Observing holidays - Southern Spain

[chubster1302]

Used to be quite active on these forums a few years back (Chubster) but gave it all up due to time, postage stamp sized garden and rubbish weather.... but, we now have a place in southern Spain and the sky's are amazing. The plan was always to rent the place out  but I hadn't considered it as an astro holiday destination, until now.  The property is based in Fuente Nueva with Bortle 3 rated skies, 4 double bedrooms, 2 singles, internet, mains water, etc. The property itself is a cave dwelling, typical of the region so benefits include consistent cool temps inside, even in summer and you can walk out the back door and start observing on the roof....or the ample terraces.

Some feedback would be great from those that go on, or are thinking about going on an astro holiday. The property and location speak for themselves but as we are starting from scratch it would be good to get some ideas from the community as to wants/needs/nice to haves etc...no we won't be building an dedicated observatory - well not yet anyways, we all know how this "hobby" spirals 🤔😀

Cheers

Chubster 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mandy D]

Sounds great. Some photos would be nice, please.

[chubster1302]

4 hours ago, Mandy D said:

Sounds great. Some photos would be nice, please.

Sure thing.....excuse the "dodgy" video. Estate agents copy...

[Mandy D]

Looks lovely!

[chubster1302]

2 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Looks lovely!

Thank you, it really is, so peaceful.  Have you been, would you go on a astro holiday ? 

 

[Mandy D]

3 minutes ago, chubster1302 said:

Thank you, it really is, so peaceful.  Have you been, would you go on a astro holiday ? 

 

Yes, we've been to that region and stayed at Zurgena near Albox, so not a million miles away from you. I'd love to visit, but am unable to drive at present due to an eye injury. If not for that an astro holiday could well be something we would do. I know how dark it is at night there and how clear the skies are.

[chubster1302]

Yep know it, we looked at a property near Albox, then stumbled this one. 

Sorry to hear about the eye, that's never good.

So if you were to go on an AH would you expect gear to be provided or would you expect to take your own travel setup? 

I'm "hoping" the later, to save our costs 🙏 😀

[Richie092]

That looks like a really nice place. What’s the closest airport?

[Mandy D]

19 minutes ago, chubster1302 said:

Yep know it, we looked at a property near Albox, then stumbled this one. 

Sorry to hear about the eye, that's never good.

So if you were to go on an AH would you expect gear to be provided or would you expect to take your own travel setup? 

I'm "hoping" the later, to save our costs 🙏 😀

I have mainly larger scopes that are not travel friendly, hence the scope transporter in my signature. But, also have our largest scope in the South of France, a Skywatcher 250PX. On several holidays we have known in advance that an event would be taking place and have taken kit with us, usually just long focal length camera lenses, but also a H-alpha scope. Mostly, I would be happy to bring my own gear, as I am more familiar with it and can expect priority use of it.

Can I ask if you have experience in astronomy? As, I would expect someone venturing into something like this to have their own telescopes. If not, why are you doing this?

Edited February 2, 2023 by Mandy D

[mrflib]

Looks fab mate, I'd love to be a desert teletubby! Cave dwelling sounds great.

So there's a place to set up mounts on the roof?

I guess needs are few - sheltered from wind, good power supply, internet, solid surface. Would be good for some info on flights / driving if you have any. What sort of rates would you be looking at? Local shops / facilities?

Lat / Long would be great also for astro planning purposes.

Edited February 2, 2023 by mrflib

[chubster1302]

@Mandy D I used to be fairly active on here and got into AP, had a C8, EQ5 and was learning stacking etc but due to limited skies where I used to live, surrounded by flats, trees and Tesco gave up.

It wasn't until we were sitting outside in the Spanish place and looking up, that my interest got rekindled and I'm already on the slippery slope of researching gear....

We are going to rent the place out anyways and this is another market that make use of the great skies and peacefulness. 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by chubster1302

[Mandy D]

1 minute ago, chubster1302 said:

I used to be fairly active on here and got into AP, had a C8, EQ5 and was learning stacking etc but due to limited skies where I used to live, surrounded by flats, trees and Tesco gave up.

It wasn't until we were sitting outside in the Spanish place and looking up, that my interest got rekindled and I'm already on the slippery slope of researching gear....

We are going to rent the place out anyways and this is another market that make use of the great skies and peacefulness. 

 

Nice! So, you'll eventually have some gear there anyway from the sound of it.

[chubster1302]

4 minutes ago, mrflib said:

Looks fab mate, I'd love to be a desert teletubby! Cave dwelling sounds great.

So there's a place to set up mounts on the roof?

I guess needs are few - sheltered from wind, good power supply, internet, solid surface. Would be good for some info on flights / driving if you have any. What sort of rates would you be looking at? Local shops / facilities?

Lat / Long would be great also for astro planning purposes.

👍

Plenty of places to setup, either on the roof, the large concrete drive, or the land to the right of the house.

With regards internet, being rural it's not fibre optic, we get speeds upto 30mb. Being out of the game for a few years can I ask if internet is needed "at the scope", not an issue if it is, just helps with my future planning.

We are about an 1hr and a half to 2 hours from the airports, dependant on which you fly into and my plan would be to include car rental.

Nearest town is Orce, about a 7 min drive, which has basic supplies, Spar, couple of bars, restaurants etc. With Baza being about 30 mins away, large supermarkets etc.

Haven't even thought about rates yet to be honest, still got to get the tourist licence which we hope to sort later this month. 

[mrflib]

Some pretty weather graphs for you here mate if you want to whack that on your website when you make it https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/spain/fuente-nueva-climate#wind

 

30mb more than enough, it's just good to have. Not needed at the scope.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by mrflib