Marina/Anchorage: Hartlepool Marina
Whether you’re looking to visit the nearby Middlesbrough or taking a breather in the sheltered Tees Bay, Pippa Shaw reviews her stay at Hartlepool Marina as part of our UK marina review series.
Date(s) of visit: 10/07/2024 – 17/07/2024
Boat length: 28ft
Boat type: Sailing yacht
Boat name: Sudana
Crew: Two persons and one cat
Hartlepool Marina is a friendly and pleasant marina with convenient connections to Middlesbrough and surrounding areas.
Price
As prices aren’t readily available on the Hartlepool Marina website, you will need to contact the marina for a quote. For an 8.53m sailing yacht, they charged £33.86 per night, which works out at just under £4 per metre per night.
You should also bring some cash when checking into the marina, as they take a £10 deposit for the key cards used to access the pontoons and facilities (per key card) – although you will get this back when returning your card at the end of your stay.
Electricity is included in your mooring fee (within “reasonable use”).
Access
Although large stretches of coast between the Humber and Forth can be dangerous in strong onshore conditions, the River Tees offers a sheltered and relatively relaxed entrance with clear marker buoys guiding the way.
Nestled behind a secure lock, Hartlepool Marina is accessible in almost all tidal conditions. Like many harbours on the East Coast, there can be some significant swell as you approach, but once you’ve passed through the breakwaters, you’ll find ample shelter to prepare your fenders and lines for the lock.
You can find bearings and channel buoys to look out for on the Hartlepool Marina website. I’d also recommend getting in touch before making your approach to ensure you’ll have enough water to access the lock.
The lock will be a port-to mooring on entrance. It is narrow through the gates, so control your speed and be prepared for a relatively sharp turn to get to the pontoon within the wider inner lock. You may also want to practice your ‘springing off’ technique as the exit gates are also much narrower than the lock basin and may take some practice, especially if the lock is busy and the wind is blowing you onto the pontoon. (Check out our article on marina berthing for some top tips.)
Visitors should also be very wary of rubbish when entering the locks and the wider marina. Plastic bags and other rubbish are abundant here, and it would be easy to get something tangled on a prop whilst navigating to your berth. If you have crew, it could be beneficial to have someone on deck with a hook to fish out any rubbish that might endanger the boat, and always keep a close eye on the waters.
Contact info
Hartlepool Marina Ltd
Lock Office
Slake Terrace
Hartlepool
Tees Valley
TS24 0RU
Telephone: 01429 865 744
Overseas: (0044) 1429 865744
Email: [email protected]
Web: Hartlepool-marina.com
VHF Radio Channel 37 and 80
The marina office is open 24/7, and you can also fill out a contact form on the website.
Comfort
Most of the pontoons were wide, comfortable, and sturdy at Hartlepool Marina, although some of the fingers were a little bouncy for my personal preference! However, I managed to get my step out, making getting on/off our yacht much easier.
The marina is protected by breakwaters and a lock and is surrounded by buildings on all sides, so there’s little to disturb the waters or moored vessels.
The marina office is a short walk away, and you can collect key cards to access the pontoons and facilities from them 24/7 (please note, there is a £10 deposit per key card).
Facilities
There are two facilities blocks within Hartlepool Marina. The first (and older) block is located by the visitor moorings on the South (Slate Terrace) side of the harbour and the second (newer) block is located on the other side of the lock gates, near the marina office.
Showers
During our stay, my partner and I tried both sets of shower blocks to compare the quality. Interestingly, he informed me that the men’s showers in the older block were much better – more powerful and more space to wash and dress.
However, I found the women’s showers in the older block quite unpleasant. The two shower curtains only came to my knees and constantly blew into the shower despite no wind; the small space meant I struggled to shave my legs and had to turn the shower off completely; the pressure was too much, and there was nowhere to escape it; and the lights turned off approximately every 3 minutes, meaning I had to get out of the shower in the pitch black to wander around until it switched back on. This was made even more stressful as the shower itself was slightly raised, and the too-short shower curtains meant the floor was really slippery – not ideal in the pitch black.
That said, the women’s showers in the new block were lovely: excellent shower pressure, good temperature, clean and tidy, and space to get changed in your own block. In both the men’s and women’s new showers, there was also the ability to adjust the temperature setting – which regular readers will know by now is a surprisingly important trait for the travelling yachtsman/woman.
The old shower block at Hartlepool Marina doesn’t offer a lot of space and the lights turn off regularly. The men’s facilities are better, but women will enjoy a much more comfortable shower in the new facilities on the North side of the marina. Image credit: PSCopywriting
Laundry
One washing machine and one tumble dryer can be found in both the old and new blocks. The machines were the same in each block, so we took the closer ones unless they were unavailable. Tokens can be purchased from the lock office.
Bins
Bins can be found just outside the marina gate on the South side for general rubbish only.
