About
Mackay Marina at a glance
World-class marina and shipyard with 435 berths including 102 purpose-built multihull berths, 6 superyacht berths to 55m (4.5m draft, up to 150amp power) and 12 berths for 30m+ vessels. Australian Port of Entry with Customs and biosecurity on site; twice named Marina of the Year.
Service area: Mackay
- Marina type
- superyacht marina
- Operator
- Mackay Marina Village
- Region
- Mackay
- Water body
- Mackay Harbour, Pioneer Bay
- Wet berths
- 435
- Maximum vessel
- 55 m
- Berth types
- casual berthing, permanent berthing, superyacht berths
Facilities and services
- fuel
- pump-out
- repairs & maintenance
- refit facilities
- chandlery
- 24/7 security
- power & water
- showers & laundry
- restaurant/cafe
- customs clearance
- travel lift
- gas bottle swap & refill (8.5kg/3.7kg)
- car hire
- courtesy trolleys
- ATM
- gift shop
- yacht brokerage
- excise-free fuel for departing vessels
- high-flow fuel 350-400 L/min
- waste oil & battery recycling
- abrasive blasting
- enclosed paint & maintenance sheds
- 36 hardstand cradles
- concierge & catering
- hotel & residential village
- BBQ facilities
About Mackay Marina
Mackay Marina Village rises behind a rock breakwater at Mackay Harbour on Pioneer Bay, the largest marina between Brisbane and Townsville and the only Australian Port of Entry in the Whitsundays. The basin holds 435 berths, among them 102 purpose-built multihull pens, twelve berths for vessels over 30 metres, and six superyacht berths rated to 55 metres with 4.5 metres of draft and up to 150-amp power, alongside a separate commercial fishing section with sixteen berths plus maintenance and unloading pens. The depth story is unusually good for the Queensland coast: the marina is designed to take vessels drawing 3.5 metres at lowest astronomical tide. The village that has grown around the docks mixes a residential estate of townhouses and apartments, a hotel, cafes, restaurants and bars, giving the precinct a lived-in feel that pure working marinas lack. Recognition has been consistent: twice named Marina of the Year, a certified Clean Marina, and the only marina in Queensland to hold Fish-Friendly status. The operator keeps investing, most recently completing the NIB wall, an 84,000-tonne rock barrier that shields the basin from northerly swell, upgrading the fuel system to high-flow rates of 350 to 400 litres a minute, and refitting a cottage for visiting superyacht crew. Its position at the southern end of the Whitsundays, in the stretch of coast sailors know as the 100 Magic Miles, makes it the natural first or last port for yachts and superyachts working the reef and islands, and the full-service shipyard beside the basin means many boats stay far longer than they planned.
Marina facilities
Berthing covers every class of vessel from ten-metre monohulls to 55-metre superyachts, with power from standard 15-amp single phase, included in the utilities service, up to 150-amp three-phase supply at the superyacht pens; all leads must be tagged and tested. Potable water reaches every berth and the fuel dock. The fuel wharf dispenses premium diesel and premium unleaded around the clock through a credit-card terminal, with high-flow delivery at 350 to 400 litres per minute, bulk rates, and excise-free fuel for vessels departing Australia. As a Port of Entry, the marina hosts Australian Border Force and biosecurity processing on site; arriving international vessels clear customs, immigration and biosecurity before berthing, with biosecurity waste removed at the vessel's cost. The shipyard runs a 65-tonne travel lift taking beams to about 9.2 metres and slips single, double and triple-hulled vessels into 36 secure purpose-designed cradles, with abrasive blasting, enclosed paint and maintenance sheds, and on-site trades covering painting, engineering, upholstery, fabrication and boatbuilding, plus sail making, rigging, surveying and transport through trade tenants. Amenity blocks at each end of the marina provide toilets and hot showers 24 hours on access card, and a card-operated laundromat sits behind the office. The marina office stocks a chandlery and gift shop, swaps and refills 8.5 and 3.7-kilogram gas bottles, hires cars by the half day, and runs a concierge for catering and provisioning. Two secure carparks serve berth holders on a refundable key deposit, courtesy trolleys are on loan, and recycling takes glass, cans, paper, plastics, waste oil and batteries. Fishing is banned inside the basin, and pump-out, security patrols and dining, including Sails Sports Bar and the Lighthouse takeaway, round out the precinct.
Local sailing knowledge
Mackay Harbour is a constructed port behind breakwaters at the mouth of the Pioneer River estuary, and the approach is well marked and dredged, with the NIB wall now knocking down the northerly swell that once rolled the outer berths. The harbour entrance faces Pioneer Bay, open to the north-east, so strong onshore winds can make the run in lumpy, but inside the basin it is still water in any weather. Tidal range here is among the largest on the east coast, regularly topping six metres on springs, and the first-timer notices it in the long gangway angles at low water; marina pontoons, however, are built for it, and the 3.5-metre LAT depth means keel boats come and go at any tide. Cruising options fan out immediately: the Cumberland and Northumberland groups, Brampton and Carlisle Islands, Scawfell and the Digby and Smith groups, all part of the southern Whitsundays and far quieter than the charter grounds further north, with the reef proper beyond. Middle Percy Island, with its famous yacht-covered A-frame, lies a day or two south. Provisioning is easy: Caneland Central is a nine-minute drive, Coles and Woolworths deliver to the marina office, and the Mantra hotel and village eateries cover dining. Mackay's airport has direct flights to Brisbane. The marina fills in winter with cruisers escaping the southern cold and with superyachts staging for reef seasons, so booking ahead from May to September is prudent. Cyclone season brings the opposite calculation, and the basin's enclosed rock walls and floating pontoons have made it a named refuge in storm plans. For a working port town, the marina village feels remarkably settled, and the pub quiz and barbecue nights give it the character of a small coastal suburb.