St Katharine Docks Marina (London)

What this marina is and who it suits

It is a rare thing: a working marina in the middle of central London, a few minutes on foot from the Tower of London and Tower Hill station. The marina says it provides 185 berths in three basins, the East Dock, the West Dock and the Centre Basin, for vessels up to 40 metres. IGY's own page counts 16 of those as megayacht berths and gives a 42 metre maximum length, 12 metre beam and 3.5 metre draft, which is why this page quotes both figures and not one. If you are above about 35 metres, ask for your exact berth before you plan a passage.

The people who use it fall into three groups. Cruising sailors and motor yacht owners come for a night or a week and treat it as a floating base for the city. Annual berth holders, a limited number according to the tariff, keep boats here year round. And classic boat owners fill the basins for the September festival. The marina is managed by IGY Marinas, which the marina's site dates to February 2020, and it carries the Yacht Harbour Association's Five Gold Anchor award and International Clean Marina status according to its 2026 guide.

Telford, the Blitz and the marina years

About 11,300 people were moved on to make way for the basins, and the name comes from the hospital and church that stood on the site. The docks specialised in luxury cargo: sugar, rum, spices, perfumes and wines, with 32,000 tons of tea a year, and ivory trade continued into the early twentieth century, which is how Ivory House got its name. Most of the warehouses on the east side were destroyed in the Blitz and the basins fell out of use.

A redevelopment from the late 1960s turned the dock into a leisure harbour and by the 1990s it had become the marina and mixed-use estate you see now, with more than 520,000 square feet of office, retail and residential space around it. Two surviving buildings do the postcard work: the timber-framed Dickens Inn and Ivory House with its clock tower. A reconfiguration of the pontoons in 2017 increased the number of berths, which matters if you read an older guide: figures printed before 2017 describe a different marina.

St Katharine Docks prices a 12 metre boat at GBP 205 a night in summer and gives 20 metres and over as price on application, so the larger the yacht the less you can learn before you ring.

Coming up the Thames to the lock

The marina's visitor guide gives the route in stages. At Sea Reach No. 4 you move from VHF 69 to channel 68 and call London VTS. Inbound yachts use the Yantlet Secondary Channel to keep clear of large commercial traffic, cross to the south side towards East Blyth North Cardinal and then handrail the main channel, taking particular care at Tilbury, where a flashing white light warns of large ships manoeuvring. From Crayford Ness London VTS works on channel 14, and at Margaretness you enter the Thames Barrier control zone and must ask permission and be told which span to use. Sailing boats should use their engines through the Barrier. The speed limit from Margaretness to beyond the marina is 12 knots, and the guide reckons on 30 minutes or more from the Barrier to the lock.

What the guide cannot give you is how it feels. Pippa Shaw, who took the 28 foot Sudana to the marina in September 2023, wrote in a boats.com review that the entrance was incredibly bumpy and frankly scary, because the river's sharp sides throw wash back from commercial and passenger traffic and there is nowhere for the swell to die. She also learned that the river's rules are enforced: after a stop at Erith the police told her crew they were on the wrong side of the channel. Her advice, and the marina's, is to come up on the flood and leave on the ebb. Call the marina on channel 80 as soon as Tower Bridge is in sight.

The lock, the tide and the waiting

Those two windows interact, and the result is a window of three and a half hours around each high water, inside the fixed daily hours. The marina publishes locking times by month on its website. In the lock most boats are asked to tie starboard side to a floating pontoon or to another boat, with fenders about a metre above the waterline. When the lock is busy you may be put against the wall on the port side, where bolts and chains take your first lines before you move to bollards. In southerly wind the guide wants a stern line or midships line ready first. Once the outer gate is raised the lock levels up to the dock, which can take up to 30 minutes, and one person from each boat walks to reception to register and collect a map with the berth. The guide also warns that during high spring tides locking may be suspended for safety.

If you arrive before the lock is ready the marina keeps five yellow mooring buoys downstream of the entrance for boats up to 15 metres and 25 tonnes. Thames Visitor Moorings lists six, so trust the guide's five and ask. If the buoys are full you stem the tide, keep out of the way of traffic at Tower Bridge Quay and keep a listening watch on 68 and 14. For departure, book your lock-out time with reception the day before and be flexible, because the marina groups yachts together to use the window. About 15 minutes before locking a dockmaster calls on channel 80 with the order. Yachting Monthly's Dick Durham described the other side of it in 2007: on a 7.3 metre tide he chose to leave two hours before high water, found the river running at roughly five knots and tied to a PLA rubbish lighter to wait for slack.

Tower Bridge, Teddington and the upriver approach

The visitor guide says that at Richmond you can avoid the lock if you pass between two hours before and two hours after high water, and that the Richmond lock keeper answers on channel 80. Between Putney and Richmond you share the river with rowers, and at Hammersmith and Westminster you check the headway gauges against the height of tide. The Port of London Authority sets the rule for the last obstacle: a vessel with an air draft of 9 metres or more wishing to pass Tower Bridge must request a lift at least 24 hours ahead through the bridge's booking page, and the bridge sets a listening watch on VHF 14 from 30 minutes before the booked time. The lift is free.

