About
Oyster Cove Marina at a glance
300-berth floating marina at Little Oyster Cove, Kettering, 34km south of Hobart in the centre of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel cruising grounds. Boatyard with 45-tonne travel lift (to 20m/6.1m beam), mast crane, fuel wharf, chandlery and the Seawall Cafe; Tasmania's first accredited Fish Friendly Clean Marina.
Service area: D'Entrecasteaux Channel
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Operator
- Oyster Cove Marina
- Region
- D'Entrecasteaux Channel
- Water body
- Little Oyster Cove
- Wet berths
- 300
- Maximum vessel
- 20 m
- Berth types
- casual berthing, permanent berthing
Facilities and services
- fuel
- travel lift
- hardstand
- repairs & maintenance
- chandlery
- power & water
- showers & laundry
- restaurant/cafe
- mast stepping
- boat ramp
- Spray sheds and maintenance shed
- keel pit for topside work
- pressure washer hire
- liveaboard permitted in boatyard
- 24/7 self-serve card-operated fuel
- on-site sailmaker (Storm Bay Sails) and boat sales (Derwent Boat Sales)
- visitor berthing first-come
- IGA grocery delivery to berth
About Oyster Cove Marina
Oyster Cove Marina occupies Little Oyster Cove at Kettering, a village 34 kilometres south of Hobart that made its name as a fishing port and was Tasmania's busiest scallop port between the wars. The recreational fleet has long since replaced the scallopers, and the marina, established in 1983 and extensively redeveloped since, now runs 300 floating pens at the centre of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel cruising grounds. It operates as a complete boating precinct rather than a simple berthing facility, with a boatyard, fuel wharf, chandlery, sail loft, boat sales office and the Seawall Cafe inside the complex, and the Bruny Island ferry terminal immediately next door keeping the fairway busy from dawn to dusk. The marina holds a distinctive environmental credential: in February 2017 it became the first marina in Tasmania to achieve International Clean Marina Level 3 accreditation under the Marina Industries Association program, assessed against a 103-point checklist, and it remains the state's only Fish Friendly accredited marina, which is why fishing is prohibited anywhere within the marina and in-water hull cleaning is banned. Owner Phil Boustead and manager John Brand accepted the accreditation flag during the 2017 Australian Wooden Boat Festival. The clientele mixes Hobart commuters, mainland owners who base their boats here for the cheaper rates and the sailing on their doorstep, and cruising yachts working the Channel, Bruny Island and the Huon. Kettering's wooden boat community is strong, and the Kettering Wooden Boat Rally runs here in the off years between Wooden Boat Festivals. Hobart is 30 minutes away by road, or roughly three hours by water at six knots, close enough that many owners treat the marina as a city berth with a country outlook.
Marina facilities
All 300 floating pens carry power and water, and visitor berthing is first-in first-served with no bookings taken: boats to 18 metres use the numbered pens at the northern end of the attenuator, while larger vessels lie alongside the straight southern section. Published visitor rates from April 2025, inclusive of GST, power and water, run from $45 a day, $225 a week or $675 a month for boats to 11 metres, stepping to $60, $300 and $900 for boats over 18 metres, with catamarans at $75, $375 and $1125. The boatyard runs a 45-tonne Marine Travelift that hauls vessels to 20 metres length and 6.1 metres beam; the approach channel and lift basin carry 2.2 metres at low water, and boats drawing up to 3.1 metres can be lifted at high tide. Hardstand space accommodates about 20 vessels in cradles with adjustable stands, and owners may work on their own boats and live aboard in the yard. Two 20-metre spray sheds and a 15-metre maintenance shed provide covered work space, an innovative keel pit allows ground-level painting of topsides, a three-phase pressure washer is for hire, and mast stepping and removal is done with a 2-tonne FASSI hydraulic crane in the lift pen. Lift operators have completed the Marina Industry Association straddle carrier course. The fuel wharf sells diesel and unleaded around the clock on a self-serve card-operated system. On-site businesses include the Oyster Cove Chandlery, Storm Bay Sails, Derwent Boat Sales and the Seawall Cafe, with bathrooms and a laundry in the complex. A boat ramp serves trailer boats, and strict environmental rules apply throughout.
Local sailing knowledge
The marina is reached by a marked fairway on the southern side of Little Oyster Cove, running between the moorings and the Bruny Island ferry terminal with a strictly observed 4-knot limit. Ferry wash is the main traffic consideration, with SeaLink vessels crossing to Bruny every 20 minutes at peak times. The bay itself is sheltered from all but easterlies, though valleys to the west can funnel sharp westerly gusts across the pontoons; a shoal in the centre of the bay is marked by a beacon at its eastern end and a stake at the western, and the scallop-shell bottom off the southern shore makes poor holding for anyone choosing to anchor. Chart Aus 173 covers the cove. Ashore, Kettering offers the Oyster Cove Inn for a sundowner above the bay, the Bruny Island Gateway Cafe at the ferry terminal, a general store and takeaway food; Baxter's IGA at Snug takes online orders and delivers straight to the boat by berth number. A limited Metro bus service runs to Hobart, 30 minutes away by road. The cruising on the doorstep is the real draw: Bruny Island's Adventure Bay and the sheltered Duck Pond anchorage in Barnes Bay are short hops, Peppermint Bay at Woodbridge has a waterfront restaurant reachable by boat, and Recherche Bay at the Channel's southern end is a comfortable day's sail. After Easter each year the cove fills with wooden boats heading home from the Hobart festival, and berth demand through summer makes early contact with the office on (03) 6267 4418 worthwhile.