There are also bins at the back of the new facilities block on the North side, where you’ll also find recycling for everything except cardboard (we’re not sure why not cardboard!). You can access the recycling area using your key card around the back of the new facilities or walk straight through.
For other waste products, such as oil, a tank is situated at the boatyard and the marina office will be able to guide you further.
Fuel & Gas
Hartlepool Marina provides red diesel, available 24/7 from the fuel berth. You can also purchase Calor gas 24/7 from the lock office. There’s also an ASDA petrol garage a short walk away.
Parking
For visitor parking, you can speak to the lock office and key in the registration number for free parking. Be careful how long you register the car for, as “1 day” will expire at midnight, not 24 hours later!
Visitors can only park on the North (lock office) side of the marina; parking will not be covered for any cars parked on the other side of the lock.
Shops
One of the major attractions of Hartlepool Marina for the travelling sailor is the huge ASDA Superstore, located just a 10-15 minute walk from the marina. Major supermarkets will also deliver to the marina, making grocery shopping easy and hassle-free.
You'll also find high-street shops in the Anchor Retail Park (near ASDA), including TK Maxx, Currys, Boots, Greggs, M&S, Next, and more. Go a little further to the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, and you can enjoy plenty of shopping with Primark, New Look, Clarks, Sports Direct, B&M, The Entertainer, H. Samuel, and more.
And if you get hungry during your shopping spree, you can enjoy the likes of Costa Coffee, McDonald’s, and Subway alongside more bespoke pub/restaurant dining options.
Things to do
The most obvious thing to do when visiting Hartlepool Marina is to turn North out of the marina to enjoy the strip of bars and restaurants offering a variety of tasty dishes, breakfasts, tapas, cocktails, wine, and more. We visited during the football World Cup, so there was a lot of action and fun just outside the marina gates.
There are some excellent breakfast spots and plenty of restaurants near Hartlepool Marina - perfect after a long and bumpy passage! Image credit: PSCopywriting
Another big attraction (although we didn’t personally make it during our visit) is the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool and the Hartlepool Museum. Featuring Europe’s oldest floating warship, the HMS Trincomalee, the museum is free to enter (although you do have to pay to visit the ship) and filled with really interesting local history.
Lovers of art will enjoy the Hartlepool Art Gallery, which opened in 1996 and is located in a restored Victorian church.
A Vue cinema is located within a 10-minute walk of the marina, with a surprisingly luxurious feel and reclining chairs throughout, and there’s also a large Mecca Bingo!
Hartlepool Marina also offers a range of RYA-approved training courses with their On Water training and experiences. So, whether you’re looking to add a new RYA or AIS certification to your belt or just fancy a taster session to try a new water-based activity, there are plenty of options! You’ll find flyers and more information in the new shower blocks or by speaking to the marina office.
The marina also runs various socials throughout the year for berth holders and visitors to enjoy. There are also a few Facebook groups set up for Hartlepool berth holders to chat, share their experiences, and post about upcoming events.
Review:
Overall, I’d say that Hartlepool has plenty of good traits. The staff are incredibly friendly, the shower blocks are nice (remember: new for ladies and old for men for the best experience!), and the office is open 24/7. It’s also the closest leisure boaters can get to Middlesbrough (which was why we visited), and offers a plethora of things to do on the doorstep (I believe it has good public transport links as well, but as we didn’t go further afield I can’t comment on these).
However, it was also the worst place we’ve ever visited in terms of rubbish. Despite asking at the office about litter and being told the ‘dory was being repaired’, marina residents and regulars informed us they’d never seen the marina pick out any rubbish, and the water was starting to look like a giant bin.
The problem was that the litter wasn’t just ugly, but it was potentially dangerous, with plenty of floating (and sinking) items that could easily get caught up in a prop and cause issues while motoring around the marina. In this modern age where we’re all trying to live more sustainably, it was horrible to see so much litter not only in the marina waters but everywhere in the surrounding areas.
Sadly, Hartlepool Marina was really let down by the amount of litter floating in the water and the surrounding area. As part of my marine conservation charity work, I spent two hours picking litter out by pontoon A, and collected four large bags, two rugby balls, a fender, and some other larger rubbish. Image credit: PSCopywriting
Would you stay again?
I would stay in this marina if I had to visit Hartlepool or Middlesborough again. However, the overflowing litter everywhere did put us off, and it’s not a place we would choose to visit or recommend unless you had reasons to be in the area. Sorry, Hartlepool.
Opie’s Opinion
Before I close out this month’s marina review, we’ve got to hear from the boat cat, Opie:
I agree with the rest of this review; although the people were really nice, the rubbish stopped this marina from being as nice as it should have been. It was also a long walk for me to get off the pontoons, which was a shame as there was a bit of grass for me to play in if we were closer.
If you want to get on the water and see what Hartlepool Marina has to offer, check out all boats for sale in Hartlepool right here at boats.com.
Planning a boating trip around the UK? Why not take a look at some of our other UK marina reviews:
