southport yacht club swing moorings

How much are casual berthing fees around Australia?

Casual berthing fees will vary depending on where you plan on tying up.

One of the more exciting parts of motor yacht ownership is the ability to head off to far-flung places and visit new waters.

While island-hopping is the dream, the reality is that you’re probably better off visiting places where access to everything from shopping centres to running repairs and even the local bottleshop is in easy reach. 

That limits us to the major boating hubs around Australia. But how much does it cost to go somewhere and tie up for a few nights or even a week or two? Is it that much better than flying and booking a hotel room?

That got us thinking: How much does it cost to spend a night or seven at some of our most popular and easily accessible boating destinations?

Where we can, we look at the going rate to tie up just to give you a bit of a guide to how much you’re likely to spend.

Southport Yacht Club at Main Beach offers casual berths for visitors, charging either a daily, weekly or monthly rate.

According to the club’s rate card, berths are available for boats ranging from 9.0 metres in length right up to 25-metre-plus superyachts.

A basic berth is available from $90 a night, or discounted rates of $596 a week or – if you want to extend your stay – $1249 a month.

The cheapest catamaran berth for a multihull up to 10 metres in length is priced from $122 a night, dropping to $808 a week or $2035 a month.

For boats up to 25 metres, a single night will cost $241, the price of a week is $1597, and for the month it is $4834.

If you want to live aboard while you’re tied up, the cost is $250 a month, with shore power costing $0.32 a kilowatt. 

A swing mooring is $361 a month, with liveaboard costing an extra $195 a month.

Sydney Harbour Marina, based at Cockle Bay in the heart of the Sydney CBD, offers basic casual berths for boats up to 23 metres in length, falling just shy of a superyacht waterline.

A 24-hour berth for a boat less than 7.0 metres in length will cost you $155. If your boat is up to 14.0 metres long, the price jumps to $195, and up to 23.0 metres, it is $265.

If you want shore power, add $50 to the price tag.

Need something for longer than a night? Prices for casual visits are usually on application, so you’ll need to do your own research. Transport for NSW offers a handy Sydney Harbour Boating Destinations map that highlights marinas and their facilities, making the selection of a location that suits your needs much easier.

Melbourne City Marina at Docklands, right in the heart of Melbourne, charges up to $114 a night over New Year’s Eve, Australia Day and Easter for a casual berth for a boat less than 6.0 metres in length, running up to $352 a night for a boat up to 25 metres in length – the larger your boat, the better the price-to-length ratio gets.

Otherwise, during the summer peak, the price of a berth drops to $51.50 a night for a pocket cruiser up to $129 a night for a visiting superyacht.

If you’re visiting Docklands during winter to go to the footy, a casual berth drops to $46.50 a night for boats less than 6.0 metres and $88 a night for superyachts up to 25 metres.

The marina also offers group discounts, charging $778 a night to use half the available berths in the marina, up to $1555 to use the entire available space.

Marina facilities available to guests include a marina lounge and barbecue, kitchenette, showers and a laundry.

Getting a measure of casual berthing fees around Adelaide is quite difficult, with none of the marinas we approached providing any casual berthing rates. 

If you do visit the city, most of the berths available appear to be around the Port of Adelaide, about a 30-minute drive away from the city centre.

35 South Marina at North Haven Boat Harbour offers casual deep-water berths for boats up to 20 metres in length, some suitable for catamarans, with shore power and water available.

The marina is well protected from the winds and swell coming in from the St Vincent Gulf.

The West Australian government has a handy Shared Use Mooring Scheme (SUMS) right in the middle of Perth on the Swan River.

The scheme reduces the cost of swing moorings by more than 50 per cent if the owner agrees to allow casual access to other boaters visiting the city.

As a visitor, you can motor up the Swan River and tie up to any vacant buoy wearing a special disc that shows what length of boat the mooring is rated for.

The only catch is that a skipper must remain on the boat at all times so that if the mooring’s owner, or the owner of a boat nominated by the mooring’s owner, turns up unexpectedly and needs to tie up, someone can bump the visiting boat out.

Plan B is to head off to Rottnest Island and hire a swing mooring. These are for boats between 8.0 and 40.0 metres in length, with annual visiting fees ranging from $350 for a boat up to 8.0 metres long to $980 for a boat stretching more than 25.0 metres.

If you want to pay for individual nights at Rottnest, the price is around $54 a night for a casual mooring.

Tasmania has an excellent network of public berths spread throughout its coastline and outlying islands, but finding one in Hobart is a bit of a challenge.

The prime place to be is Hobart’s Constitution Dock, where casual berths are available on request.

If you can’t get in there, the picturesque Prince of Wales Bay Marina inside the maritime precinct is an attractive alternative.

A casual berth for a monohull up to 8.0 metres in length ranges from $39 a day up to $111 a week or $307 a month, with a motor yacht stretching out to 25 metres costing between $52 a day, $418 a week or $1199 a month.

Berths are also available for multihulls ranging from $59 a day, $209 a week and $576 a month for boats up to 10.0 metres in length, with the upper 15.0-metre limit priced at $69 a day, #339 a week or $953 a month.

Berths are available for superyachts up to 40 metres in length, but you will need to ask about that separately.

This marina offers all the usual amenities such as showers and a laundry, a cafe, and even has a courtesy car available.

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