⚠ NOT FOR NAVIGATION. Use official charts and tide tables. This page is a planning aid only. Navigate with the current official chart, Transport for NSW and Port Authority notices, official tide tables and local advice.

Lower Hawkesbury & Brooklyn

Official Transport for NSW boating mapsTfNSW map 9B: Lower Hawkesbury & Berowra (PDF)TfNSW map 8B: Brisbane Water & Broken Bay (PDF)TfNSW coastal map 9: Broken Bay to Garie Beach (PDF)Free official PDFs from Transport for NSW. Not for navigation: TfNSW says so on every sheet, and so do we.

Tidal river · 4-knot current at the mouth · marinas at BrooklynLast checked: 27 October 2026Report a correction

The Hawkesbury is the biggest river on this coast and the lower reaches are a cruising ground in their own right: Brooklyn with its marinas, Dangar Island, Mooney Mooney and Berowra Creek winding off to the south. It's sheltered and there's no bar, but the tide runs hard and there's working traffic to watch for, including ferries and punts on chains.

Map of the lower Hawkesbury River with markers for the Brooklyn marinas, Brooklyn public wharf, Dangar Island wharf, the Kangaroo Point and Deerubbin Reserve ramps and Marine Rescue Hawkesbury. — Lower Hawkesbury. Navy: marinas; green: ramps and wharves; orange: Marine Rescue. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. **Not a chart. Not for navigation.**
1Brooklyn Marina · OSM.
2Hawkesbury River Marina · OSM.
3Brooklyn Public Wharf · OSM.
4Dangar Island Wharf · OSM.
5Kangaroo Point Boat Ramp · OSM.
6Deerubbin Reserve Boat Ramp · OSM.
7Marine Rescue Hawkesbury · OSM.

At a glance


What it is	Tidal river entering Broken Bay between Juno Point and Eleanor Bluffs (NGA)
Current	Up to 4 knots in the mouth (NGA)
Brooklyn	Several marinas and a public wharf (OSM)
Rescue	Marine Rescue Hawkesbury at Mooney Mooney
Maps	TfNSW map 9B, map 8B and coastal map 9

Getting here

From Broken Bay. NGA says the river discharges into Broken Bay between Juno Point and Eleanor Bluffs, is navigable by small craft for 70 miles, and runs at about 4 knots in the mouth. Plan your run up with the tide.

Lights and marks. NGA notes that navigable channels in the Hawkesbury are marked in places by lit beacons. Map 9B shows the marks and their 3-digit numbers, which you can quote in an emergency.

Bridges. Map 9B gives bridge clearances in red, in metres above mean high water. Check them against your air draft before heading upriver.

Anchoring and moorings

River mouth. NGA gives anchorage in the entrance of the river east of the second sandy bay, in 12.8 m, with Croppy Point bearing 005° and Juno Point bearing 086°.
Mooring areas. Map 9B marks mooring areas off Brooklyn and in the creeks; don't anchor in them.
Cables. NGA says a cable runs from Dangar Island to the east bank. Keep the pick clear of cable signs.

Rules in brief

4 knots near working craft. Map 9B says keep to 4 knots within 100 m of any dredge, floating plant, ferry or punt working with chains or wires.
Vehicular ferry. The map says the vehicular ferry runs 24 hours, 7 days. TfNSW's rule for chain ferries: slow to 4 knots or less within 100 m of the chains, pass behind the ferry, ideally once it's reached the shore, and turn your power off when crossing the chains.
Emergencies. Map 9B names the Mooney Mooney Club jetty as the medical evacuation point for the mid-Hawkesbury.

Facilities

Brooklyn. OpenStreetMap shows the Hawkesbury River Marina, Brooklyn Marina, Fenwicks Marina, Long Island Marina, Wharf Street Marina, Sandbrook Inlet Marina and the Dolphin Boatshed, plus the Brooklyn public wharf and a loading dock.
Ramps. OpenStreetMap shows ramps at Kangaroo Point, Deerubbin Reserve (Mooney Mooney) and Parsley Bay. Map 9B notes that some ramps it shows are commercially run or for emergency use only.
Mooney Mooney Creek. Map 9B says the creek is navigable for a further 11 km upstream.

Ashore

What's within about a 15-minute walk (1.2 km) of each marina, ramp or landing on this page, measured along streets and footpaths in OpenStreetMap. Addresses are from OpenStreetMap where it has one; where it doesn't, we show the name and distance only. Listings as fetched from OpenStreetMap on 27 October 2026; check opening hours before you walk.

From Hawkesbury River Marina / Brooklyn Public Wharf (boat ramp / dinghy landing, marina)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Bars, pubs and clubs
Anglers Rest Hotel	Pub	300 m	–
Restaurants and cafes
Lifeboat Seafood	Takeaway	100 m	Dangar Road
Fitzies Fish and Chips	Takeaway	160 m	8 Dangar Road
Brooklyn Corner	Cafe	260 m	1/1 Bridge Street
Homer's Kitchen	Cafe	310 m	–
Entertainment
Riverboat Postman	Attraction	90 m	–

From Dangar Island Wharf (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Bars, pubs and clubs
Dangar Island Bowling Club	Bowls club	280 m	–
Supermarkets and provisioning
Dangar Island Depot	Convenience store	90 m	–

From Kangaroo Point Boat Ramp (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Restaurants and cafes
Estuary	Restaurant	80 m	–
Estuary Kiosk	Cafe	80 m	–

From Brooklyn Marina (marina)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Supermarkets and provisioning
Brooklyn Central	Convenience store	610 m	81-83 Brooklyn Road

From Deerubbin Reserve Boat Ramp (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Restaurants and cafes
Mooney Mooney Club	Restaurant	1.1 km	–

No marine stores or chandlers are mapped in OpenStreetMap within the walk.

Places, types, addresses and walking distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), fetched 27 October 2026.

About this page

These are free planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources. They are not for navigation. Use the official chart, current Transport for NSW marine notices, Port Authority notices, official tide tables and local advice. Spotted something out of date? Please use Report a correction below.

Official links

Check these before you go. They beat anything on this page.

Sources & credits

Written in our own words from Transport for NSW boating map 9B (Lower Hawkesbury River, Berowra, Patonga and lower Mooney Mooney Creeks, produced 3 June 2022) (each sheet read with pdftotext or viewed on 27 October 2026; each carries its own 'produced' or 'printed' date, quoted on the page), NGA Pub. 127 Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Australia and New Zealand (2025), Transport for NSW boating pages and marine notices, Port Authority of NSW notices, Marine Rescue NSW unit pages (checked 27 October 2026) and OpenStreetMap. NGA Pub. 127 Sector 5 (5.7). TfNSW giving-way page (vehicular ferries) and Marine Rescue Hawkesbury unit page read 27 October 2026.

Transport for NSW. Facts from the Transport for NSW boating maps (each sheet's 'produced' date is quoted where we rely on it), nsw.gov.au boating pages and TfNSW marine notices, restated and summarised in our own words. Maps are linked, not reproduced. The official maps, notices and the Marine Safety Regulation 2016 prevail. Not endorsed by Transport for NSW.

Port Authority of NSW. Local marine notices and recreational boating advice for Newcastle, Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay and Port Kembla, cited for fact only.

NGA. Background from NGA Pub. 127, Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Australia and New Zealand (2025), U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Parts of it are old; where a page leans on it, we say so. Not endorsed by NGA.

Marine Rescue NSW. Unit contacts and hours from each unit's own website, checked on the date shown in the rescue box.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? River marks and moorings change; tell us what you found. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 27 October 2026.

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