Contacts:  Harbour Master Glenarm Marina (and Carnlough) 02828 841285 mob  07703 606763 (Billy McCauley). VHF Channel 16 switching to M1 (37A)

Glenarm Marina is situated at the southern end of Carnlough Bay between Garron Point and Park Head and is administered by Larne Borough Council. Originally a small harbour it was refurbished and had forty pontoon berths built early in 2004; the marina services are now completed making it an ideal stopping off point for the coastal cruiser.

The main attraction of Glenarm is the Castle and its Gardens which are open to the public from May to September.  The Castle has been the seat of the Earls of Antrim for centuries and before that was fought over by local clans; it has a fascinating history and for those who are interested details can be found at

http://www.glenarmcastle.com/

Behind Glenarm is a Forest Park with plenty of walks;  one can spend a pleasant summer afternoon exploring this area and the Castle Gardens with its tearoom and gift shop, rounding up at the pub across the road from the marina for sundowners.

The main drawback or attraction, depending on your point of view, is the lack of amenities.  There is a bus service to Carnlough (about ten minutes) and Ballymena (one hour) operating five or six times a day (but not in the evening) and the bus stop is convenient for the marina.

Tidal Data
The Standard Port for this coastline is Belfast, nearly...

... ten miles inland from the Irish Sea which funnels in and out past here through the North Channel at vast rates causing eddies and counter currents around every headland on the way.  Tidal predictions for the larger ports are as accurate as can be in such conditions but, for the minor ports & anchorages, extrapolation is virtually impossible. Belfast itself varies anything from 10 to 50 minutes from Dover and HW Glenarm varies + or – 20 minutes on Belfast.

The Easy Tide predictions linked on this page are for Red Bay up the coast so will not be 100% precise

Approach and Entry

Approach from a couple of cables directly North of the marina entrance; there are no hidden dangers close inshore and the entrance has port and starboard lights at night. 

Be aware that there is a fish farm along the coast towards Park Head; It’s quite close in and easily seen in daylight.

There are now forty eight berths at Glenarm of which ten are available to visitors.  They have added a new 120 metres of pontoon to the old layout. They, like most of the West Coast, has been getting a lot of visitors this year (2022) so a good idea to contact them in advance.

There is plenty of room to manoeuvre and plenty of depth (4m).  It is also possible to anchor to the north of the marina entrance in offshore conditions but beware of a SE forecast.



 

In 2022 they are charging £3.20 per metre a night here and the same at Carnlough

Glenarm Marina has all the facilities of a modern marina; water and shore power are supplied to every berth and there is a modern shower/toilet block which has laundrette equipment.  The laundrette was included in the mooring fee here in the early days but they fairly quickly installed coin op -  apparently one visitor hogged it for 24 hours, washing every piece of fabric on his boat which was not appreciated by others!!

Diesel is available but you will need cans to get it aboard. Petrol is a long way away at Carnlough but the HM has been known to assist with transport there.  There used to be a marine engineering workshop (Glenarm Boats) in the village but unfortunately he has retired so the nearest help for that sort of thing is probably in Larne.

Provisions on a limited scale can be obtained at the paper shop otherwise one would have to go to Carnlough (as with petrol - have a word with Billy, the HM; if he has time available he’ll run you round)

There is no nightlife here other than the two pubs on the corner and they do not do food. There is more at Carnlough but one would have to use a taxi. Mind you, the pub doesn’t close until the last man leaves!!

UPDATE for 2018
We are told by the Coastroad Hotel in Glenarm that the Chinese takeaway and the chip shop in Carnlough will deliver to them and they (the pub) will supply plates etc for it to be eaten in the pub.

Shipping Forecast

Malin  http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/shipping_forecast.html#All~Malin

Irish Sea  http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/shipping_forecast.html#All~IrishSea

Inshore Forecast

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/inshore_forecast.html#LoughFoyletoCarlingfordLough

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