We stayed at Gulfport about 2 months ago on our overnight during our ASA certification. We are actually returning today to stay a week after purchasing our 1993 Hunter 35.5. Although we had our instructor they were very helpful docking and came out to help with the lines. As newbies at docking they were very understanding 😊 it was a very nice marina in a great area and we are happy to be moving there for a week from the St Pete Municipal Marina. With more amenities and a very well protected marina it was a great experience. We stayed on the transient floating dock but I think other docks may be fixed but you need to confirm that depending on which slips you are in. Showers are very clean and nice and small marina store is very convenient. Very well protected just off the ICW. The approach is small so check the instructions about their private aids. Less than 10 min walk through a quiet residential neighborhood puts you in old town Gulfport where there is a nice little pier, lots of restaurants on the water and a small quaint “beach town feeling” Main Street with shops and more restaurants. We will post another review after staying a full week with updates but I expect we will have the same feelings of this stay as well. Just hope docking in 15+ knot winds for newbies is as easy as last time 😊
We bought an older boat that needed some work before we left the dock. As expected, it took longer than expected. Joan (dockmaster) was really helpful and flexible. During Covid slips were not transferable and I believe it was also restrictions on new liveaboards. She allowed us to extend 3 times and as of 2 short days ago we finally had our maiden sail. The marina is in a great location and, although we were technically transient, she let us stay in our current slip on the N docks which is feet away from the new beautiful pier and just a few slips away from the boaters lounge and showers. The wind can rip through pretty good on gusty days and a little bit of rocking but not bad even with 20+ knot winds. The tenants and especially liveaboards were all very friendly and welcomed us to our new lifestyle of becoming long distance cruisers and offered us great advice that we will take with us along our trek. With Covid there are ZERO long term slips or even moorings available in St Pete and even finding a week long transient slips was very very difficult. Be warned that the north side of the marina only has metered parking for the new pier from 9am-10pm at $10 per 4 hours and a 4 hour limit so we had to do a dance with moving the car around and it cost us an extra $20 a day to park. The usual transient dock is on the opposite side of the marina and comes with permitted parking for $5 a day but it’s a good 10+ min walk to the pier side and kinda secluded on a small island. So if you like quiet and cheaper parking that side is perfect for you but we did have transients nearby on our side too. Overall a great location in the heart of downtown and the popular new pier and nice marina with basic amenities. Oh, and they have fixed short finger docks with pilings which was not our favorite especially with inexperienced sailors new to docking but we got in and out unscathed, mostly...