About
Forster Marina at a glance
Small secure marina on the shores of Wallis Lake (Breckenridge Channel) at Forster, with casual boat moorings with power and water, gated security with cameras; maximum boat size 7m x 2.4m. Boat hire, shop and marine workshop nearby.
Service area: Mid North Coast
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Operator
- Forster Marina
- Region
- Mid North Coast
- Water body
- Wallis Lake
- Maximum vessel
- 7 m
- Berth types
- casual berthing, permanent berthing
Facilities and services
- 24/7 security
- power & water
- restaurant/cafe
- toilets
- gated CCTV security
- overseas visitor berths
- boat hire nearby
- marine workshop nearby
- Boatsmart HQ network member
About Forster Marina
Forster Marina is a deliberately small operation on the Forster shore of Breckenridge Channel, the boat-dotted waterway that links Wallis Lake to the sea. Where the big Mid North Coast marinas chase keelboats and cruisers, this one is built for the trailer-boat and runabout class that dominates the lake: the published maximum is seven metres length and 2.4 metres beam, a hard cap that keeps the marina compact and quiet. Berths are a mix of permanent and casual, the yard is gated with security cameras running, and each mooring has power and water, which puts it a step above the open swing moorings that crowd the rest of the channel. PredictWind's listing notes electricity, water, toilets, food and a bar among its facilities and confirms the marina accepts overseas visitor berths, and the Boatsmart HQ network describes it as a compact marina and hire-boat base suited to relaxed regional boating. The setting does the selling. Wallis Lake spreads out behind the breakwall as one of the cleanest estuaries on the coast, the largest producer of Sydney Rock Oysters in the state, with dolphins, rays and turtles resident in the channel and Wallingat and Booti Booti national parks framing the horizon. Forster itself is a family holiday town first, so summer sees the marina feeding straight into the hire-boat and tourist trade, while the off-season belongs to local fishers who keep their six-metre half-cabs on the berths and fish the lake year-round. PredictWind carries the marina in its New South Wales directory with live forecasts for the lake, reflecting how weather-driven boating on this shallow system really is.
Marina facilities
The service model is simple and secure. Casual and permanent berthing is offered on moorings serviced with power and water, behind a gated perimeter with cameras recording around the clock, which is the marina's headline feature for owners leaving boats unattended between weekends. The size limit of seven metres by 2.4 metres is enforced, so anything larger should look elsewhere on the coast. On-shore facilities listed for the marina include toilets, with food and a bar immediately to hand, and the batch of marine businesses along the Forster waterfront supplies what the marina itself does not: boat hire for visitors, a shop for tackle and supplies, and a marine workshop within easy reach for mechanical and outboard work. The marina welcomes overseas visitor berths, making it one of the few small-craft facilities on the coast explicitly set up for travelling boats. There is no fuel berth, pump-out, slipway or hardstand on site; owners plan those services around the town's providers, and the neighbouring boatsheds along Little Street, including the pump-out equipped Boatshed Number One, cover some of the gap. Bookings for casual stays are best made ahead in summer when the town fills and berth demand peaks. The marina's listing in the Boatsmart HQ location network positions it within a broader group of regional marinas, useful for owners moving between managed facilities on the coast. In short, this is a secure plug-in-and-leave-it base for small boats rather than a full-service yard, priced and scaled for the Wallis Lake fleet it serves.
Local sailing knowledge
Everything here revolves around Wallis Lake. From the berth it is minutes to the main channel and the lake's 25-kilometre length opens up: oyster lease racks to weave between (never tie off to them, and give the working punts room), shallow sand islands with swimmable beaches, and channels that demand attention at low water because the lake is uniformly shallow. Bream, flathead, whiting and luderick are the staple catch, with crabs over the flats in the warmer months and the odd mulloway near the entrance run. The Forster-Tuncurry bar is the gate to the ocean and the reason many lake boats never leave: it shifts, it breaks in swell, and it should only be attempted in settled weather on the right tide with local advice. Most berth holders are content inside, where the worst hazard is summer traffic. Dolphins work the channel past the marina most days and turtles are common enough to be unremarkable. Provisioning is easy; Forster's shops, pubs and clubs are a short hop away, the town wharf precinct has fuel and ice, and oyster farmers sell Sydney Rocks straight off the leases along the foreshore, about as fresh as seafood gets. Weekenders from Sydney make the three-hour drive and keep boats here precisely because the lake forgives small craft while still feeling like open water. If you do want blue water, Cape Hawke harbour and the inshore reefs are a short ocean run once the bar cooperates, and the twin-town bridge gives road access to Tuncurry's ramps and services.