Littlehampton Marina

The marina occupies a compact riverside site with numbered pontoons, a cruiser pontoon, a fuel pontoon and dry boat storage compounds behind. Vantage Marine (engineers) and The Boat Shop (chandlery and brokerage) are on site, and The Hub serves Costa coffee and snacks. Upstream, the Arun winds inland toward Arundel; downstream, the Narrows and the bar set the timing of every arrival and departure.

Littlehampton town and its beach are on the east bank, with the Harbour Office, the RNLI lifeboat station and the public slipway off Surrey Street.

Littlehampton Harbour Board recommends that first-time visitors arrive between two hours before and one hour after high water. In the Narrows at the entrance the spring ebb can reach six knots.

The bar extends about 600 metres south from the end of the West Pier and stands 0.9 metres above chart datum. The depth over the bar is the reading on the harbour tide boards minus 0.9 metres. The tide boards are metric, and the board on the East Beacon can be read from seaward with binoculars. Allow for swell over the bar.

Outside the entrance, an east-to-west stream runs from 1½ hours before high water until 4 hours after, and a west-to-east stream from 2 hours before low water until 2 hours before high water.

Approach with the leading lights on the pier and the lighthouse in line on 346° True. From abeam the West Pier head, favour the east side of the fairway for deeper water. On the flood there is a strong set across the East Pier head until about an hour after high water. Once past the East Pier head, keep the flashing green light on Fisherman’s Quay by the slipway ahead and stay on the starboard side of mid-channel.

Call Littlehampton Harbour on VHF Channel 71 when approaching, entering and leaving, and keep a listening watch on Channel 71 inside harbour limits. Large vessels under pilotage announce their movements on Channels 16 and 71; keep clear of the fairway when they are under way.

Littlehampton Marina lies up-river of the retractable footbridge. The bridge gives 4.2 metres clearance at mean high water springs (MHWS is 5.9 metres at Littlehampton) and 3.6 metres at highest astronomical tide (6.5 metres). Masted craft need it opened: requests go to the Harbour Office before 16:30 on the previous day, excluding Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Littlehampton Marina: most pontoon berths are full wet moorings that are not tide-restricted, with a limited number of tide-restricted berths. Call the marina office on 01903 713553 for a visitor berth. The marina’s 2026–27 price guide charges daily mooring on its pontoons at £4 per metre. Monthly mooring is charged at 70 per cent of the daily rate, with a minimum of 28 nights. Harbour dues are assessed and paid separately to Littlehampton Harbour Board.

Harbour Board visitor pontoon: 85 metres of visitor pontoon lie below the Harbour Office, the white building north of the first line of pontoons on the east side. Advance booking is strongly recommended, by email to [email protected], by telephone on 01903 721215 or through the Board’s online form. After berthing, collect the security code for the walkways and the shower and toilet block from the Harbour Office.

The minimum depth alongside the Harbour Board pontoon at spring low water is 2.2 metres, except for the northern three sections, which yachts drawing more than 2 metres should avoid. The bar’s impounding effect and the river’s drainage mean the height of tide almost never falls below 0.9 metres above datum. Vessels over 2.3 metres draught can be accommodated with the Harbour Master’s advice and will usually raft further out in deeper water. The pontoon takes about 20 yachts when rafted, so rallies should contact the Board well ahead.

If you are arriving or leaving outside office hours, or at weekends from October to March, telephone the Harbour Office and choose the option for the on-call Duty Officer.

Littlehampton Marina lists free Wi-Fi, parking, toilets, showers and changing rooms, a launderette, 24/7 security and CCTV, coded walkway access, and the fuel pontoon for diesel and unleaded. In winter the last fuel service is at 16:45.

On the Harbour Board pontoon, drinking water is on every stanchion and in the visitor ablutions, and 16-amp shore power is available on all stanchions, with splitters if required. Hot showers and toilets are in the Harbour Office building.

The public slipway on the east side beside the RNLI station is free to use, but every vessel must register with the Harbour Office and pay harbour dues before going afloat. The Board gives two hours either side of high water as the best launching window, and warns that the lower slipway is covered in soft silt below about 3.5 metres height of tide.

Vantage Marine provides engineering on site, and The Boat Shop runs the chandlery and brokerage. The marina operates a boat lift and hull cleaning. Visitor lift-out and chock-up rates in the 2026–27 price guide are £27 per metre up to 8 metres and £29 per metre over 8 metres, and a steam clean or scrape of the hull is £6.40 per metre.

Dry storage compounds take boats and jet skis on trailers, and there are Versadock berths for personal watercraft.

The Hub on the marina site sells Costa coffee and snacks, with seating. Littlehampton town, the East Beach and the riverside are across the Arun on the east bank, and Arundel lies upstream.

Littlehampton suits crews who can plan around the bar.

The bar and the footbridge set the limits.

Chichester Harbour and the Solent lie to the west. To the east are Shoreham, Brighton Marina, Newhaven and Sovereign Harbour.

Littlehampton Harbour Board publishes tide tables from Admiralty data on its navigation page. BBC Weather and ADMIRALTY EasyTide list Littlehampton.