St. James Marina - Southport, NC
Last visit: April 1, 2026

For purposes of full disclosure, the main reason that we visited St. James Marina was due to their excellent diesel fuel price. We have passed by the marina entrance a number of times as it immediately off the ICW at the southern end of Southport, and we never gave it much thought as there are two big corporate name marinas just a bit north. We were on our way south in the fall and pleasantly surprised once we made our way into the marina basin. Based on that experience we returned on our trip back north in the spring.

On both visits we made a stop at the fuel dock first to take advantage of the good fuel prices and convenient pump out. The dock hands were  very helpful and then provided assistance when we moved to our slip for the night. The marina has floating docks, but they do not have full length finger piers. There are plenty of pilings to tie up to and they also provide protection between boats.

The marina is surrounded by very nice condominiums and townhomes, and outside of the marina is a very pleasant neighborhood. There is a restaurant on site as well as a small gift shop and a real estate office. We were there on a Sunday evening for our first visit. The restaurant was very busy and had a live music. A small ships store is in the marina office. There are two private bathrooms with shower, one for men and one for women. The coin operated laundry is next door.

Reservations were made by calling the marina directly. They use Onspot WiFi, however the signal was not very strong at our slip. There is no town nearby, so transportation would be required for provisioning.

I'm sure this marina is very busy on the weekend during the season as a good part of their business seems to be high and dry storage for day boats. It is a good spot for a quick in and out when heading north or south on the ICW. It also works if you are coming from offshore or planning an outside run. The Cape Fear River Inlet is just a few miles away or when heading north you can go up the ICW to Masonboro and take that inlet for an outside run to Beaufort.