/2 mile walk from the marina. The marina is very nice, but a ghost town (nobody walking around). I happen to like to people watch at Atlantis. It also took us from 4pm until 10pm to clear customs there. What a mess. They tried to make Albany an upscale place, for upscale people, but most of the time the people aren't there and there aren't any stores or shops.......

    The $3billion Chinese project will be the one that is going to really hurt Atlantis when it opens. It's close to the airport, closer to the cruise ships, and very impressive looking so far.
  4. ombreetsoleil

    ombreetsoleil Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2011
    Messages:
    829
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    What about the Lyford cay marina? Or is that a private marina?
  5. maldwin

    maldwin Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2009
    Messages:
    332
    Location:
    Dark Harbor Me/ Hobe Sound Fl
    Lyford is very nice,but very private.
    Best,
    Maldwin
  6. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,120
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    I ve never been to Lyford

    For us Nassau is just a pick up/drop off/reprovision spot so for a couple of nights either yacht haven or harbor club is fine. The only drawback is traffic to get to the airport. Water is much cheaper there to so it s nice to wash the boat and top off the tank

    Also, there is a new supermarket across from harbor club (where the old city market used to be). Called Solomon Fresh Market, Pretty nice by Nassau standards. Plus an upscale deli food store just before it, can never remember the name...

    Atlantis now charges $20 a day for wifi (up from $15). Rip off... This time around I upgraded my basic BTC phone to a droid with $30 a month data. It s not very fast (4G only in Nassau and feels more like 3G), works ok in the exumas, Berrys and Bimini although much slower. Still practical as the droid has built in hotspot capability so that the connection can be shared.

    Came in handy yesterday approaching cat cay, i was able to pull the MIA radar to see what a squall line was doing over the stream.
  7. triggerfish23

    triggerfish23 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2012
    Messages:
    43
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    I can definitely see your frustration if you're trying to use it as a pick up/drop off/provision spot. The closest grocery that I know of is near the airport and I'm kind of curious to see what happens as the resort grows.

    They do charge a LOT for the pick up/drop off to keep yachts from anchoring and doing a stop and drop. I spoke with them about that and they said they tried it the other way, but were just getting too much traffic and not really making it worthwhile. What they're going for is an exclusive feel, not a major port. They achieved that by charging a high price for that service. My guess is that from here on out, you'll use Atlantis.

    There are a couple restaurants on site and I thought the prices were pretty reasonable. Not sure how far it is from the marina. I thought it was a reasonable walk, but it most certainly isn't sitting on the edge of the marina.

    I'm sorry to hear you felt you were mistreated by the staff. It surprises me because I'm always treated very well by the staff. Hopefully you have a better experience in the future.

    I work for an owner that just purchased a slip there and I'm happy to keep you up to date if anything changes.

    Also Pascal, would you PM me with your BTC info. That sounds pretty good and we're looking for something for when we're out and about. Thanks, Trig
  8. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,120
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    I d rather post the BTC into here so all can benefit

    Basically I bought a Droid smartphone at the BTC office in Nassau with a prepaid sim and the $30 data plan. All Under $200.

    They advertise the data plan as 1 gig limit but it s only the 4g speed that s capped to 1 gig. After 10 days I got a msg that we had reached the limit and speeds would be reduced... Honestly i didn't notice a difference...

    It works well around Nassau up to 10nm out. Slow but usable within 10nm of cat/Bimini and chub

    In the exumas, same slow usable service around Normans, Pipe, Staniel, bitter Guana. No service (voice or data) at Warderick.

    In some places wifi with a booster is faster if you need but obviously capped (100 to 200 meg limit)

    For voice and sms, BTC rates are much cheaper than roaming

    BTC now allows online refills by CC but you have to call them first to register an email address to your prepaid nr
  9. triggerfish23

    triggerfish23 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2012
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    43
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Great! Thanks for the info.:)
  10. thatcher

    thatcher Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2010
    Messages:
    57
    Location:
    nassau, bahamas
    lyford cay marina is open to the public. you pay more for transient docks but once there you have full range of the club.