Megayachts have been visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico for many years. Starting later this year, yachts between 131 and about 500 feet (40 and 150 meters) will have a new megayacht-centered marina and service yard there. It’s on the site of a former U.S. Navy base in Old San Juan, and it’s being called Port Caribe.
The service aspect is particularly noteworthy. There are no facilities dedicating to hauling, repairing, or otherwise addressing megayacht maintenance and repair needs in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico’s governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, called attention to this when making the announcement last week. “We are talking about the creation of a new industry in Puerto Rico, with the potential to impact the entire region,” he says.
The megayacht marina and service yard are being developed via private investment by Edgewater Resources. The company reportedly turned to two longtime yachting representatives for assistance in finding a site in Puerto Rico dating back two years ago. (Related to this, Padilla says a bidding process was initiated to take over the naval base.) Those representatives are John Spencer, former CEO of RMK Merrill-Stevens, and Paul Madden, a broker heading Paul Madden Associates.
The former Navy base offers a few advantages. It spans more than 40 acres, providing room to add facilities, plus has a graving dock, a.k.a. dry dock. That graving dock measures 644 feet (196 meters) long and has a depth of 27 feet (8 meters). Furthermore, the graving dock was designed to drain in just under three hours. As a megayacht drydock, the section will be open for business this coming October, to a limited degree. Full operations will come next spring.
This first phase of development will also see the adjacent marina be created. However, that will take a while longer to be completed. The marina is expected to open in 2019. It’s part of San Juan’s Bahia Urbana redevelopment.
Phase two of the development will result in the addition of a hotel and crew facilities come 2020. Similar to other marinas’ crew areas, it will have a gym, lounge, dining area, and concierge services.
Leave a Reply