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Greystones
Courtesy Flag
Irish TricolourWaypoint
053° 009.2N 006° 03.85WCharts
AC 1468 Arklow to the Skerries Islands; SC 5621 Admiralty Leisure Folio for East Coast of Ireland; Imray C61 St Georges ChannelRules & Regulations
None KnownHazards
None close in but off shore reefs 5 miles out to seaTidal Data Times & Range
HW Greystones is HW Dublin -0008 MHWS 3.6m MHWN 3.0m No LW data availableThis site is designed for slower, roaming broadband connections, like you would get at sea, so it needs JavaScript enabled to expand the text.
General Description
Harbour Office +353 1287 3131, mob+353 86271 8161, VHF 37 (M1) and 80
Until 2013 this was small drying harbour between Dun Laoghaire and Wicklow but there has been a massive rebuild and now both the outer and inner harbour have been completely rebuilt.
Originally all that was here was a scattering of settlements on the estates of two landowners in the early nineteenth century. Then, in the middle of that century, the railway from Dublin to Dun Laoghaire was extended through Bray to Wicklow and a railway halt put on the line on the boundary between the two estates. The two landowners developed Greystones around this railway station and continued to do so into the twentieth century.
The first harbour was built here at the end of the nineteenth century for the purpose of supporting the local fishermen and the import of coal. The two landowners continued the expansion of Greystones and it has developed since then into a tourist destination and a dormitory town for Dublin (there is a huge Park & Ride facility at the south end of the town serving the DART railway)
Until recently the harbour had been pretty well left as it had been originally built but in this millennium ambitious plans were made and the old harbour has been completely renewed giving us the present set up of an outer harbour and an inner harbour which has been equipped with a modern marina.
They host a Regatta here on the third weekend of August and for that weekend there is no room for casual visitors.
As we write in 2019 this marina seems to be a success. They have put in extra pontoons for this season due to over-subscription. The hoped for amenities building is now built. You just have to look at what is available between Arklow and Dublin to see that it is becoming the obvious choice for a cruising sailor. It is 17 miles from Howth, 20 from Malahide whilst being about fifty from Holyhead and Carlingford Lough
Approach
The approach from the North or South is fairly simple as
........ you can remain inshore of the banks about five miles offshore all the way down this coast. There are no surprises close in along the coast apart from a shallow reef extending south from Wicklow head. We have given a way point on the approach line into the harbour but, if you are coming up from the south there is no reason why you shouldn’t cut the corner when the harbour entrance has begun to open.
Coming across from the other side of the Irish Sea will give you some navigational headaches as those banks offshore are just far enough out to make identification of shore side objects difficult, even with binoculars.
There is a gap between the Codling Bank and the Bray Bank but in rough weather you might want to go south of the Codling Bank and come up from there.
In weather from the NE the harbour entrance will be awkward and at night the only navigational lights are on the pierheads.
Berthing, Mooring & Anchoring
Contact the harbour for berthing instructions. There is a chartlet of the marina layout in our gallery, one on their own website. and if you click on the chartlet in this section it expands into a fullscreen chart of the marina as well. It is hoped that this will help in the identification of the fingers.
A berth here for one night should be 4.0 Euros per metre.(2022) but I notice in the "Have your Say" section below that Charlie Bravo got away with 3.6 Euros!!
There is no room here for casual visitors during the third weekend of August when they have their annual Regatta
They have added port and starboard lights to the moles at the
entrance to the Marina
They don't reserve berths here but would appreciate any advance notice you can give of your intention to visit.
The marina website can be found at www.greystonesharbourmarina.ie/
Facilities
All berths have shore power (prepaid card) and water and it appears from our members comment below that they now have a diesel/petrol berth which is fully operational - but they are still (in Oct 22) awaiting Weights and Measures clearance to resell. Meanwhile diesel and petrol is available at a garage close by. The marina has complimentary showers and toilets, but no laundrette,(including separate facilities for the disabled) adjacent to the Harbour Office.
It is intended that free Wifi will be available in the near future. There is a good range of small shops near the harbour and a large supermarket about half a mile away.
There is both a Tescos and a Lidls, each about a mile away in opposite directions. Lidl's is served by a direct bus from outside the marina at The Beach House on that side of the road.
It’ll be a good place to change crews with the DART railway connections to Dun Laoghaire and Dublin.
There is a Sailing Club here but its emphasis is on dinghy sailing. Their website can be found at:
Eating, Drinking & Entertainment
You will find plenty of good pubs and restaurants and, for those of you with room for your clubs onboard, there are two golf clubs (one attached to an upmarket Country Club and Hotel).
Five miles to the West are the Wicklow Mountains which form part of a National Park. There is a sailing club here which is primarily for dinghy racing but may expand its membership in the coming years to include cruising sailors.
Links
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Find local marine businessesYour Ratings & Comments
Marina is very well sheltered and staff came down to take our lines. It's expensive (5 euro per meter (!), excluding electric). No WiFi and one of the only 3 showers doesn't lock.
Easy entry, into a small town bay behind huge sea armour walls , with beach, once you spot the entrance, and many activities going on, dinghy’s , canoeing etc, sharp turn starboard into a modern marina with good pontoons.
Description as to where our berth actually was , wasn’t great, unsure to turn port or starboard, hovered for a bit, then reasoned it must be starboard as port looked like a dead end.
Our berth was partly obscured by a boat with dinghy on the back, plus the pontoon numbers are very small, so by the time we had spotted the berth we had already overshot it by a few feet. Decided to reverse out and have another go, wind from the side had us drifting to boats on the opposite pontoon, one of which was a large very new Lagoon Catamaran making the available space smaller ….. and a very expensive thing to hit.
We missed it, the owners popped out with a fender just in case.
Second run in, with knowledge of where we were headed, all went ok and the Cat owner helped with our lines.
After our 13 hour crossing and a cocked up attempt at mooring, stress levels were sky high, sat with a beer then went for a shower.
Facilities were ok but 4 showers total, ( one for disabled) each in its own little room, with sink and toilet, my first shower was freezing cold and the door handle came away in my hand …. Needs a little work, more little rooms being built I hope.
Noticed a fuel berth, but it’s not well advertised , perhaps it’s new ,awaiting the grand opening.
Overall it is a good place, a few bars and cafe all in a short stroll away , it has a modern city vibe about it, tinterweb water and power (power is extra) the little town is full of nice smelling people all walking , running, playing with dinghy’s, walking dogs…… but no dog poo anywhere, it’s all very clean.
Local youths leap off the harbour walls into the marina, about a 15-20 foot drop, for evening entertainment.
We spent just two nights here, and more was not an option due to round Ireland boat race that week.
We would return, booking ahead although not essential is probably advised.
€3.60/M
Weather & Tide Links
