The main season for spotting super yachts in Europe is from May to September, you may be able to see yachts outside of this time but most will sail to the Caribbean for the winter. Many of the yachts sail out to sea during the day to allow their guests to enjoy the many toys, such as jet skis and boats they may have on board, but during the evening they reconvene in the ports.
One of the most well known spots for seeing the super rich, and if you’re lucky enough the odd celebrity, is St Tropez. Found on the South Coats of France St Tropez is an old fishing town which has become a Mecca for super yachts. The harbour in St Tropez has moorings for 1050 vessels but the bay outside can hold many more, and often in the warm summer months many yachts can be seen moored up in the bay. Some of the yachts that have visited St Tropez harbour include the impressive 52m Golden Yachts O’Neiro, the luxurious 68m CRN Alwaeli and the 58m Austal yacht Outback.
Staying along the South Coast of France one of the other playgrounds of the rich and famous is Antibes. Antibes harbour is one of the largest ports in the French Riviera and boasts some of the largest yachts in the world as visitors. The harbour is made up of two parts, the inner harbour which hosts hundreds of yachts and the outer harbour which is reserved for the largest boats. Like St Tropez if the harbour is full many yachts will dock outside the harbour walls and use their tenders to get their guests ashore. Some of the super yachts that have visited Antibes include, the 126m Octopus currently owned by the co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen, one of Roman Abramovich’s boats Ecstasea and the opulent 75m Anastasia. charter yacht in Spain
We now move away from the French Riviera and on to the port of Barcelona on the North Western tip of Spain. Barcelona recently invested around 33 million Euros in creating a 21st century marina called Villanova Grand Marina. The marina is designed around super and mega yachts up to 80m in length, and has 49 moorings for such vessels. Some of the vessels that have visited Villanova include the 60m Feadship super yacht Paraffin and the 80m Oceanco yacht Amevi.
There are many areas around the world where super yachts can be seen and enjoyed but the three listed above should allow any enthusiast to get up close to some of the most stunning vessels afloat.