Club Náutico Benidorm
Club Náutico Benidorm has been the central water-sports club in Benidorm Bay on the Costa Blanca since 1963. Located on Paseo de Colón on the Mediterranean coast, sheltered by Benidorm Island and the Sierra Gelada, it offers year-round sailing, rowing, kayak and paddle surf programmes. Facilities include modern club premises with 105 pontoon berths, an all-season sailing school with Optimist, ILCA and 420 fleets, plus rowing, kayak and environmental programmes certified with Blue Flag and ISO 14001. Around 400 students pass through the sailing school each year, and numerous race teams compete regionally and nationally. The club hosts about 30 regattas per season, including 18 events organised in-house such as the Navidades Náuticas with more than 200 racing sailors.
History
The history of Club Náutico Benidorm reaches back to antiquity, when Iberians, Phoenicians and Romans used Cala de Finestrat as a harbour. As a permanent settlement and fishing developed, boats anchored off Playa de Poniente with little shelter. In 1920 the first stone refuge harbour with a simple west-facing breakwater was completed, improving working conditions ashore and safety at sea. In the 1960s, with the tourism boom, sailors and motor-boat owners arrived; fishermen, excursion boats and tourists shared moorings. Local residents and regular visitors founded the CLUB NAUTICO DE BENIDORM in 1963 with Enrique Fernandez Iruegas as first president; Carlos Llorca Timoner took over in 1966. Initially only a small wooden hut stored equipment; boats were launched over sand with inflatable rollers. Fixed two-storey facilities followed with chandlery, engine store, sail locker, office, meeting room and terrace. In 1967 the breakwater was repaired and two new building modules added. Sailing competition grew strongly, including Spanish championships. Finally the club achieved its dream of a new harbour and club facilities, fully renovated and inaugurated in 2000. Sailing remains the main activity, alongside rowing, kayak, paddle surf, fishing and hiking sections. The club manages 105 pontoon berths, certified environmental systems and one of the most active sailing and rowing schools in the Comunitat Valenciana.
Information
Facilities
Clubhouse and social facilities at the harbour, 105 pontoon berths, sailing school with winter and summer programmes, rowing school with falucho, llaüt and sea rowing, kayak and paddle surf school, environmental area with Blue Flag, ISO 14001 and EMAS certification, recycling point and protected boat-work zone
Activities
Sailing, regattas, rowing, kayak, paddle surf, windsurf, fishing, hiking, sea baptism sessions, summer campus, environmental and education programmes
Youth section
Escuela Náutica Infantil (ages 9–18), Optimist B and C teams, summer children's campus, Comunitat Valenciana Jocs Esportius and transition into race teams