My travels took me to the Moroccan port of Tanger Med; a port I could find very little about prior to my arrival so, I thought I would write a 'mini blog' to give fellow travellers a 'heads up' on what to expect and give some handy hints and tips.
Located around 40km east of Tangier in the Straight of Gibraltar around 90min ferry ride from the Spanish mainland and served by #Balearia #Transmediterranea, #FRSFerry, #AML and #GNV ferries, this vast cargo port is essentially in the middle of nowhere, although very well connected with public transport to the city.
I crossed the Straight of Gibraltar from #Algeciras aboard the #Balearia ferry
Poeta Lopez Anglada and was due to return aboard the FRS vessel Al Andalus Express (two former French #Sealink ferries I had tracked down and was keen to go aboard). Alas, the later was cancelled and I found myself in the port of Tanger Med for several hours.
Approaching #TangerMed from #Algeciras the ferry sailed down the stunningly beautiful Moroccan coastline.
The mountain behind the port came into view through the haze of the heat and the following could be seen which heightened my sense of adventure........
I understand the translation is God, Nation and King, but again I could find very little information online about this, hence the reason for this mini blog.
Arriving in the port aboard the vessel Poeta Lopez Anglada turned on a six pence and reversed onto the berth.
Foot passengers, or in my case foot PASSENGER, as I was the only one aboard, are escorted down to the vehicle deck by a crew person and then ashore where a port shuttle bus is waiting.
From there it is around a five to ten minute drive to the east and then back round via some large port access roads to the large ferry terminal building.
Resembling an airport terminal building, you walk into the building on the ground floor, have your documents checked and then head up one level to the main terminal floor where everything is located; ferry company desks, shops, etc.
From this point however, I was totally bewildered as the signage was in a language I didn't understand and the vast space made me very disconcerted - not least because I was now in a position of having no route back to Algeciras as my return ferry had been cancelled.
I located where the ferry companies reception desks were located, which was on the far side of the building. All of the counters are in a (very) long line so it is necessary to find which company you are travelling with - in my case I was automatically transferred to FRS although I decided to pay for a new ticket to travel with #Transmediterranea - I would have opted for AML but the ferry had literally just left and I would have had an extended stay in the terminal.
Note, there are numerous monitors around the ferry operators desks showing departure times and the name of the ship. Both showed incorrect information so always keep checking with a representative as to the departure time.
Time to explore the vast terminal.
At the front of the terminal is a very lush green, well maintained garden of grass and palms which looked spectacular against the white washed terminal building, surrounding hills and blue sky.
I wanted to get some photos for this blog however, it is very difficult to find an exit as you essentially enter a vast undercover coach park when leaving the building, pass through numerous barriers and then have to ascend a steep hill - the differing levels of the building would indicate the terminal building is built on a hillside.
I did manage to 'escape' and ascend the hill and took a few cracking photos however, security is tight and I was immediately approached (by a very friendly and courteous) uniformed officer who emerged from one of the armoured cars parked up nearby and told me to delete the photos.
At this point I went back inside the terminal rather disappointed as I couldn't explore and I didn't have time to go into the city prior to my ferry departing back to Spain.
Going back into the building again, you are stopped by security, have your documents checked and whilst your bags go through an x-ray machine, you walk through a metal detector.
Upstairs within the terminal is a café with commanding views over part of the cargo port, the mountain and the ferry approach channel so you could see your ship heading towards you around 45min off land, although you could not see the ferry berths as they were 'around the corner'.
The café is a good place to have a coffee, although it seemed rather 'exclusive' and I felt rather out of place in my shorts, T-shirt and backpack.
For those of you that smoke, there is no exterior viewing gallery and if you try and leave the building you will be stopped by security and will have difficulty getting back in. I did note however, that some people stand in one of the fire exit doorways near the undercover coach park.
NOTE
Check-in for your ferry ASAP.
I observed several coaches arrive at the same time and once passengers go through security into the terminal, huge crowds developed around the ferry operators desks and with no queuing system in place it looked like chaos and you won't want to be caught up in that!
The departure lounge for the ferry is located downstairs - the same area which you enter when arriving off a ferry from Spain.
The same officer who checked my documents upon arrival also saw me when departing. He was extremely perplexed as to why I would go to Tanger Med for literally only a few hours and return again.
I had some lengthy explaining to do!
The departure lounge is a large cavernous space with toilet facilities but little else. You can sit outside on a large paved area if you wish.
By this point several ferries were due to depart at around the same time and the hoards of coach passengers were now in this same area as me so there was a lot of shouting by ferry operator personnel and waving of boarding passes to show what bus will go to which ferry.
NOTE
Be on the ball
Make sure you are not running late
Make sure you are poised to dash to the bus as it was organised chaos.
Eventually on the bus to the ferry berth, all crammed in with no space between us, we arrive on the dockside.
Boarding the #Transmediterranea ferry was via a covered gangway.
The ship departed around an hour late with no explanation or apology, although watching vehicles board, all lorries had to be reversed on which took a considerable amount of time. By this time the sun was going down.
The crossing back to Algeciras took around two hours.
Quite an adventure to go to Tanger Med although to be fair, the first opportunity I have I would go back and write another blog.
Comments