Puerto de la Duquesa: a barely built-up coastline, the Casares coves and Gibraltar on the horizon.
See our boats in Manilva10
guests on the Sea Ray 33
550€
Sea Ray, 2 hours
5
boats at La Duquesa
Gibraltar
in sight on clear days
Solboat keeps five boats at Puerto de la Duquesa, Manilva, on Calle Delfín, berths 61-63. The group boat is the Sea Ray 33: up to 10 guests with a professional skipper and fuel included, from 550€ for 2 hours. Open every day from 09:00 to 21:00.
La Duquesa is the western end of the Málaga coast and you notice it the moment you leave the harbour: this is the least built-up stretch in the province, with the beaches of Casares and Sabinillas and coves you can only reach by sea. On clear days the Rock of Gibraltar stands out to the southwest and, when the air is clean, the African coast behind it. Nowhere else on the Costa del Sol gives you that photo.
It is the option for anyone who does not want the loud Benalmádena version of a hen party. A small harbour, very little boat traffic, clean water and the castle of La Duquesa looking back at you from the sea. When you step off, the marina itself has restaurants with terraces on the water, and Estepona is 15 minutes away if you want to keep going.
The Sea Ray 33 includes the professional skipper, the fuel, the insurance and the safety equipment. On the boats you drive yourselves, fuel is billed separately on what you use. What we do not offer, here or at any of our bases, is catering, an open bar, a DJ or a photographer: food and drink come with you. Decorations are welcome; confetti and glitter are not, because they end up in the water and there is no way of collecting them.
The five boats we keep moored at La Duquesa, with the Sea Ray 33 as the option that fits the whole group.
Our real ceiling is 10 seats, and at this base the Sea Ray 33 is the boat that has them. The rest of the La Duquesa fleet are smaller boats: we confirm at booking which one is free on your date and whether it can be driven without a licence.
The only boat at La Duquesa that keeps the whole group together: 10 seats, a professional skipper and fuel included, from 550€ for 2 hours. Nobody needs a licence and nobody has to watch the helm, which on a hen party is worth a lot.
The other four boats at Puerto de la Duquesa are smaller craft suited to groups of four to six. Spanish rules allow you to drive a boat of up to 6 metres with an engine of up to 15 hp with no qualification, in daylight and within 2 miles of the coast. We will tell you at booking which boat you get and whether it falls inside that bracket.
There is no twelve-seater at any of our three bases, so the only way is two boats sailing together. It can be arranged and you stay side by side on the water, but it is worth knowing before the guest list is final.
The wildest stretch of the Málaga coast, with the Strait of Gibraltar just around the corner.
Heading west, between Sabinillas and Punta Chullera, there are small coves reachable only by sea. It is the emptiest stretch in the province: you anchor, the engine goes off and the place is effectively yours, especially midweek.
With so little boat traffic, the water along this stretch is usually clearer than in the middle of the coast. The snorkelling stop is the part that overruns on almost every trip, which is why we suggest booking three hours rather than two.
From the water off Manilva the Rock stands out to the southwest, and on clear days the African coast sits behind it. It is a backdrop you will not get in Benalmádena or Marbella, and it is the photo that keeps circulating in the group chat afterwards.
Here the sun goes down towards the Strait, and late afternoon slots are the ones hen parties ask for most. You come back into harbour with the light fading and the castle of La Duquesa rising above the water.
Both leave from Puerto de la Duquesa with a skipper on board: a wine tasting for an unhurried toast at sea, and dolphin watching if the group is after sea air rather than drinks.
It is a different kind of hen party: quieter, more scenery, far fewer people.
The Sea Ray 33 sails with a professional skipper and fuel included from 550€ for 2 hours. It is what lets the whole hen party stay on one boat without anyone having to drive it.
The stretch between La Duquesa and Punta Chullera has less concrete on it than anywhere else in the province. Empty coves, clean water and hardly any boat traffic: if the bride prefers calm to chaos, this is the place.
Puerto de la Duquesa has waterside terraces for dinner the moment you step ashore, and Estepona is 15 minutes away on the A-7 if you want to finish the night in the old town.
We are on Calle Delfín, berths 61-63, inside Puerto de la Duquesa. Here is the exact location and the phone number for the base.
Solboat - Alquiler de barcos Manilva
Calle Delfin, Nº Atraque, 61 - 63
29692 Manilva, Málaga
Take the Sabinillas or La Duquesa exit off the A-7 and follow the signs for the marina. It is around 15 minutes from Estepona, 40 from Marbella, just under an hour from Málaga and about 30 from Gibraltar.
The marina has its own parking beside the pontoons and it rarely fills up, even in August. If you are coming from further afield, it is one of the few marinas on this coast where parking is not a problem.
What groups ask us before booking a hen party at La Duquesa.
Pick a boat and a date and we will be waiting on Calle Delfín, berths 61-63, in Puerto de la Duquesa.
See our boats in Manilva
