d’Albora East Coast Marina

About the marina

Manly Boat Harbour, on Brisbane's southern bayside, is the largest small-craft harbour in the southern hemisphere with some 1,800 berths, and East Coast Marina holds a singular position inside it: the only privately owned marina in the harbour, surrounded on all sides by club and squadron facilities. Sitting on the Royal Esplanade about thirty minutes from the Brisbane CBD, it has passed through several hands and is now operated by d'Albora, Australia's largest premium marina network, which has refocused the property around two distinct products. On the water there are 295 secure wet berths for vessels from about nine to eighteen metres, a figure trimmed from the 330 once advertised as larger-berth configurations took precedence. Ashore, the marina runs what it describes as Queensland's leading undercover dry stacker, a high-rack building storing 240 trailer-sized boats that are forklift-launched on demand. The combination gives the property a split personality: keelboats and cruisers along the floating arms, and a constant shuttle of wakeboard boats, centre consoles and family runabouts cycling through the launch bays at weekends. Moreton Bay Marine Park begins at the harbour entrance, which shapes the clientele; anglers heading for the bay's reef patches, families bound for the island anchorages and cruisers staging for the run north all pass through the same fuel-free forecourt. Cafe La Mer on the waterfront, a members lounge and a cluster of on-site marine tenants round out a working marina that functions, in effect, as the commercial heart of Manly Harbour. It is also the harbour's most visible business from the esplanade, its dry stack shed looming over the boat harbour road.

Berthing & shoreside services

Wet berthing comprises 295 berths accommodating vessels from nine to eighteen metres, offered on annual or casual terms, with power and water at the berth, 24-hour security, pump-out, ice, gas bottle exchange, showers and laundry, and secure parking with overnight access reserved for members. Dockmaster assistance is available seven days. The dry stack operation is the most systematised part of the business: 240 vessels stored undercover, launched by forklift on one hour's notice requested between 0800 and 1400, with pre-0900 launches booked by 1400 the previous day. Boats are freshwater-rinsed before re-racking at no charge, engine flushing is free when done with standard muffs during the rinse, and work racks are available for minor jobs such as washing, detailing, electronics and outboard servicing, free to dry storage customers for the first four hours each month. House rules are specific: no gas cylinders aboard stored boats, a battery isolation switch is mandatory, and the forklift stands down on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day. The boatyard runs a 35-tonne travelift with hardstand, and on-site marine tenants handle maintenance, detailing and repairs, with major works confined to the supervised slipyard area. Marina office hours are 0800 to 1700 weekdays, 0800 to 1600 weekends and public holidays, on 07 3393 3811. There is no fuel berth on site; the nearest 24-hour fuel pontoons are at RQYS and MBTBC elsewhere in the harbour. Waterfront dining is at Cafe La Mer, and d'Albora membership brings reciprocal privileges across the network's other marinas, useful for owners cruising interstate.

Local context in YouSail

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

Getting in is straightforward but demands attention. Manly Boat Harbour is entered through a dredged, beaconed channel across the shallow flats of Waterloo Bay, and straying outside the leads at low water puts a keelboat on the mud; locals time arrivals for the top half of the tide when drawing much over two metres. Once inside, East Coast sits along the harbour's eastern edge, clearly signposted off the main channel. The bay beyond is the reward. Moreton Bay Marine Park wraps around a chain of island destinations: Green Island and St Helena for day sails, the Horseshoe Bay anchorage at Peel Island, and Dunwich on North Stradbroke for a pub lunch ashore, all within a couple of hours. Fishing boats work the artificial reefs and the Harry Atkinson for snapper in winter and mackerel through summer. Ashore, Manly Harbour Village is a genuine working harbour strip rather than a tourist set: bakery, butcher, chemist, post office, newsagent and the well-regarded Muirs chandlery are all a short walk, and Sunday markets fill the foreshore. The train from Manly station reaches Brisbane Central in about 45 minutes, which makes the marina a realistic base for visiting cruisers wanting city access without river berthing. Brisbane's bayside has its own rhythm: summer afternoon sea breezes from the north-east arrive like clockwork, and winter brings light westerlies and clear water. Liveaboards are present but the marina leans toward active users, and the weekend launch queue at the dry stack is the best show in the harbour.