East Africa’s first ‘five star’ marina to open in December
English Point marina in Mombasa, Kenya, is on course for completion in December 2012. It will have capacity for six yachts up to 30m. …
East Africa’s first fully serviced, luxury marina will open in December, its developers have confirmed.
English Point marina in Mombasa, Kenya, will have capacity for six yachts up to 30m out of a total of 88 berths. Three are in the marina itself and a further three will anchor in the creek outside of the marina, where Microsoft founder, Paul Allen moored 92m Tatoosh in 2008.
Construction for English Point and the development is underway and on course for a December launch.
Once completed, the marina and luxury waterside development will offer facilities including hotel, conference room, roof-top restaurant, casino, serviced apartments, spa, gym and boutique shopping.
It is situated on a four acre beach front site with views of the 'spectacular' skyline of Mombasa Old Town.
Its developers are Mombasa born brothers, Alnoor and Amyn Kanji. Alnoor Kanji said that English Point’s “fully serviced 5-star marina (will be)the first of its kind in East Africa.”
Mr Kanji continued:
“English Point is designed to attract cruising yachts, international boat races and water sports competitions such as kite-surfing and wind-surfing. Luxury charter services will…provide private cruises to (nearby) Lamu and Zanzibar with their centuries-old history and civilization.”
Model of English Point marina
Although undeniably beautiful – Kenya is renowned for its safari, savannahs and beaches and its services sector, which contributes about 63 percent of GDP, is dominated by tourism – the area is sandwiched between prime danger zones.
Its neighbour is war torn Somalia, and the local waters are the Indian Ocean, which has seen recent attacks on vessels as far as 1000 nautical miles from the coast of Somalia. The nearby Gulf of Aden is also notoriously dangerous, with private yacht Carre d’As hijacked there by pirates in 2008.
Simon Rowland, CEO of specialist security company Veritas, said however, that safe cruising to Kenya would be possible providing precautions were taken.
“To date no yacht has been siezed by pirates with security on board – the facts speak for themselves,” he said. Rowland stressed that armed security would be a “huge deterrent” to any piracy attacks.
Marina consultant to English Point is Ben Grigg of Albatross Global, ex CNM’s Marketing manager. Grigg said that English Point would offer an attractive and alternative destination for adventurous superyachts.
“There’s a crowd of superyachts go to Med and South of France, but there’s proportion who are more adventurous. The reason (yachts) are built is to see parts of the world.”
Grigg also praised the brothers' development, which is designed by 'award winning' architects, Broadway Malyan in the UK:
“These are brave (businessmen), fostering new modern styling…breaking new ground and raising facilities for the region.
"English Point is built to European standards….very high spec. It’s going to look very European for that part of the world, which is the reason it’s been so successful so far; it has a new feel.”
Grigg was also reassuring on the point of safety in Mombasa itself.
“While we wouldn’t advise anyone to venture to the northernmost regions of this vast country, the rest of Kenya is peaceful and safe for both vacationers and Kenyans alike.
“English Point is contributing to the national effort by attracting high net worth vacationers to the region and we expect this to have an immense knock-on effect to the region’s economy.”
Superyacht Events will host the Superyacht Security Summit in London on 28 March. Register here.
Paul Allen's 92m Tatoosh pictured in Mombasa in 2008, credit Aly Jamal Mombasa
Related Links
English Point Marina Website
Albatross Global Website
Veritas Profile | Veritas Website
English Point marina in Mombasa, Kenya, will have capacity for six yachts up to 30m out of a total of 88 berths. Three are in the marina itself and a further three will anchor in the creek outside of the marina, where Microsoft founder, Paul Allen moored 92m Tatoosh in 2008.
Construction for English Point and the development is underway and on course for a December launch.
Once completed, the marina and luxury waterside development will offer facilities including hotel, conference room, roof-top restaurant, casino, serviced apartments, spa, gym and boutique shopping.
It is situated on a four acre beach front site with views of the 'spectacular' skyline of Mombasa Old Town.
Its developers are Mombasa born brothers, Alnoor and Amyn Kanji. Alnoor Kanji said that English Point’s “fully serviced 5-star marina (will be)the first of its kind in East Africa.”
Mr Kanji continued:
“English Point is designed to attract cruising yachts, international boat races and water sports competitions such as kite-surfing and wind-surfing. Luxury charter services will…provide private cruises to (nearby) Lamu and Zanzibar with their centuries-old history and civilization.”
Model of English Point marina
Although undeniably beautiful – Kenya is renowned for its safari, savannahs and beaches and its services sector, which contributes about 63 percent of GDP, is dominated by tourism – the area is sandwiched between prime danger zones.
Its neighbour is war torn Somalia, and the local waters are the Indian Ocean, which has seen recent attacks on vessels as far as 1000 nautical miles from the coast of Somalia. The nearby Gulf of Aden is also notoriously dangerous, with private yacht Carre d’As hijacked there by pirates in 2008.
Simon Rowland, CEO of specialist security company Veritas, said however, that safe cruising to Kenya would be possible providing precautions were taken.
“To date no yacht has been siezed by pirates with security on board – the facts speak for themselves,” he said. Rowland stressed that armed security would be a “huge deterrent” to any piracy attacks.
Marina consultant to English Point is Ben Grigg of Albatross Global, ex CNM’s Marketing manager. Grigg said that English Point would offer an attractive and alternative destination for adventurous superyachts.
“There’s a crowd of superyachts go to Med and South of France, but there’s proportion who are more adventurous. The reason (yachts) are built is to see parts of the world.”
Grigg also praised the brothers' development, which is designed by 'award winning' architects, Broadway Malyan in the UK:
“These are brave (businessmen), fostering new modern styling…breaking new ground and raising facilities for the region.
"English Point is built to European standards….very high spec. It’s going to look very European for that part of the world, which is the reason it’s been so successful so far; it has a new feel.”
Grigg was also reassuring on the point of safety in Mombasa itself.
“While we wouldn’t advise anyone to venture to the northernmost regions of this vast country, the rest of Kenya is peaceful and safe for both vacationers and Kenyans alike.
“English Point is contributing to the national effort by attracting high net worth vacationers to the region and we expect this to have an immense knock-on effect to the region’s economy.”
Superyacht Events will host the Superyacht Security Summit in London on 28 March. Register here.
Paul Allen's 92m Tatoosh pictured in Mombasa in 2008, credit Aly Jamal Mombasa
Related Links
English Point Marina Website
Albatross Global Website
Veritas Profile | Veritas Website
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