Marina service
Empire Marina Lake Macquarie (former Marmong Point Marina)
About
Empire Marina Lake Macquarie (former Marmong Point Marina) at a glance
Lake Macquarie's largest privately owned marina, in a sheltered cove at the northern end of the lake, with 245 floating concrete berths, swing moorings and dry storage. Full-service boatyard with hardstands serviced by a 50-tonne marine straddle carrier, fuel wharf with pump-out and a fully stocked chandlery open 7 days. Acquired by Empire Marinas in 2021.
Service area: Lake Macquarie
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Operator
- Empire Marinas
- Region
- Lake Macquarie
- Water body
- Lake Macquarie
- Wet berths
- 245
- Berth types
- casual berthing, permanent berthing, swing moorings
Facilities and services
- fuel
- pump-out
- travel lift
- hardstand
- dry stack storage
- repairs & maintenance
- chandlery
- 24/7 security
- power & water
- 50-tonne marine straddle carrier
- marine electricians
- boat detailers
- multihull berths
- gated security
- chandlery open 7 days
About Empire Marina Lake Macquarie (former Marmong Point Marina)
Lake Macquarie's largest marina sits in a protected cove at Marmong Point, near the northern end of the lake, where a northerly aspect and surrounding hills take the sting out of the southerlies. The facility traded for decades as Marmong Point Marina, built up into one of the largest privately owned full-service commercial marinas in New South Wales, before changing hands in October 2021 when Sydney-based Empire Marinas, owned by the Richardson and Vaux families, acquired it and rebranded it Empire Marina Lake Macquarie. The new owners brought serious pedigree: their sister property, Empire Marina Bobbin Head on Broken Bay, is a multiple Australian Marina of the Year winner, the first marina inducted into the Australian Marina Hall of Fame and the first in the country to hold 5 Gold Anchor Platinum accreditation, and managing director Darren Vaux also serves as president of the Boating Industry Association. The Marmong Point site's appeal is scale without exposure. Its 245 floating concrete berths fill a basin that stays calm in nearly all weather, the boatyard is large enough to handle the lake's workboat and cruising fleets, and the whole operation runs seven days. The marina's personality mixes big-lake cruising culture with yard pragmatism: multihulls and motor cruisers raft up beside racing yachts from the lake's active clubs, and the hardstand hums year-round with antifouling and refit work. The marina also leans into community events, playing a visible role in Lake Macquarie's Float Your Boat winter flotilla, when hundreds of decorated boats parade the lake in LED lights. Ninety minutes from Sydney and on Newcastle's doorstep, it functions as the natural home port for the Hunter region's larger cruising boats.
Marina facilities
The wet berthing comprises 245 floating concrete berths taking yachts, motor cruisers and multihulls, every berth supplied with power and potable water and all rows sitting behind secure gates; casual and permanent berthing are both offered, and swing moorings and dry storage round out the storage mix. The full-service boatyard is the engine room of the business: hardstands are serviced by a 50-tonne marine straddle carrier, large enough for the lake's substantial cruising multihulls and displacement cruisers, and the on-site trade bench includes mechanics, shipwrights, marine electricians and detailers, with other trades arranged on request. The fuel wharf, open 8.30am to 4.30pm, incorporates pump-out facilities, a genuine convenience given how few lake facilities offer black-water disposal. The chandlery is fully stocked and keeps notably long hours, open 8am to 5pm seven days a week, 364 days a year, closing only on Christmas Day, which makes the marina the default supply stop for much of the northern lake. Security runs continuously, with gated access and surveillance across the berthing arms. Under Empire's ownership the service culture borrows from the Bobbin Head playbook, with an emphasis on presentation, customer communication and making the marina a destination rather than mere storage; the group markets berthing across both properties and promotes the lake as a cruising ground in its own right. Booking for casual berths, slipping or hardstand time is handled directly through the marina office, and the size of the yard means even large multihulls can usually be scheduled without the months-long waits common at smaller lake slipways. For owners based in Newcastle or the western lake suburbs, the combination of secure wet berthing, a serious travel carrier and all trades on site removes the usual reason to truck a boat to Sydney for work.
Local sailing knowledge
Marmong Point lies between Booragul and Teralba on the lake's north-western shore, close to where Cockle Creek and the northern rivers feed the lake, and the cove's protection means arriving boats rarely contend with more than a chop. The lake itself has no bridges to negotiate once you are inside, so the 245-berth basin suits tall rigs, but the entrance through Swansea Channel remains the gatekeeper: a dredged, marked channel with shifting shallows that rewards a rising tide and local charts, plus the opening Swansea Bridge for air draft. From the marina, the classic lake runs are south to Wangi Wangi and the Wangi RSL's waterfront, across to Toronto for provisions and its foreshore baths, and down to Pulbah Island, a nature reserve whose beaches make a popular day anchorage in settled weather. The Watagan Mountains wall the western horizon and generate the afternoon westerlies the lake's sailors plan around, while summer sea breezes arrive reliably from the north-east. Provisioning is easy: Toronto's supermarkets and shops are a few minutes by road, Newcastle's chandleries and marine suppliers are under half an hour away, and the lake's clubs, including the Royal Motor Yacht Club at Toronto and the 16-footers at Belmont, welcome visitors. The lake's shallow margins mean keelboats keep to channels on long passages, and Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie monitors the waterway and assists during events like Float Your Boat. For visiting yachts coming down the coast, the marina's position near the entrance makes it a logical first overnight inside the lake, with fuel and pump-out on the way in and the whole northern lake within a morning's sail.