Scarborough & Newport
Scarborough Boat Harbour, at the northern tip of the Redcliffe Peninsula, is the main working harbour on the north-west side of Moreton Bay. Inside the breakwalls are Scarborough Marina with its fuel point and boatyard, the government-run Redcliffe Marina, the Moreton Bay Boat Club marina, a Coast Guard base and two big public ramps. Just south, the Newport canals have a quieter marina with no fuel of its own. Scarborough is a natural staging point: it's handy for Bribie, the Pumicestone Passage and the north end of the bay, and Scarborough Marina says it welcomes visiting and international cruisers.
- Overhead clearances: MSQ's map prints about 4.7 m near the Ted Smout Bridge and 5.5 m at the Newport Waterways. These are read from the map text and not yet matched to each crossing on the map image.
- 1Scarborough port entry light · DIR RWG, centreline 183° T (MSQ 105/2024).
- 2Scarborough, Thurecht Pde ramp · 3 lanes, pontoons, toilets (TMR).
- 3Coast Guard Redcliffe · Coast Guard base (OSM).
- 4Scarborough Marina fuel point · Diesel (OSM).
- 5Scarborough Marina · Boatyard, dry stack, laundry.
- 6Moreton Bay Boat Club marina · 118 berths, 4 casual pontoons.
- 7Redcliffe Marina (TMR) · 74 berths to 15 m.
- 8Scarborough, Bird O'Passage Pde ramp · 4 lanes, pontoons, toilets (TMR).
- 9Pump-out station · Pump-out (OSM).
- 10Newport Marina · 186 berths; no fuel.
At a glance
| What it is | Breakwater boat harbour at Scarborough with three marinas, plus the Newport canal marina to the south |
| Entry | Scarborough port entry light, directional RWG on 183° True (established March 2024) |
| Fuel | Scarborough Marina fuel point (diesel, per OpenStreetMap); Newport sends you here |
| Haul-out | Scarborough Marina: full-service boatyard and dry stack to 10 m; Moreton Bay Boat Club: 13 hardstand spaces |
| Pump-out | Station in Scarborough Boat Harbour (OSM); Newport Marina staff pump-out for a fee |
| Map age | MSQ Beacon to Beacon maps MB-3 to MB-6 current to 26 August 2021 |
| Last checked | 18 October 2026 |
Getting here
Scarborough Boat Harbour opens to the north, onto Deception Bay. In March 2024 MSQ established a port entry light (directional RWG, centreline 183° True) to lead you in. Newport is reached by its own marked channel into the canals.
Watch the depth around the peninsula. MSQ's 2017 soundings give low medians around Redcliffe and in Deception Bay (well under 1 m in places), with North Reef and the Castlereagh Point reefs off the northern shore. MSQ's map has no depth contours in the canals.
Recent notices:
- ⚠ November 2025: dredging was scheduled in the Newport canals, and water-quality buoys were laid in the Newport channel in October 2025.
- ⚠ July 2026 and January 2025: partially submerged vessels were buoyed in the Caboolture River, north across Deception Bay.
- ⚠ October 2026: a wreck buoy (Fl Y 2.5s) was laid in the Pine River at Murrumba Downs.
- ⚠ January 2025: a wave-measuring buoy (Fl Y 4s) was laid in Deception Bay.
Anchoring and moorings
The marine park has mooring areas in southern Deception Bay (MGA11), the Pine River (MGA12) and the Caboolture River (MGA09). MSQ's maps show anchorages around the bay, but our sources don't give depths, holding or shelter. Most visitors take a berth in the harbour.
Skipper's notes
Garry's own observations from deliveries through Scarborough & Newport. First-hand notes, dated, and no substitute for the chart.
- Depth
- [Garry to add: depths seen, state of tide and date.]
- Holding
- [Garry to add: bottom type and how the anchor held.]
- Shelter
- [Garry to add: wind directions it is good or bad in.]
- Other notes
- [Garry to add: anything else worth knowing, with date.]
Notes last updated: [date]
Facilities
- Scarborough Marina: a marina with a full-service boatyard, dry stack for boats up to 10 m and a chandlery (Boat Harbour Marine). Trades cover antifouling, fibreglass, mechanical, electrical and rigging. There's a 24-hour laundry, and visiting and international cruisers are welcome, including liveaboard during your stay, with an "International Cruiser Discount". Shops and hire cars are nearby, with Kippa-Ring train station and Redcliffe buses (marina website, October 2026).
- Redcliffe Marina (owned by TMR): 74 berths up to 15 m, by application, with limited liveaboard. ⚠ From a search snippet; the page wouldn't load.
- Moreton Bay Boat Club marina: 118 berths, 10 to 21 m for monohulls and up to 13 m for multihulls (some with a 5.2 m width limit). Four casual pontoons and 13 hardstand spaces (club website and rental schedule, October 2025).
- Newport Marina (Newport canals): 186 berths with power and water, short or long stays with no minimum, showers, toilets and a 24-hour laundry. No fuel dock and no haul-out: the marina sends you to Scarborough for both (marina website).
- Trades nearby (directory listings): Switch Sails (sailmaker), Sunshine Boat Sales and Hornibrook Bait & Tackle.
Rescue. Coast Guard Redcliffe is based in the harbour. MSQ's 2021 maps print weekday and longer weekend hours for it, and weekend hours for VMR Brisbane (Sandgate). ⚠ As printed in 2021. Confirm current hours and channels.
