Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina

About the marina

Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina is Queensland's northernmost marina and the working heart of Port Douglas. Sheltered inside Dickson Inlet behind the town's main street, it began life as Marina Mirage in the resort development wave of the late 1980s, was rebuilt in stages, and gained its present scale in August 2015 when a superyacht extension of twenty heavy-duty concrete berths was opened by federal MP Warren Entsch. The marina now offers 135 berths for monohulls and multihulls, taking vessels to 50 metres, with larger yachts accommodated alongside on occasion. Crystalbrook Collection, the Australian hotel group, owns and operates the precinct from its address at 44 Wharf Street. When the freehold was publicly marketed through CBRE, the sale material reported an average berth occupancy of 83.8 per cent and listed the fuel wharf, fisherman berths and marina slipway among the income assets, a sign of how valuable deep-water berthing this far north has become. What sets the place apart from a pure service yard is its double life as Port Douglas's waterfront village: Hemingway's Brewery pours beer brewed on site, restaurants and bars line the boardwalk, and every morning the reef fleet, from Quicksilver's wave-piercing cats to small snorkel boats, loads day-trippers a few pens away from visiting superyachts. Cruising crews get a functional, secure harbour with Macrossan Street a five-minute walk away, and the Daintree's mountains framing the skyline astern. That mix of tourism fleet, private cruisers and visiting superyachts gives the basin a busier, more commercial energy than most Australian marinas of similar size, and the mountain-backed setting over the inlet is among the most photographed waterfronts in the north.

Berthing & shoreside services

Berthing covers the full range, from small cruisers to 50-metre superyachts, with permanent and visiting arrangements across 135 berths. The twenty superyacht pens are heavy-duty concrete construction with three-phase power up to two by 64 amps, potable water and fire services. Refuelling is a specialty: the fuel wharf supplies high-flow diesel at up to 200 litres per minute, and the dedicated superyacht refuelling berth pushes 250 litres per minute at competitive rates. A full-service slipway and haul-out facility handles hull work, supported by onsite marine services covering repairs, maintenance and mechanical work plus a chandlery, with direct dock access for trades and supplier deliveries. The marina office operates Monday to Saturday and provides dockmaster assistance, berthing help and courtesy trolleys; guest and crew facilities include private lock-up showers, toilets and laundry. Security runs to 24-hour CCTV, electronic gate access and patrols. All vessels must supply current insurance details before arrival and comply with the marina rules. An ATM, boat management services and dive specialists for guided tours sit within the complex. The landside precinct doubles as a dining destination: Hemingway's Brewery serves its own craft beers and gastro-pub meals, Barbados Bar does cocktails and tapas, and Lure handles contemporary seafood, with markets and shops filling the retail centre. Berth rates are quoted on enquiry to the marina office on +61 7 4099 5775, and berths for sale appear periodically through specialist brokers, mostly in the 24 to 50-metre range. Reef operators including the fast Reef Sprinter cats to Low Isles load from the same waterfront, so visiting crews watch the morning departure rush from their cockpits.

Local context in YouSail

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

The approach to Port Douglas is straightforward in settled weather. Dickson Inlet's channel is well marked and was dredged in 2018 to 2.4 metres at lowest astronomical tide, with the marina basin maintained to a maximum of 2.5 metres, so deeper vessels plan around the tide; the relevant charts are AUS 270 and AUS 830, and the marina sits at 16 degrees 29 minutes south, 31 nautical miles north-west of Cairns Harbour and 62 miles south of Cooktown. Once inside, the basin is protected from waves, swell and the prevailing south-east trade wind. The cruising grounds are exceptional. Low Isles, a coral cay with a lighthouse and sheltered lagoon, lies just offshore for day anchoring; the outer ribbon reefs and their game fishing begin within day-trip range, and northbound cruisers use Port Douglas as the last full-service stop before Cooktown, Lizard Island and the far northern reef. Crews should note the wet season rhythm: stingers in the water from about November to May, cyclone contingency plans filed with the marina, and a well-worn local habit of retreating up the mangrove reaches when a system threatens. Ashore, Macrossan Street's supermarkets, pharmacies and restaurants are a short walk, the heritage Sugar Wharf and the tiny St Mary's by the Sea chapel sit beside the basin, Four Mile Beach fronts the town, and the Sunday markets operate by the inlet. Day tours to the Daintree and Cape Tribulation leave from the door, and Cairns International Airport is about an hour's drive south, which keeps crew changes and provisioning logistics simple by tropical standards.