New Bern Grand Marina Yacht Club

We enjoyed our stay. Downsides: Access through a drawbridge with weekday blackout hours; slip was along their outside dock and rather exposed to a SW wind (though it was calm); bathroom is rather small for a marina of its size and a bit of a hike. Upsides: Right downtown in New Bern, with good restaurants and interesting sites; solid docks and well-maintained facilities; and responsive staff.

We enjoyed our stay!

Excellent staff. Great service.

The best part of this marina is that it is a short walk to attractions in the lovely town of New Bern. The worst part is a shower and single toilet (one bathroom each for men and women) are off marina grounds in a building in town. This is also where the marina office is located. The marina allows transients, but, as a condominium marina, is there to store boats for the owners. The staff is limited - we saw two. In our case, even with a confirmed reservation, paid in advance through Dockwa, we were repeatedly told on the vhf radio, “You are not on the board” and they seemed quite reluctant to dock us. Finally, we were grudgingly sent to a slip clogged with a couple of small floating watercraft that clearly had not been used in a while and had to be moved with the help of nearby boaters. Eventually, they confirmed we did indeed have a reservation and that we had a side to spot on the long pier. It was a better spot, but after redocking stern in (as were the majority of boats on the pier), we were done with moving the boat. We were told to dock bow in, but, after tying up, the dockhand seemed annoyed to discover our power cables would not reach the location of the power tower at that slip. He was also annoyed that we kept using the engines to hold the bow off the pier when he should have focused on first securing the boat then doing final positioning ties as is normal with most dockhands. We gave this review two stars because of the town. This was one of our worst marina experiences ever. Of course they can improve their performance, but hiking a few football fields to reach a single toilet and shower keeps this marina on our “do not visit again” list.

A great Marina and community a block from a vibrant downtown.

Nice town but marina appears to be set-up for long term occupants versus transients. First, had to call to confirm slip reservation after waiting for reply through Dockwa for 24 hours. Slip was alright but on outer side of face dock so we were beat up a bit by waves/wind. The negative was the marina office and showers. Why did they hide it?? Searched up and down the property adjacent to the docks with no luck. Asked a few locals and they did not know (no signage). Finally after walking about for 30 minutes, was directed to a building that had to be 500 yards from the docks with little or no outward signage. Tried calling the office for directions but was hung up on 5x in a row and finally gave up. No dockhands around until we were done tying up.

This is a great Marina. We came in for a month and ended up extending for a second month. Jon the Dockmaster and the rest of the crew are all wonderful. The town is very nice with excellent restaurants. 11/6/2023, We just finished our third month at NBGM. Once again we had a wonderful stay. All of the staff members are pleasant and extremely helpful. The marina is in a great location and the surrounding area is filled with great shops and restaurants.

Marina was fine, close to downtown restaurants, Tryon Palace, et cetera. My only gripe was I had to walk 5 blocks outside the Marina to get ice.

Let’s start with the positives - New Bern is an absolutely wonderful little City, and the Marina is only 2 blocks away. The negatives - Marina is just OK. Power cords, Hoses, and other stuff laying all over the Dock. Huge holes around the Dock pilings. Walking down the dock was like an obstacle course. Bathroom (1) was 2 blocks away, and NO WiFi at all. Fortunately, New Bern is so nice that it kind of offsets the negatives

New Bern is a fantastic little town. We love it here

Requested 30 Amp service, but apparently not available. Docked on outside of diagonal dock, exposed to harbor. Choppy water due to weather and traffic was very hard on my 21 ft. walk around. Would have been fine on inside, but too much exposure on outside. I'll know to ask more questions next time, otherwise a very nice marina.

No ice available at marina. Location ok for downtown. Cunningham bridge schedule closed 7am to 9am. Marina gave no paperwork. Not that helpful Pump out not available every day.

Loved New Bern.. very charming town in general. The marina has fine .. there is some waking action if you are on the outside of the transient face dock.. especially on weekends. The marina office is a block up Craven Street and that’s where the bathrooms and laundry are. I gave the marina three stars for that reason but the facilities are fine and the location to everything in town is great.

Love the location. Eady access to downtown. However, we were a little miserable when on boat. We were outside the breakwater dock where we got beat up somewhat. It was basically non stop. Next time we'll ask for a slip inside. A couple of the guys in the office were helpful and friendly. TY

Excellent help at the dock.

This is a nice marina next to downtown New Bern. We stayed here to avoid a blow. The outside long dock was exposed from the south East and SW. The assistant dockhand offered to move us. They are still in a rebuilding mode so the office is about two blocks away. Nice showers and restroom and a mail room.

Wonderful location right downtown. Staff are awesome. Marina office and showers are a distance from the docks.

Overall pretty good. The only issue is that the bathrooms and laundry are a couple of blocks from the marina, especially when you stay on the "A" dock. Other than that, a good stay!

The marina office, restrooms, showers, laundry was 2 blocks from the marina. Very inconvenient. The bridge only opened every 30 minutes. Except weekdays when it did not open from 7 to 9 am and 4:30 to 6:30 PM. We felt somewhat trapped. This marina did not live up to the advertising we saw on line.

great stop very close to many things

Awesome stay!! They didn't have room for us originally. We had guests flying in from out of state. I explained the situation and they said "don't worry, we'll fit you in. We don't know where, but we'll do it!" That was music to our ears! The town of New Bern was fantastic! Great restaurants, live music and wonderful history. We took the trolly trip and learned a great deal about the area. The docks are kept up, the marina staff was a pleasure to work with and we're looking forward to a return visit!

Great time in a great town.

The New Bern Grand Marina Yacht Club has been one of our very favorite stops! The proximity to town is unbeatable! We loved being able to step off our boat and be in the heart of New Bern's charming downtown area. There were so many things for our kids to do and explore in the area. The marina itself is in a rebuilding state from a recent hurricane. The office is housed in a temporary building that is about a block away from the docks. They do have bathrooms and laundry, but the pool is still closed. The transient dock is brand new and extremely nice. We docked on the far side and struggled to get the marina wifi. My advice would be to try to dock closer to the gate at the end. You will have a shorter walk with laundry and closer proximity to wifi. The staff is very friendly at New Bern Grand Marina Yacht Club and they offered our family several suggestions on restaurants. We will definitely return!

Dock planks and infrastructure showing its age. WiFi marginal

The wifi did not reach the docks (very little or not at all)...but Cable was great

Effecitve April 2015 - The New Bern Grand Marina is now under new management and is now THE NEW BERN GRAND MARINA YACHT CLUB! Amazing improvements have been made to make the marina into premier eastern NC marina destination. Southbound cruisers have enjoyed stopping by the marina this season as they head south for the winter, but many elect to stay simply because they are delighted with the marina and the historic town of New Bern. The marina is walking distance to everything you need, lined with quaint shops & boutiques, everyday essentials, fine and casual dining, dine in service, fitness center, laundry and shower rooms, pump out service, bike & walking trails, Wifi and HD TV, yacht management services and on-site broker, along with our new merchants discount and loyalty program make the New Bern Grand Marina Yacht Club that avid boaters simply fall in love with!