Marina service
Bermagui Harbour Marina
About
Bermagui Harbour Marina at a glance
Marina in the safe deep sheltered harbour of Bermagui comprising two floating arms with security gates, offering daily, weekly and monthly berths for vessels of 10-20m with 3m+ depth. Owned by the NSW Lands Department and managed by Bermagui Harbour Marina; electricity, diesel and water available.
Service area: Sapphire Coast
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Operator
- Bermagui Harbour Marina (NSW Crown Lands owner)
- Region
- Sapphire Coast
- Water body
- Bermagui Harbour
- Maximum vessel
- 20 m
- Berth types
- casual berthing, permanent berthing
Facilities and services
- fuel
- 24/7 security
- power & water
- showers & laundry
- security-gated floating arms
- state harbour berthing rules
- daily weekly monthly rates
- diesel available
- 3m+ depth
About Bermagui Harbour Marina
Bermagui Harbour Marina is the recreational counterpart to the working fishermen's wharf on the other side of this small Sapphire Coast port. Where the co-operative precinct handles trawlers, tuna boats and charter fleets, this marina provides secure floating berths for local and visiting leisure craft in what is one of the few genuinely sheltered deep-water harbours between Eden and Jervis Bay. The set-up is unusual by private-marina standards: the marina arms are owned by the NSW Lands Department, now administered through Transport for NSW, and managed locally, which means berthing policy follows state harbour rules rather than a commercial landlord's priorities. The marina itself is compact - two floating arms behind security gates - taking vessels of roughly 10 to 20 metres in more than three metres of water. Bermagui's harbour earned its reputation among coastal cruisers as a bolt-hole on a stretch of coastline with few all-weather entrances, and the town's game fishing heritage, dating from Zane Grey's marlin trips in the 1930s, still shapes the place: the boats in the neighbouring pens are as likely to be game boats and charter catamarans as cruising yachts. Visiting cruisers consistently describe it as a quiet, well-kept marina with a relaxed, small-harbour feel, where the neighbours are as likely to be professional fishermen as fellow cruising yachties passing through. For interstate passages it functions as the natural overnight stop between the far south coast ports and the run north, and its public ownership keeps the focus firmly on access rather than exclusivity.
Marina facilities
Berthing at Bermagui Harbour Marina is offered on daily, weekly and monthly terms for vessels of about 10 to 20 metres, with more than three metres of depth alongside the two floating arms, shore power and water at the berth, diesel available and security-gated access around the clock. Showers and laundry facilities serve berth holders and visiting crews. Because the arms are state-owned, temporary berthing is governed by Transport for NSW conditions published for Bermagui Harbour (document IN1061), which set casual rates of $80 plus GST per night for vessels up to 25 metres, with a higher scale for vessels of 25 to 35 metres. Cruiser reports describe phoning ahead for a berth assignment and paying around $70 a night on the end of the fuel dock arm, so confirming the current charge when booking is sensible. Berth allocation follows the state priority order used in regional harbours: government and emergency vessels first, then licensed commercial fishing boats, charter and other commercial vessels, and finally recreational boats, with NSW-registered vessels ahead of interstate ones. Sub-letting of berths is prohibited without written approval. In practice the marina and the adjacent fishermen's co-operative precinct complement each other: secure pens and amenities on one side, 24-hour diesel, slipway, boat repairs, chandlery, restaurants and bars on the other, all within the one small harbour. Longer-term berths are handled as licences under the state system, which requires the licence holder to be the registered vessel owner, and waiting times depend on vessel type and berth size. Visiting yachts should also note that security gates mean after-hours access requires the code issued on check-in, and that amenities are shared with a working harbour rather than a resort-style complex.
Local sailing knowledge
Everything said about the Bermagui entrance applies here: the bar is trained but shallow, with the co-op quoting a tidal depth of about 2.3 metres at the head of the leads, and deeper-draft vessels should pick their tide and avoid a heavy easterly or south-easterly swell. Inside, the harbour is genuinely protected and holding is good. The marina pens sit a short dinghy or walk from the fishermen's wharf precinct, where crews can refuel day or night, eat at the Italian restaurant, cocktail bar or cafes, and provision in the town centre five minutes away. Bermagui rewards a layover: the Blue Pool rock pool, Camel Rock and Wallaga Lake are close, and the autumn yellowfin tuna run draws game boats from along the coast. The continental shelf is closer inshore here than at most south coast ports, which is why the charter fleet promises short runs to the fishing grounds. Northbound, the next secure harbours are Narooma, about 20 nautical miles up the coast with its own tricky bar, and then Batemans Bay; southbound, Eden is the all-weather fallback. Local courtesy is to give commercial unloading operations at the co-op wharf a wide berth, especially early in the morning when the trawlers come in. Kayakers and dinghy sailors use the Bermagui River estuary on the town's eastern edge, and the coastal walks around the headland give visiting crews a leg-stretch without a car. Provisioning is straightforward: a supermarket, bakery, butcher and pubs are all within a few minutes' walk, and the wharf precinct sells fresh seafood straight off the boats when the fleet is in.