Marina service
Portland Bay Marina
About
Portland Bay Marina at a glance
Modern council marina on the Portland foreshore with about 104 berths for vessels 5-18m (larger visiting boats to 30m/60t), floating pontoons, depths of 3.5-5m, power and water to every berth and double-gated CCTV security. Fuel available by bunkering; trawler wharf and swing moorings also offered.
Service area: Western District coast
- Marina type
- government/transport wharf-marina
- Operator
- Glenelg Shire Council (Local Port of Portland Bay)
- Region
- Western District coast
- Water body
- Portland Bay
- Wet berths
- 104
- Maximum vessel
- 30 m
- Berth types
- casual berthing, permanent berthing, swing moorings
Facilities and services
- 24/7 security
- power & water
- showers & laundry
- boat ramp
- fuel by bunkering arrangement
- trawler wharf berthing (268m, ~9 vessels)
- 15 floating pontoons at trawler wharf
- swing moorings
- two public boat ramps with fish-cleaning tables
- fob/pin-code gate access
- published fee schedule
- online berth booking
About Portland Bay Marina
Portland Bay Marina sits on the foreshore of Victoria's oldest European settlement, run by Glenelg Shire Council as part of the Local Port of Portland Bay rather than by a commercial operator, and that shows in its practical, unpretentious character. Around 104 floating berths serve a mixed fleet of recreational keelboats, trailer boats and working craft, with the marina routinely handling vessels from 5 to 18 metres and, weather permitting, taking visiting boats to 30 metres and 60 tonnes. Depths of 3.5 to 5 metres across the basin are generous by Victorian marina standards, a legacy of sharing a harbour with one of the state's deep-water commercial ports. The marina is one arm of a broader foreshore precinct that includes a 268-metre trawler wharf with its own floating pontoons, swing moorings, two public boat ramps with fish-cleaning tables and the new all-abilities Town Jetty. What distinguishes Portland from bay marinas closer to Melbourne is the water out front: Portland Bay opens directly onto Bass Strait, and the town is the centre of Victoria's bluefin tuna and deep-sea fishing scene, so the pontoons carry a serious sportfishing flavour in season. The Maritime Discovery Centre next door and the cafes of Bentinck Street within walking distance give visiting crews somewhere to stretch their legs, and the whole operation runs on a municipal, pay-as-you-go footing with published fees rather than berth leases. Council investment over recent years has steadily rebuilt the foreshore around the marina, tying the berths, the wharf and the ramps into a single harbour precinct that serves a town of around ten thousand people while punching well above its weight as a boating destination.
Marina facilities
Every one of the approximately 104 berths is fully serviced with power and water included in the fee, with no separate utility charges, and the floating pontoons carry 3.5 to 5 metres of water. Berthing is booked directly through the Local Port office on (03) 5522 2140: permanent long-term bookings run from three months up, and anything shorter is treated as a casual booking, with berths assigned on receipt of a booking request. The published 2024-25 fee schedule gives a sense of the pricing: a 12 to 15 metre berth costs about $25.10 per day, $154.40 per week or $516.90 per month. Fuel is not sold off a wharf bowser; it is arranged by bunkering, coordinated through the Local Port with the fuel provider. Toilets are inside the adjacent Maritime Discovery Centre and showers can be arranged through the port office. Security is municipal but thorough: constant CCTV, double-gated access, and entry by fob or digital pin code, with public gates locked between 4pm and 5pm daily. Beyond the marina basin, the Local Port operates the 268-metre Trawler Wharf, which can berth around nine larger vessels plus fifteen separate floating pontoons, and offers swing moorings for smaller craft. Two public boat ramps serve trailer boats: a two-ramp, four-lane facility near the yacht club with four fish-cleaning tables and parking for about 26 trailers, and a second four-lane ramp north of the visitor centre with eight cleaning tables and parking for 70 trailers plus overflow. Ramp day passes and annual passes are sold through council, the port office and the visitor information centre.
Local sailing knowledge
Portland Bay is open water with a Bass Strait temperament: the harbour is sheltered by breakwaters, but westerly and south-westerly weather arrives unfiltered, and the Local Port itself notes that berthing larger visiting vessels is weather dependent, so skippers of anything over 18 metres should ring ahead and watch the forecast. The marina's depths mean keelboats of ordinary draft can come and go at any tide. Fishing drives the calendar here: southern bluefin tuna run offshore from roughly March through winter, the whiting and snapper grounds inside the bay keep trailer boats busy in summer, and the fish-cleaning tables at both ramps earn their keep. Ashore, Bentinck Street's pubs, bakeries and supermarkets are a short walk from the pontoons, making provisioning painless, and the Maritime Discovery Centre beside the marina tells the story of the port, the 1834 settlement and the whaling and sealing years. Cruising options radiate in both directions: west to the sheltered anchorage at Narrawong and the mouth of the Surrey River, or east around Cape Nelson toward Cape Bridgewater's sea caves and seal colonies, though both capes demand respect in a southerly. Portland's role as a working port means sharing the approaches with bulk carriers loading woodchip and grain; keep to the small-craft side of the channels and monitor the port's traffic. After hours, the Local Port officers on (03) 5522 2140 handle emergencies and pollution reports, and the yacht club near the first boat ramp welcomes visiting crews. Visiting crews should note that the marina's booking system assigns berths on request rather than allocating them on arrival, so a phone call ahead saves circling the basin.