We stayed at Douglas for 2 nights - 30/6 and 1/7 24.

I was a little hesitant to go into Douglas because of the complications around traffic/lifting bridge/tidal gate.

In the end it was more simple than I expected. We called the harbour on VHF 12. Very helpful and friendly. Came into the harbour close to the outer wall and inside green buoy. Over 50ft of depth even close to the left hand side. We were asked to raft up on the waiting pontoon and promptly motored past it as it isn't shown on some electronic charts, but was on paper. It is in the top left as you go in - next to a spherical gas tank.

Bridge lift was organised - they are every half hour, although bear in mind it won't be opened between 7.45am and 9.30am (the embargo is listed as 8.15am to 9.30am) but it was no problem at all going through.

Was given a berth to go into and you can see some further up on the port channel are very shallow, but they ask your draft to make sure this isn't an issue. Remember to book the bridge lift when leaving and bear in mind tidal gate/bridge times.

Marina office only opens 8am to 4pm, so make sure to ask for the gate code etc. when talking to the harbour outside these times (harbour radio is manned 24 hours).

There was a pub with an outside screen next to the marina which was on until 11pm each night. This may have been because of the Euros. There is a also a main road next to the berths, so it isn't the quietest marina!

It does feel safe and there is plenty of choice for pubs and restaurants around.

Cost was £79 for 2 nights for 10.5m sailing boat. Electricity and water are included. The facilities are pretty sparse inside and can be found on the left hand side after the Douglas Yacht Club and the laundry facilities. I think given the quality of the facilities and slightly run down feel of the marina, the cost is on the high side, but I would stay here again.

I reviewed these notes in September 2022. Telephone numbers have changed and be advised that my experience is that if you call any of the listed numbers, the likelihood is that it's been diverted to the Marine Ops centre!!

Visited 14th June.
The chandler Manx Marine has ceased trading, as a result fuel cards cannot be purchased in Douglas.
I gather from the HM that they can still be obtained from Peel harbour but that’s a 30min bus ride away, otherwise it’s Jerry cans to the local fuel station. In our case however the Inner HM drove us out of town to a commercial red diesel supplier to fill up our cans….bless him! As super-helpful as they are, it would be unwise to rely on this extra mile service being available.

I reviewed these notes in August 2021. No changes apart from prices. I've added a website address in the Rules and Regs section for the IOM Covid restrictions for visitors.

We have had long conversations with the IOM Ports about the silting in the inner harbour and they assure us that the problem is sorted. We have also added links to the flap gate programme for this year. Prices have been adjusted for this season

I reviewed these notes in April 2017. I have raised the issue of the flap gate and bridge timing restrictions on entry.

Please be aware, we boat owners in Douglas marina are having serious problems with the reduced depth of water within the inner harbour, many pontoon berths have less than 1m of water when the flap gate rises. My own boat draws 1.4m and sits over 8" in the silt once the flap is raised. We have had issues of visiting yachts taking on serious lists.
Peel marina suffers similar problems, but not to the extent of Douglas as Peel was dredged in 2015. But the problems are reoccurring.

I feel you should expand on the problems of entry to the marina which depend upon not only the times when the tidal flap gate is open, but also the times when the road bridge will not be opened on request, ie during rush hour periods.

These notes were reviewed by Don in April 2016. The prices have increased since we last updated but otherwise little change