About
Killcare Marina at a glance
Small marina at Killcare near Hardys Bay on Brisbane Water, base for Central Coast Boat Hire's tinny and BBQ boat fleet exploring Brisbane Water and the Hawkesbury estuary. Established 1962 at 39 Araluen Dr Hardys Bay; 29 marina berths + 12 swing moorings; boat lift & slipway, onsite marine mechanic/workshop and small crane, sewage pump-out; fuel NOT available on site (nearby at Booker Bay Marina); security gate, staff patrols and webcam monitoring
Service area: Central Coast
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Operator
- Killcare Marina
- Region
- Central Coast
- Water body
- Brisbane Water
- Wet berths
- 29
- Berth types
- casual berthing
Facilities and services
- travel lift
- slipway
- repairs & maintenance
- pump-out
- power & water
- 24/7 security
- multihull-capable boat lift
- shipwright
- marine surveys
- marine trimmer
- Tohatsu & Mercury MerCruiser agency
- vessel detailing
- boat insurance agency (Nautilus, Club Marine)
- dinghy storage
- hire boat base
About Killcare Marina
Killcare Marina has stood at 39 Araluen Drive on Hardys Bay since 1962, making it one of the oldest continuously operating marinas on Brisbane Water. Hardys Bay, on the southern shore of the estuary between Killcare and Pretty Beach, faces north across the water to Ettalong and catches the afternoon sea breeze, and the marina occupies a frontage that generations of Central Coast boaters have used as their practical base. The operation is deliberately small and technical: twenty-nine berths on a floating wharf plus about a dozen swing moorings, backed by a wide boat lift, a slipway and an on-site workshop that has been a member of the Boating Industry Association since 1986. Multi-hull owners from Pittwater, the Hawkesbury and even Sydney Harbour make the trip north specifically because the lift takes cats and the yard's pricing runs well below Sydney rates, often combining a haul-out with a cruise up the river. The marina also serves as the base for Central Coast Boat Hire's fleet of tinnies and barbecue boats, which gives the foreshore a cheerful, hire-and-drive bustle through summer. Long-term berth holders mix with visiting boats, and the management runs a notably rules-based operation, with a marina user agreement, vetted contractors and a published ship-to-shore power policy keeping the small facility orderly. Management keeps the tone deliberately professional, with marina regulations covering everything from contractor insurance to ship-to-shore power connections on a copper-based protective earthing system, a level of documentation unusual for a facility of this size. Established in 1962, the business has passed sixty years on the same waterfront, long enough to have slipped the grandparents of some of the boats it lifts today.
Marina facilities
Berthing is on a modern floating wharf with an extra-wide walkway, catering for vessels from six to fifteen metres, with water and metered power to every berth; berth holders supply their own mooring lines, and both permanent and visitor berths require booking and a signed marina user agreement. Eleven to twelve heavy-duty swing moorings lie in Hardys Bay and Rileys Bay for vessels in the same size range, with dinghy storage provided on a purpose-built pontoon at the marina. The wide boat lift is the signature asset, hauled multihulls that narrower travel lifts refuse, and it feeds a hardstand and workshop offering shipwright work, mechanical servicing, marine surveys and marine trimming, with Tohatsu and Mercury MerCruiser sales and service agencies held on site. A sewage pump-out serves berth holders and visitors. Fuel is deliberately not sold on site; staff will organise refuelling under the marina's vessel care service, and Booker Bay Marina a short run across the water sells fuel over the counter. The marina also acts as an agent for Nautilus Marine and Club Marine insurance, arranges detailing, and runs a boat care program covering catering, washdowns and post-trip cleaning for time-poor owners. Security is layered: a locked gate, staff patrols and webcam monitoring, with 24/7 coverage claimed. Outside contractors need prior approval, registration and insurance before working on the premises. Lift and yard pricing is advertised at up to half the cost of Sydney Harbour equivalents. A small crane supplements the lift for engine and mast work, and the yard's guarantee that all work is insured and warranted underpins its repeat clientele. Visitor swing moorings and berths are generally available but must be booked, and applicants for permanent spots join a formal waiting list.
Local sailing knowledge
Hardys Bay sits near the seaward end of Brisbane Water, so passage to and from the ocean is via Broken Bay, a broad, deep entrance with no bar but strong tide rips around the headlands in big flows and lobster-pot floats to dodge inside. Inside the estuary the channels are well marked but the water is shallow in places; keep to the leads past Ettalong and watch the sandbanks off Booker Bay at low tide. The marina's position is genuinely strategic for cruising: Cowan Creek and the drowned-valley anchorages of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park lie a few hours south, the Hawkesbury opens upstream through the Rip Bridge at Ettalong, and Pittwater is an easy day sail around Barrenjoey. Bouddi National Park rises directly behind the bay, with the Maitland Bay walk and the wreck of the PS Maitland for shore days. The Hardys Bay foreshore has a cluster of cafes and a general store a short stroll from the gate, and Killcare Beach, over the hill, gives surfers an ocean option. Afternoon nor'easters funnel across the bay in summer and can make the outer berths lively; winter westerlies come off the ridge cold but flat. The hire fleet means weekend traffic of novice skippers in tinnies, so early departures beat the rush. Killcare and Hardys Bay hold several good cafes and a well-regarded restaurant strip along the foreshore, and the bus into Woy Woy and Gosford runs from the bay for crews needing chandlery or hardware. Supplies beyond basics mean a trip to Erina Fair, half an hour by road.