Fuel, water and pump-out
- Fuel. Scarborough Marina states fuel services, and OpenStreetMap marks its fuel point with diesel. We haven't confirmed hours or petrol. Newport has no fuel dock.
- Pump-out. OpenStreetMap marks a pump-out station in Scarborough Boat Harbour. Newport Marina staff will pump out for a fee.
- Water. At berths (Newport, and Scarborough for customers).
Boat ramps
From the Queensland Government (TMR) list:
- Scarborough, Bird O'Passage Parade: four lanes, pontoon, floating walkway, toilets, not tide-limited (TMR Boat Harbours).
- Scarborough, Thurecht Parade: three lanes, pontoon, floating walkway, toilets, not tide-limited (TMR Boat Harbours).
- Clontarf, Pelican Park (Thomas Street): four lanes, pontoon, toilets, tide-limited.
- Woody Point, Hornibrook Esplanade: three lanes, toilets, tide-limited.
- Also Margate (Eveline Street) and Scarborough (Flinders Parade), single lanes.
Rules in brief
- Marine park. Green zones at Deception Bay (MNP09), Hays Inlet (MNP11, also go-slow), Scotts Point (MNP12) and Bramble Bay (MNP13). Conservation park zone at Castlereagh Point–North Reef (CPZ05). Check the zoning maps.
- Harbours and canals. 6 knots in boat harbours, canals and marinas unless signed otherwise (MSQ general limit).
- MSQ's maps warn that signs and lights marking marine zones may be moved or removed.
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. ⚠ As at 18 October 2026: we haven't confirmed each place is still trading, so check before you walk.
From Scarborough, Thurecht Pde ramp / Scarborough Marina / Moreton Bay Boat Club marina / Redcliffe Marina (boat ramp / dinghy landing, marina)
| Name | Type | Walk | Street address (OSM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and cafes | |||
| Morgans Seafood | Restaurant | 210 m | – |
| Sea Salt and Vine | Cafe | 480 m | – |
| Supermarkets and provisioning | |||
| Morgans Seafood Market | Seafood shop | 220 m | – |
| Marine stores, chandlers and boat services | |||
| Boat Harbour Marine | Chandlery / fishing tackle † | 170 m | – |
| Yachtdomain | Boat sales - power (in water) † | 170 m | – |
| Switch Sails | Sailmaker † | 620 m | – |
From Scarborough, Bird O'Passage Pde ramp (boat ramp / dinghy landing)
| Name | Type | Walk | Street address (OSM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bars, pubs and clubs | |||
| Moreton Bay Boat Club | Yacht/boat club | 240 m | Bird O'Passage Parade, 4020 |
| Restaurants and cafes | |||
| Bay Boats & Take Away | Takeaway | 450 m | 439 Scarborough Road |
| Marine stores, chandlers and boat services | |||
| Applikote Marine | Boat builder / repairer † | 430 m | – |
| Booker Marine | Boat builder / repairer † | 430 m | – |
From Newport Marina (marina)
| Name | Type | Walk | Street address (OSM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets and provisioning | |||
| Friendly Grocer | Convenience store | 480 m | – |
| Marine stores, chandlers and boat services | |||
| Sunshine Boat Sales | Boat dealer/marine store | 150 m | – |
† From our own marine business directory (live directory listings and business websites checked 16 October 2026), not OpenStreetMap; walk measured the same way from the listed position. Where no street address was published, only the suburb or nothing is shown.
Places, types, addresses and walking distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), fetched 18 October 2026.
About this page
This page is a planning aid written by a working delivery skipper from public sources. It is not for navigation. Use the official AHO chart (Aus 236), current MSQ notices to mariners, 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.
- MSQ notices to mariners, Brisbane (covers Moreton Bay)
- Queensland Parks: Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning maps and app
- MSQ: crossing a coastal bar (safety advice)
- Queensland notices to mariners, all areas (subscribe)
- MSQ Queensland tide tables
- Bureau of Meteorology: tide predictions
- Bureau of Meteorology: Queensland warnings (incl. marine wind warnings)
- Bureau of Meteorology: Queensland coastal waters forecasts
Sources & credits
Written in fresh words from the facts in the Hartshorne Marine Sailing Directions area guide for Redcliffe, the Pine Rivers and Deception Bay (edition of 16 October 2026, Ashore data added 18 October 2026) and chapter 4 and Appendix D of the Tweed to Mooloolaba guidebook. Those draw on MSQ Beacon to Beacon maps MB-3 to MB-6 and enlargement A (current to 26 August 2021), MSQ open data, MSQ notices to mariners to 16 October 2026, the Moreton Bay Marine Park layers, TMR boating-facility data, OpenStreetMap and marina and club websites (fetched 15 October 2026).
Maritime Safety Queensland. Contains Maritime Safety Queensland data (Beacon to Beacon guide, notices to mariners, nav-aid open data, pump-out map C2-335, speed-limit schedule, tide information) © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts restated and summarised in our own words. Not endorsed by MSQ or TMR.
Queensland legislation. Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Regulation 2016 and Transport Infrastructure (Waterways Management) Regulation 2012 © State of Queensland, CC BY 4.0. Summarised; the authorised versions at legislation.qld.gov.au prevail.
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 out of date; where a page leans on it, we say so. Not endorsed by NGA.
OpenStreetMap. Map tiles and some facility positions © OpenStreetMap contributors, data available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
Others. Facts from local authority pages and notices (for example the Gold Coast Waterways Authority), volunteer marine rescue sites and businesses' own websites are cited for fact only and restated in our own words. Listing a business is not an endorsement.
Last checked: 18 October 2026.
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