Marina service
Berowra Waters Marina
About
Berowra Waters Marina at a glance
Marina beside the Berowra Waters ferry, about an hour from Sydney: upgraded 2016 with 79 western-shore berths for vessels to 35 m plus an eastern marina for boats to 15 m, fuel wharf (ULP/diesel), chandlery, bottle shop and general store.
Service area: Hawkesbury River
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Operator
- Berowra Waters Marina
- Region
- Hawkesbury River
- Water body
- Berowra Creek (Hawkesbury River)
- Wet berths
- 79
- Maximum vessel
- 35 m
- Berth types
- permanent berthing, casual berthing
Facilities and services
- fuel
- chandlery
- gas bottles
- restaurant/cafe
- boat ramp
- eastern marina to 15m
- LPG swap
- bottle shop
- general store
- cafe
- secure parking
- public boat ramp adjacent
- short-stay fuel wharf berths
About Berowra Waters Marina
Berowra Waters Marina sits beside the cable ferry crossing on Berowra Creek, deep in the sandstone bushland of the Hawkesbury's largest tributary, and its position defines it. By road it is barely an hour from Sydney, yet every visitor arrives either down the steep switchbacks of Berowra Waters Road and across on the free vehicle punt, or by boat up the creek from Broken Bay. There has been a marine business on the western shore site since the 1960s, when a boatshed with fuel tanks and bowsers served the river trade; the marina proper was approved in 1980 and expanded the following year. Its growth was hard fought - a 2000 development application to regularise and extend the pontoons drew dozens of objections from local community groups worried about overdevelopment, and approval came only with conditions that included retiring 19 swing moorings from Dusthole Bay. A significant upgrade completed in 2016 produced the current layout: 79 modern berths on the western shore taking vessels to 35 metres, plus a smaller eastern marina on the Hornsby side for boats to 15 metres. The result is the most complete service stop on Berowra Creek, sharing the crossing with the ferry, the public boat ramp and one of Sydney's most famous waterfront restaurants. The clientele is a mix of long-term berth holders whose cruisers rarely leave the creek, trailer boaters launching for a day's fishing, and river cruisers working their way slowly between Broken Bay and the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury system.
Marina facilities
The western marina's 79 berths accommodate vessels to 35 metres, with the eastern arm across the creek catering to boats up to 15 metres; both offer casual and permanent berthing with power and water included. Published casual rates start around $75 per night for vessels up to 50 feet, and secure parking runs about $25 per night, with local yacht club members receiving negotiated discounts - proof of boat insurance is required for casual berthing. The fuel wharf dispenses both unleaded petrol and diesel and doubles as the short-stay berth. Ashore, the marina building houses a small chandlery, a bottle shop, a general store for basic provisions and an LPG swap-and-go service, plus a cafe with outdoor seating; earlier approvals also provided for a workshop, laundry and hire-boat operations on the site. Docking lines and fender systems are supplied, and an on-site marina manager handles berthing enquiries. The adjacent public boat ramp and car park make this a launch point for trailer boats heading up Berowra Creek or out to the Hawkesbury. What the marina does not offer is haul-out: vessels needing slipping are usually directed down to the yards at Brooklyn or Pittwater. For provisioning beyond the general store, everything must come in by road over the punt, so serious restocking is best done before arrival. The marina's development history explains its parking constraint: consent conditions tied berth numbers to relinquished swing moorings and car spaces, and stacked parking with an attendant operates at peak times. Water, ice, bait and tackle are available alongside fuel, kayaks and tinnies have been hired from the site, and the bottle shop and store keep weekenders supplied without leaving the precinct.
Local sailing knowledge
Berowra Creek joins the Hawkesbury opposite Bar Point, and the first couple of kilometres inside the mouth can thin out at low tide, so deeper yachts favour the top half of the tide on the way in. From there the creek is deep, steep-sided and sheltered all the way to the marina, about an hour's motoring through some of the most dramatic sandstone scenery near Sydney. The Berowra Waters ferry crosses just upstream of the marina; skippers should give the punt and its cables room, particularly when it is mid-crossing. The crossing precinct is a destination in its own right: the Berowra Waters Inn, long associated with fine dining on the river, is a short walk away, and Peat's Bite at Sunny Corner, accessible only by boat or seaplane, is famous for its long lunches further downstream. Upstream of the marina the creek narrows into quieter reaches popular with kayakers, while downstream anchorages at Dusthole Bay and around the bends toward Bar Point give protection in most weather. Crabbing and flathead fishing are the local pastimes. Road access should not be underestimated: the ferry is free and runs long hours but queues on summer weekends, and it closes for scheduled maintenance, so trailer crews should check before towing down. Oyster leases line parts of the creek and mark the channel edges at low water. The Hawkesbury's main channel, the bridges at Brooklyn and the anchorages of Cowan Creek are all within an easy half-day's run, which is why many Sydney boats keep their berths here year-round and treat the marina as base camp for the whole lower river system.