The PLA references each bridge's clearance to mean high water springs, so a tall mast has to be judged against the tide as well as the book. The marina publishes no air draft figure for the lock approach. Note that the marina itself has bridges that lift to let you reach your berth once the inner gate opens, so ask reception about your mast when you book.

What a berth costs in 2026

Visitor prices are set by length band. Up to 8 metres is GBP 105 a night peak and GBP 84 off peak; 8.1 to under 10 is GBP 160 and GBP 112; 10.1 to under 12 is GBP 205 and GBP 144; 12.1 to under 14 is GBP 255 and GBP 178; 14.1 to under 16 is GBP 295 and GBP 207; and 16.1 to under 20 is GBP 435 and GBP 305. Above 20 metres every column reads price on application. Weekly and monthly rates are cheaper per night: a peak week for the 10.1 to 12 band is GBP 820, which is four nights' price, and a month is GBP 2,300. Off peak, in January to March and October to December, rates run roughly 20 to 30 per cent below peak. Catamarans are accepted only subject to adjacent berth availability and, in the 2026 tariff, at twice the standard rate, where an older listing said one and a half times. Charter, commercial and high usage vessels pay a 25 per cent surcharge by prior agreement, and high usage is defined in the conditions as more than 50 nights in the period booked.

Electricity is metered and billed when you leave. The tariff gives no rate, and the figure in circulation is 40.5 pence per kilowatt hour including VAT and standing charge, quoted by boats.com in 2024 and by Thames Visitor Moorings. A pump-out is listed by Thames Visitor Moorings at GBP 35, a wash in the laundry is GBP 3 and GBP 1 buys 30 minutes of drying. A voluntary GBP 1 carbon offset is added to each stay and removed on request. There is also a winter offer, three months paid for four, for stays of three months or more between October and March, a discount of 10 to 25 per cent for group bookings of two or more boats, and a referral scheme worth up to GBP 500 on an annual contract. Annual berths are limited and quoted individually, with no price published.

Conditions, insurance and the small print

The document the marina publishes under its 2026 file name is headed 2025 Conditions of Mooring, so check which edition you are signing. It says the berth is a licence and not a tenancy, that the marina can terminate on 14 days' notice for any reason with a pro rata refund, and that a boat left more than seven days after expiry can be moved and charged. Black water must be discharged only through the marina's pump-out. Noise between 2200 and 0800 can get you ordered out of the marina. The marina guide adds that swimming, fishing, drone photography and repairs with power tools are not allowed, and that boats should have at least two bow lines and a stern line with one line to the perimeter pontoon.

Events with ten or more people require you to arrange security at your own cost and alcohol service needs stewards at the gangway. Payment is by debit or credit card only and American Express is not accepted. Reception can lend a free electrical adaptor, which you return in the lock when you leave, and the marina asks you to hand over international food waste if it is your first port in the UK. Boats arriving from outside the UK should look at the Border Force guidance the marina links to.

Ashore: eating, walking and after dark

The marina's guide lists a good run of places by the water: the Dickens Inn on Marble Quay, The Melusine for seafood with berth delivery for boat owners, Vicinity at the Tower Hotel, Emilia's Crafted Pasta, Bravas Tapas, Zizzi, Cote Brasserie, Honest Burger, a Mexican and a Turkish restaurant, a wine bar and several cafes. The SKD Porter Card, issued at reception, gives discounts across the Docks. Tesco Express to the west opens 0600 to 2400 daily and Waitrose to the east opens 0730 to 2200 on weekdays, 0730 to 2100 on Saturday and 1100 to 1700 on Sunday. Pippa Shaw's verdict was that the Tesco suits a lunch more than a provisioning run.

On foot, Tower Bridge is about 4 minutes away, the Tower of London 8 and HMS Belfast 13. Tower Hill underground station is a 5 to 10 minute walk and the DLR at Tower Gateway is also close. After dark the pontoons are gated, with access cards that turn a blue reader light green, CCTV, SOS bollards that raise an alarm and a 24 hour security control. The marina's emergency rendezvous points are Marble Quay, Elephant Gate and the Piazza. The dated fixture is the Classic Boat Festival, held on 12 and 13 September in 2026 with entry free and Thames sailing barges, historic tugs and vintage motor boats in the central and west basins; the next date is not yet published.

What the marina does not publish

Several basic numbers conflict between sources. Maximum length is 40 metres on the marina's site and 42 metres on IGY's. Maximum draft is 3.5 metres on IGY's page and 4 metres at the berths and approach in a 2017 Practical Boat Owner guide, which gave the figure at mean low water springs and does not say how it was measured. Power is variously 16 A to 125 A or up to 63 A three phase. The mooring buoy count is five or six and the catamaran multiplier is one and a half or two.

Yotters could not find an independent report from the captain or owner of a yacht on any of the 16 megayacht berths, nor an occupancy or waiting list figure for annual contracts. The marina says advance reservations are strongly recommended and that berthing is not guaranteed without one. Ask in writing for the berth number, the depth and the electricity rate, tell reception your air draft and confirm the lock-out time the day before you leave.

Who it is for: A skipper or owner who wants to be moored in the middle of London for a night, a week or a season, who can plan a passage around the tide and who accepts a lock and a strict set of conditions in exchange for the address. It is a poor fit for anyone who needs to leave at short notice, wants to live aboard (residential use is banned), or needs a published guarantee of a berth above 20 metres.