Scarborough Marina

About the marina

Scarborough Marina fills the western arm of Scarborough Boat Harbour at the tip of the Redcliffe Peninsula, forty minutes north of the Brisbane CBD. The harbour itself is a rock-walled, dredged basin that qualifies as genuinely all-weather, and the marina holds 235 berths ranging from 10 to 20 metres, making it one of the largest private berthing operations on Brisbane's northern bayside. It is a boat owner's marina rather than a tourist waterfront: the rhythm here is set by the boatyard's 35-tonne travel lift clanking hulls in and out, the drystack forklift shuttling powerboats, and the trades that have gathered around both. A manned office, a chandlery with two hundred square metres of floor space, an onsite repair company and a yacht brokerage give the place the feel of a small marine industrial estate with berths attached, and the marina pitches itself squarely at practical boaters with competitive berth, hardstand and drystack rates. Scarborough's other role is as a cruisers' staging post. The marina actively welcomes Australian and international cruising yachts, accepts liveaboard applications subject to limits and management approval, and maintains an air-conditioned cruisers lounge with free wifi and television, a combination that has made it a regular on the Queensland coast run. The Redcliffe Peninsula around it supplies the shore life: beaches, the Scarborough foreshore strip, Sunday markets and the cafes along Landsborough Avenue are all within a short walk of the gates. With direct access to Moreton Bay's cruising waters and offshore grounds, and 40 minutes' road access to the CBD, it draws both Brisbane-based owners priced out of southern boat harbours and cruising yachts pausing mid-coast.

Berthing & shoreside services

Berthing runs from 10 to 20 metres across 235 pens with power and water, casual and permanent rental through the fully manned office on (07) 3880 0300, and liveaboard arrangements considered on application. Security combines electronic gated access, CCTV and daily patrols, while amenities include washrooms and showers cleaned daily and a 24-hour laundry. A 24-hour on-water fuel pump sells premium unleaded and diesel. The undercover drystack, described as the Brisbane region's newest, handles powerboats to 10 metres with launch and retrieval booked by phone app or call: staff splash the boat ahead of arrival, rinse the hull on return and offer an engine flush before racking it under cover. The boatyard is the serious end of the operation. A 35-tonne travel lift, 10-tonne Wiggins marine forklift and 2.5-tonne hardstand forklift work a fully concreted, environmentally controlled hardstand apron, backed by a tow boat service, lift-and-hold options, water blasting and screened work pens, with discounts on hardstand services for long-term berth customers. Onsite, MarineWorks Pty Ltd undertakes repairs across steel, timber, aluminium and fibreglass vessels, covering antifouling, marine paintwork, shipwright and cabinet work and project management. Boat Harbour Marine runs the 200-square-metre chandlery, the only full-range chandlery between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, dealing in International, Jotun and Norglass paints, Ronstan, Harken, Lewmar and Selden hardware, Raymarine, GME and Icom electronics, safety gear, rigging, bait and ice. Yachtdomain's International Yacht Sales brokerage also operates from the marina, representing Leopard catamarans and Nordhavn. The chandlery owners are themselves professional yachties, and their running-rigging fitting service is a genuine drawcard for cruising yachts sorting running gear before a passage north.

Local context in YouSail

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

The approach to Scarborough Boat Harbour is across the open waters of northern Moreton Bay into a breakwater-sheltered basin with a dredged, beaconed entrance; once inside, the harbour lives up to its all-weather billing, a genuine bolt-hole when the bay kicks up in a southerly. Depths in the entrance and marina arms comfortably suit keel yachts to 20 metres, but skippers should watch the tide windows at springs, as parts of the outer harbour shallow. The cruising menu from the berth is generous: Moreton Island and the Tangalooma wrecks are a couple of hours east, Pumicestone Passage and Bribie Island lie north, and Horseshoe Bay at Peel Island makes an easy weekend anchorage south. Fishing boats work the bay's reefs for snapper in winter and mackerel in summer, and the peninsula's northern beaches hold whiting and flathead for the tinny brigade. Ashore, Scarborough village provides supermarkets, marine fuel for cars, bakeries and the foreshore cafe strip, while Redcliffe, five minutes south, adds a hospital, bigger retail and the Sunday markets along the waterfront. The peninsula was the site of Queensland's first European settlement in 1824, when the Moreton Bay penal colony briefly camped at Redcliffe before shifting to the Brisbane River, a fact locals will mention within minutes of any harbour conversation. For race crews, the marina sits directly opposite the start lines used by Brisbane's offshore fleets, and Cabbage Tree Creek's club facilities are a short hop down the coast. Visiting cruisers consistently rate the combination of fuel, lift capacity and trades as the most complete boat-servicing stop between the Gold Coast and Mooloolaba.