Marina service
South Haven Marina
About
South Haven Marina at a glance
Marina in the Kingborough municipality south of Hobart listed among Tasmania's popular harbours. Located on Little Oyster Cove at Ferry Rd, Kettering, right next to the Bruny Island ferry terminal; floating pontoons with power and water accommodating about 50 vessels; visitor information centre and waterfront cafe (Mermaid Cafe) on site; no slipway or marine services - travel lift and hardstand available across the bay at Oyster Cove Marina
Service area: Kingborough
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Region
- Kingborough
- Water body
- D'Entrecasteaux Channel
- Wet berths
- 50
Facilities and services
- power & water
- restaurant/cafe
- Visitor information centre adjacent
- Mermaid Cafe on site
- MAST public jetty with 3-day berthing zones nearby
- 24-hour card-operated fuel at adjacent Kettering Marina berth
About South Haven Marina
South Haven Marina is the smaller and older of the two marinas sharing Little Oyster Cove at Kettering, a cluster of floating pontoons on the southern shore of the bay beside the Bruny Island ferry terminal. Where Oyster Cove Marina across the water runs 300 pens and a full boatyard, South Haven keeps about 50 vessels and trades on simplicity and position: step off the pontoon and you are metres from the ferry, the visitor information centre and the Mermaid Cafe, with the D'Entrecasteaux Channel opening out directly in front of the marina. That position has made it a favourite with Tasmania's wooden boat fraternity. Owners interviewed by the Australian Wooden Boat Festival describe keeping classic yachts here precisely because it sits right on the Channel, and both South Haven and Oyster Cove Marina, along with the Oyster Cove Chandlery, have been long-term supporters of the festival and the Kettering Wooden Boat Rally, which the Kettering Yacht Club and the Wooden Boat Guild run in the festival's off years. Kettering itself was Tasmania's busiest scallop port between the wars, and although pleasure craft have long replaced the fishing fleet, the bay still holds around 250 registered moorings and a combined capacity past 600 boats once the marinas and private jetties are counted. The marina has no slipway or repair facilities of its own, a gap its owners cheerfully acknowledge by pointing across the cove, where Oyster Cove's 45-tonne travel lift and hardstand handle whatever their berth holders need hauled. Lower berth costs than Hobart and immediate access to the Channel's anchorages keep demand steady from both local and interstate owners.
Marina facilities
The marina's offer is straightforward: floating pontoon berths for about 50 vessels, each with power and water, available for casual stays and long-term occupancy. Berths are in short supply and the operators and the Coastal Cruising Club alike advise contacting the marina well in advance on (03) 6267 5006 rather than arriving speculatively. There is no travel lift, hardstand, fuel berth or chandlery on site; for slipping, owners use the 45-tonne travel lift, spray sheds and hardstand at Oyster Cove Marina on the opposite side of Little Oyster Cove, and diesel and unleaded are available around the clock from Oyster Cove's self-serve fuel wharf or from the card-operated Kettering Marina fuel berth beside the public jetty. What South Haven does have at its gate is Kettering's shoreside hub. The Mermaid Cafe serves breakfast and lunch to berth holders and ferry queues alike, and the visitor information centre alongside the Bruny Island Gateway Cafe in the ferry terminal books local accommodation and tours. The landmark Oyster Cove Inn, a former grazier's residence at the eastern end of the bay, provides a licensed meal within walking distance, and a general store and takeaway shops serve the village. The MAST-owned Kettering public jetty, a 232-square-metre concrete structure with an aluminium walkway to pontoon berths, sits close by on Ferry Road for load and unload work, with red-marked restricted zones allowing stays of up to three days. Showers and laundry are not advertised at the marina itself, so visiting crews generally rely on onboard facilities or arrangements through the village. The marina's supporters argue the trade-off suits self-contained cruising boats that value a quiet berth over yard infrastructure.
Local sailing knowledge
Little Oyster Cove is entered from the D'Entrecasteaux Channel between Oyster Cove Point and the Bruny Island ferry terminal, and the first thing to note is the ferry itself: SeaLink vessels cross to Lennon Road on North Bruny every 20 minutes at peak times, and skippers should stay clear of the fairway and avoid anchoring anywhere near the terminal approaches. A shoal in the centre of the bay, marked by a beacon at its eastern end and a stake at the western, extends towards the creek mouth, where extensive flats dry at low water; chart Aus 173 carries a plan of the cove. The bay is sheltered from everything except easterlies, which rarely blow hard, but the valleys behind Kettering concentrate westerlies into fierce gusts, and in strong westerly weather a quieter berth or anchorage can be found under Oyster Cove Point just north of the bay. Off the southern shore, dumped scallop shells from the port's fishing days make unreliable holding. Ashore, a ten-minute walk through she-oaks to Kettering Point gives views across the Channel to Bruny Island, and the longer Manuka Hills tracks climb to panoramas from the Iron Pot to Fluted Cape. The ferry makes a Bruny Island day trip simple, with the crossing taking 15 to 20 minutes and pedestrians travelling free. Provisioning beyond the village store is best done at Snug's Baxter's IGA, which delivers to boats at 7 Ferry Road, or in Kingston, 20 minutes north. For cruisers heading south, the marina is a natural last fuel and water stop before Bruny Island, the Huon River and Recherche Bay.