Waterside Marina - Norfolk, VA
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If you love being in the heart of a downtown and surrounded by a lot of large military and commercial vessels, Waterside Marina is the place to be. It is a well-protected harbor in the midst of a major commercial maritime center. The Norfolk Navy Base is nearby, so you can easily admire our country's many naval assets. It is quite impressive. The marina is across from the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth and basically at the ICW milemarker 0.
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We found this to be a fairly easy marina to get into, however you do want to observe the no-wake zone speed limits around the area. The dockhands were very capable and helpful getting us tied up and hooked up to shore power. The docks were in excellent shape and we had no trouble with the services. The bathroom and shower facilities are in the Waterside Market building were a bit of a walk from our slip. There is no pool or other marina amenities as the attraction is being in the downtown area. The marina takes reservations through Dockwa, however we made reservations through our MarinaLife membership to take advantage of a discount.
The marina is adjacent to the Waterside Market that houses a number of eating establishments. We were visiting in the midst of the COVID pandemic, so many of the restaurants had limited or no service. We have heard that during normal times this area can be quite active, especially on weekends. It was very pleasant and quiet during our late March stay on our journey south down the ICW. Other downtown restaurants are within walking distance of the docks.
The Nauticus museum and Battleship Wisconsin are just a block away from the marina if you are looking for some side trips. There is also a water taxi that will take you across the river to the historic town of Portsmouth.
When we departed the next morning, we were followed by a number of boats heading in the same direction. As it turned out, most of them stopped for the next night at Coinjock as we did. It is apparent that this is a good staging spot for those making the journey south and planning a good day's run to Coinjock.
The marina is adjacent to the Waterside Market that houses a number of eating establishments. We were visiting in the midst of the COVID pandemic, so many of the restaurants had limited or no service. We have heard that during normal times this area can be quite active, especially on weekends. It was very pleasant and quiet during our late March stay on our journey south down the ICW. Other downtown restaurants are within walking distance of the docks.
The Nauticus museum and Battleship Wisconsin are just a block away from the marina if you are looking for some side trips. There is also a water taxi that will take you across the river to the historic town of Portsmouth.
When we departed the next morning, we were followed by a number of boats heading in the same direction. As it turned out, most of them stopped for the next night at Coinjock as we did. It is apparent that this is a good staging spot for those making the journey south and planning a good day's run to Coinjock.
