Swansea marina

The berths are right at the far end of the marina, below and in the shade of the Meridian tower. Furthest from the lock, a bit of a walk from the bridge head ashore (not a huge distance) and quite a way from the facilities block. I'm not sure if it's still the case but the area used to be fairly shallow as well.
 
It is marked as 2m on the marina map. It does look a bit further from facilities. Is there car parking at that end.

I am looking for a possible alternative to Cardiff for next season. One thing that concerns me is the lock being closed overnight, I made quite a few overnight departures this year. It would give better access to west wales though
 
Yes there is parking, directly ahead of the access gates. The only real down side is the distance to the facilities.

Dont forget that the lock is also closed a couple of hours either side of low wwater springs.
 
Stevev2 said:
It is marked as 2m on the marina map. It does look a bit further from facilities. Is there car parking at that end.

I am looking for a possible alternative to Cardiff for next season. One thing that concerns me is the lock being closed overnight, I made quite a few overnight departures this year. It would give better access to west wales though
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Give some thought to milford then - its a lot quicker and easier by car swansea to milford than by boat. The locks in swansea are a PITA. Too small for the volume of traffic at weekends in summer, give preference to fishing tripper boats so I have had to wait three lockings before now, closed at nights, dodgy lock design for the marina ( quite difficult at first to avoid hitting the side though I'm sure you would learn the technique in time). All in all, nothing makes me appreciate cardiff so much as going to swansea.
 
Bosun Higgs said:
Give some thought to milford then - its a lot quicker and easier by car swansea to milford than by boat. The locks in swansea are a PITA. Too small for the volume of traffic at weekends in summer, give preference to fishing tripper boats so I have had to wait three lockings before now, closed at nights, dodgy lock design for the marina ( quite difficult at first to avoid hitting the side though I'm sure you would learn the technique in time). All in all, nothing makes me appreciate cardiff so much as going to swansea.
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True words from Bosun Higgs, we were berthed in Swansea marina for many years, firstly in the river yacht club and then the inner marina. The locks can be a nightmare on weekends and Bank hols. The final decision for us was one bank holiday Monday when we waited in the river from 4pm until 8 pm to get back into the marina due to the volume of boats waiting to get back in. An hour could be easily spent waiting for a lock in/out and so eventually we moved the boat to Pembrokeshire. I sometimes miss having the boat "at home" to pop down to do some maintenance but don't give it a second thought during the Summer.

A few friends keep their boats in Pembrokeshire for the Summer months and bring them back to Swansea marina for the Winter which is quite a good option as Swansea marina have brilliant yard facilities and it's then local to home for the Winter to carry out maintenance.
 
The lock situation sounds like a pain, I don't fancy hanging around to get back in. I have been spoilt in Cardiff, the locks are quick. Milford is no good to me, I want to be able to go down for the day, Milford is too far for that.
 
I wouldn't write Milford off.

I moved there a year or so after paying almost £3k2 for 31ft just 4miles down the road to Milford ca. £2k and 80 miles away - I have to say the experience has been very very positive - you can get down for the day, locks are fine and the staff excellent.
 
In response to the original question, pontoons T and U are very exposed, suffer from turbulent crosswinds and have a much greater risk of icing over during the winter.

As for locking in and out if your stuck with weekends and bank hols you will most likely suffer, but weekdays have never been a problem except possibly during summer school hols, longest we've waited this year was an hour, and to put that into context have been out nearly 30 times.

But stay away from T & U
 
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