Closehaven Marina

About the marina

Closehaven Marina is the quiet half of Port Douglas's berthing picture. While the Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina at the top of Dickson Inlet handles the superyachts, the tour fleets and the waterfront dining crowds, Closehaven offers 35 modest floating berths at Spinnaker Close, off Inlet Road, tucked beside the Port Douglas Yacht Club. The marina was developed by John Morris, a long-time local and patron of the neighbouring yacht club, and in June 2016 he sold it to the Quicksilver Group, the family company behind Port Douglas's reef cruise fleet, which described it as one of the last prime waterfront properties in town. The purchase formed part of a broader 2016 investment push by Quicksilver in the town, alongside a million-dollar refit of its flagship reef vessel Quicksilver VIII. Under the new owners the marina has stayed deliberately low-key: no shops, no restaurant strip, no tourist traffic, just berths for vessels to 15 metres behind 24-hour camera surveillance, with the yacht club's bar, showers and laundry a few steps along the bank. That arrangement gives Closehaven a clubby, lived-in atmosphere. Many berths are held long-term by locals, but casual berths are available and the drill for visiting yachts is disarmingly informal: tie up at the yacht club pontoon, walk in and ask. The setting is mangrove-bank rather than ocean-view, but shelter inside the inlet is total. Pets are welcome, parking is free, and the inlet is a ten-minute stroll from the centre of one of tropical Queensland's most visited towns. For owners who find the main basin's fees and tourist churn wearing, Closehaven reads as the practical local alternative.

Berthing & shoreside services

Facilities are deliberately simple, and prospective berth holders should understand what is and is not on site. The marina provides 35 floating berths for vessels up to 15 metres, with casual and long-term arrangements, 24/7 CCTV coverage and free car parking close to the pens. Depth alongside runs about two to three metres at low water on floating docks, and manoeuvring is fair rather than generous, which suits the small cruisers, fishing boats and multihulls that make up most of the fleet. There is no fuel wharf, chandlery, pump-out, travel lift or hardstand at Closehaven itself; diesel, high-flow refuelling, slipway haul-outs and marine repairs are all available a short run down the inlet at the Crystalbrook marina complex. What Closehaven does have is the Port Douglas Yacht Club next door. Berth holders and visiting crews use the club's showers, toilets and laundry for a fee, and the clubhouse provides bar service and meals, which effectively serve as the marina's amenities block and social room. The club is also the check-in point: arrivals are asked to berth temporarily at the yacht club pontoon and make enquiries in person or by phone to the marina manager on 0429 056 379. Long-term berth holders dominate the pens, so casual availability is genuinely a matter of timing and worth a call ahead. Published listings are sparse on berth services such as power outlets, so visiting owners should confirm their vessel's needs when booking. The setting is pet friendly, unusual for the district, and the combination of free parking, security cameras, a working yacht club and walk-to-town access makes it a practical long-stay option for owners who do not need full-service yard infrastructure at the dock.

Local context in YouSail

This is directory context, not navigation advice. Check current charts, notices and official boating resources before passage.

Dickson Inlet is a well-marked, mangrove-fringed channel that opens to the Coral Sea between Port Douglas and Low Isles. The entrance is shallow and the whole inlet was dredged in 2018 to 2.4 metres at lowest astronomical tide, so keelboats watch the tide on the bar and follow the leads carefully; once inside, shelter from the prevailing south-easterlies is complete. The inlet runs about 31 nautical miles north-west of Cairns Harbour, and in cyclone season local boats traditionally work further up the mangrove reaches for shelter. From Closehaven, the main marina basin with its fuel wharf, slipway, chandlery and provisioning is a few minutes by boat or an easy walk via the waterfront. Port Douglas itself supplies everything else: Macrossan Street's supermarkets, pharmacies, dive shops and restaurants are about ten minutes on foot, Four Mile Beach curves away south of the headland, and the Sunday markets fill the park by the inlet. Cruising options from the berth include Low Isles, fifteen minutes away by fast boat and under an hour under sail, the outer ribbon reefs for game fishing, and Snapper Island at the mouth of the Daintree to the north. The public boat ramp beside the combined club near the marina handles trailer boats, though the entrance shallows at low tide. Regulars note that the yacht club welcomes visiting crews for a drink and local advice, and that berths here turn over slowly, so anyone planning a long wet-season stay should ring the marina manager well ahead. Inland, Mossman Gorge and the Daintree ferry crossing lie about 45 minutes north by road, which makes the marina a handy base for crews splitting time between reef and rainforest.