T
he PBO Marina Price
Guide provides
comprehensive
regional listings of
annual berths around
England, Scotland, Wales, the
Channel Islands, Shetland
Islands, Northern Ireland and
the Republic of Ireland. Since it
began in 2009, the guide has
grown from 219 to 266 listings,
which enable you to compare and
contrast marina charges, as well
as the facilities and services
offered by each marina.
We only list walk-ashore berths
with mast-up access from the coast.
In order to compare the prices
provided by the hundreds of
marinas, with varying pricing
structures, we requested the annual
berthing costs for yachts of 7m,
10m and 13m LOA, and worked
out an average per-metre price.
The sums we quote, which include
VAT, may not be exact for your
particular boat but are intended
to be representative overall.
National rankings start at 1 for the
most expensive. To help you plan
your access, we give the depth of
water at the pontoon and in the
approaches at Mean Low Water
Springs, allowing us to include
drying marinas.
What’s new?
Marina upgrade works at
Scotland’s Campbeltown Loch,
completed last June, have resulted
in the new 54-berth Campbeltown
Marina, with an angled concrete
breakwater to protect the more
northerly berths and new onshore
facilities. This represents a huge
improvement to the previous facility,
which provided alongside berthing
for up to 18 vessels or up to 38
when triple-rafting: it was also open
to strong easterly winds and had
very limited onshore facilities.
The marina at Portavadie has
expanded its offering with a spa
and leisure experience at its Loch
Fyne location. The latest features in
the £10million development include
The 2016
Marina Price Guide
a 16m indoor pool, outdoor spa
pools, a Scandinavian sauna, a
gymnasium and the largest heated
outdoor infi nity pool in Scotland.
In Wales, Aberystwyth Marina
changed hands in September 2015
and is now run by The Marine
Group. On the south-east coast of
England, Peter Leonard Marine
have announced plans to expand
into another boatyard nearby, and
are investing in a new slipway on
the Denton Island site, which once
complete will be able to slip boats
up to 50 tons.
Last year, Premier Marinas
invested £6million in development
projects across its eight South
Coast marinas, including a new
self-storage facility at Swanwick,
and a new dry stack service for
RIBs and boats up to 8m (26ft) at
Falmouth Marina, while Gosport
Marina’s dry stack was extended
from 80 boats to 148 boats.Southsea Marina was updated with
spa-quality facilities, and Brighton
Marina became home to a new
£1million fl oating yacht club and
saw the refurbishment of its West
Jetty facilities. There was also a
£75,000 pile replacement scheme
at Swanwick Marina, a pontoon
refurbishment at Port Solent and
a raft of security and equipment
upgrades at Brighton, plus
boatyard resurfacing at Eastbourne
Boatyard. Plans for 2016 include
the building of 19 short-term-let
holiday apartments at Chichester
Marina, due to be fi nished in March.
Nineteen new berths have been
created at Lymington Yacht Haven,
the fl agship marina for Yacht
Havens Group, to accommodate
an increased demand for larger
berths. Lymington Yacht Haven has
also completed a large dredging
operation and has installed a live
weather system: it was awardedUK Coastal Marina of the Year 2016
(over 250 berths) by the Yacht
Harbour Association (TYHA).
Now in its third year, the awards
were open to all Gold Anchor-
accredited marinas both in the UK
and overseas, and saw marina
customers cast 4,500-plus votes
online. Poole Quay Boat Haven
was crowned best small marina
‘under 250 berths’, while Overwater
Marina was named UK Inland
Marina of the Year 2016.
Increasing numbers of harbours
and marinas are joining TYHA’s
voluntary Gold Anchor scheme,
which awards between one and
fi ve anchors depending on the
standards of facilities and quality of
service. Another scheme gaining in
momentum is the Royal Yachting
Association’s (RYA) Active Marina
programme, which encourages
training, cruising and social
opportunities for berth holders.Your comprehensive guide to 266 coastal marinas around the
British Isles. Listings compiled by Laura Hodgetts and Roz Jones
St Peter Port Marina on Guernsey: annual berths are just for island residents