Penthouse Duplex with Marina Views and Rental Licence, La Duquesa

Where the boats are your neighbours

Puerto de la Duquesa sits quietly between Marbella and Sotogrande — a working marina that hasn't been swallowed by the tourist bubble. The kind of place where locals eat at the harbour-front restaurants without a cover charge, where the morning coffee comes with a view of hulls and rigging rather than branded sun loungers.

This duplex penthouse sits right inside the marina. From the covered terrace on level one you look out over the water — not a horizon shot, but the intimate, liveable view of a port in motion. Upstairs, the rooftop terrace expands that into something genuinely rare: a panoramic sweep of the entire marina, the coastline, the Mediterranean beyond. Arguably the best marina view in the area.

The layout

Three levels. The garage sits on the ground floor — private, secure, part of the property. Level one holds two bedrooms sharing a bathroom, the open-plan kitchen and living area, and that covered terrace with its marina framing. Upstairs is the master suite — private, sun-facing, with its own rooftop terrace that spans the width of the property. Between the two floors there's a small nook that the current owners have set up as a home office. It works.

The kitchen is modern and fully fitted. Air conditioning throughout handles both the summer heat and the cooler winter evenings. There's also a storage room — rare enough in marina properties to be worth mentioning.

The licence

This is where it gets interesting for the investment-minded reader. The property holds a tourist rental licence — the kind that requires both municipal approval and community sign-off, and that many owners spend months chasing without success. Here it's already in place.

The rental market in La Duquesa is established and year-round, not just seasonal. Comparable properties in the marina generate €1,300 per month or more in holiday lets. For a buyer who plans to use the apartment part of the year and rent it out the rest, the maths are straightforward.

The numbers

€499,000. Community fees: €135 per month. IBI: €850 annually. For context — that's roughly €12,000 in annual holding costs, including everything.

La Duquesa Golf is close. Finca Cortesín is within easy reach. Sotogrande is fifteen minutes. Puerto Banús is twenty-five. Malaga airport is just under an hour — and that directness matters for rental guests arriving from northern Europe.

The honest part

Duquesa is not Marbella. There is no boutique shopping on the marina front, no nightlife that would fill an Instagram story. What there is: an authentic Spanish coast experience, a real community of year-round residents, and prices that reflect the reality of the market rather than the mythology of a name.

This is a gem for someone who wants to be near the action but doesn't need to be in it every evening. Or for someone who wants the rental income to help carry the cost.

Who this is for

Someone who wants a genuine second home that makes financial sense — not a compromise, but a property that earns its keep while giving back the kind of lifestyle the Costa del Sol should offer at its best.