The Marina at Dana Point

The people at Dana Point are wonderful to work with. The only reason we gave it a 4 star is the dock numbers are not easy to see at night. We will be installing a bow spotlight to help.

Clean, beautiful, contactless arrival and departure. Five stars!

Had a very nice 3 week visit. Marina is well run and Dana Point is fun to visit with lots of restaurants. It's used like a big park by the local residents and is one of the most active marinas in Southern California. We've visited by boat every year since 2009. Transient rates have been significantly raised this year and now parking is no longer included which SUBSTANTIALLY increases the cost if the boater has a car. We do. I hope the marina reviews and changes its parking policy especially for those who visit for a week or more - especially given the big rate increase on the slip. Permanent slip tenants get parking included and pay significantly less per foot. Otherwise a very nice place to visit.

Great place to stay. The marina employees were just terific! Always friendly and helpful.

Excellent service. Clean toilets and showers, though a bit of heating in there when its chilly would be nice). We had trouble with the electric connection but no sooner had a I called than a repairman was on the dock to fix it. Great location.

Originally assigned a guest slip too small for my boat and glad I caught this before my arrival. Then I was assigned another slip that was already occupied by an abandoned boat? I then took an adjacent open slip as there were many open slips available. Not sure why the marina does not have the slip assigning process down as I’m sure many traveling boaters would appreciate that!

The docks are well maintained. The showers and laundry were clean and easy to access. No change machines anywhere.

We love staying at Dana Point Marina at the guest slip. Thank you!

Pristine and welcoming marina with many restaurant and shopping choices!

Easy in and out, clean restrooms, plenty of grassy areas to walk the dog.

We drove down to the Harbor a couple of weeks in advance to get eyes on where we would be. The folks at the Harbor Department office were great once I could find the Harbor Department. They apparently move locations frequently and everyone we asked gave different directions to where they were. The day before we were scheduled to arrive I still had no notice of where our slip would be. Apparently this should have been provided when we first made the reservation. I called the Harbor office (don't try to find their number on the internet as it is impossible). Folks again great and said that we should have received full information after making our reservation -- we did not. They immediately sent us the info which was very clear. We had a great stay. One additional comment: We could not find any trash recepticles for our trash. If they exist it would be very helpful to tell guests where they can be found. Stay safe and healthy, Bill

Beautiful harbor with excellent restaurants. Great harbor for hiking, walking and biking.

Great spot clean docks and restrooms Friendly staff All good We will be back

Pre- check in was very easy on line. The dock electrical outlets only accommodate 30 amp plugs. (Please post this on your website.). My “home marina” (San Diego Marriott) has 50 amp electrical, (as do many others), so I was unable to hook-up to electrical & “generators need to be off at 10pm.” The guest docks only have one hose-faucet per two slips (Please provide faucet “Y-adapters” so that both adjoining guest slips can use the faucet simultaneously, since each guest is paying for water access. I indicated on my pre-reservation form that my boat has a 14’ beam. I was originally assigned a slip 13’ wide. With a phone call to the office was able to change slips. I indicated that my boat is 41’ in length. I was assigned a40’ slip. This made boarding a bit uncomfortable. Liz, in the office, was kindly provided a parking pass for our son who was visiting us on our boat. The rating is low because we had a wrong size slip assigned, we had no water hookup & no access to the electrical. A well protected marina; Great location; easy access to good restaurants.

Great time! Marina staff always very helpful. Restrooms very clean.

Its always nice renting at your docs in Dana point. The process is easy the amenities are nice.

Amazing!! This Harbor is beautiful and the staff was so helpful. We are new at boating and we did not bring our shore power cord, rookie mistake. We didn’t arrive until 7:40 pm on Sat. I called the Marina # about our shore power issue and within minutes 3 staff members were there to help us. They let us borrow a cord and saved the day! We will be back!! Thank you!!!

We had a short stay and the Marina was able to accommodate our requests in a short time frame.

smooth operation, great location, clean restrooms. Keep up the good work!

Liz was great. She took very good care of us. We can't wait to go back!

We had another great stay at Dana Point. Definitely remains a favorite destination with a great marina, restaurants and bike paths in the region. I am updating my previous review to 5 stars (from 2 stars) for the following reasons. 1. Since my original review, the staff of the marina has been absolute joy to deal with. They have accommodated my every wish. on multiple reservations. They also respond quickly on "chats". They have assigned me to a perfect size slip every-time since. 2. Dana Point remains an excellent destination marina with excellent restaurants, facilities and people. We enjoyed our time there so much we overstayed our scheduled time on our last visit. Thanks to Uber/Lyft or the biking trails there is so much to do within a short ride. 3. The Dockwa system, app and the keycode system work very well. 4. Using the promotional coupons keep slip costs more affordable. We adopted the tradition of spending two nights at the marina for one of the Christmas boat parade week ends and highly recommend you reserve your slip before they sell out. ------------- Old Review: ------------- Arrived to find out the assigned slip (#3) was too short. 30ft slip for a 33 foot boat. Had to dock in an alternate slip (#7) and contact the marina. After 5-10 mins on the phone and following messages through the dockwa system, the alternate slip was approved. Some of the messages from dockwa seemed to suggest I requested a 30 ft slip and should have requested a 40 ft slip. This is not the case. I did not request a size slip. I entered my boat parameters (length, breadth etc.) into the system and it should pick the proper size slip. In any case, I have docked at the DP marina many times before without any of these problems. Not really pleased this time. Not to mention that the price seemed to have taken a jump. I found the numeric key code replacing the old key system an improvement. It worked as expected. Hope going forward the slip assignment logic will be improved so we don't have these issues.

ive been coming here for about three yrs now. i live local and just enjoy being on my boat as much as possible. everyone at the marina office are so nice and accommodating . everyone on the guest deck is also friendly and helps each other out whether its a boat issue or you need to borrow something. i boat alone and i feel safe on the guest dock knowing some of the locals and also the sheriffs who keep an eye on everyone. also the embarcadero marina staff are awesome!

Another great stay in Dana Point - always a pleasure, always a great experience at the docks.

Staff were professional! Clean facilities and great location. Thank you for making our visit easy!!

Everything worked out great and the staff was awesome in accommodating our needs !

Awesome stay, spacious slip, reasonable price and very clean and well kept. Definitely will come back for a weekend getaway.

We arrived after all other boats had checked in to the large boat A dock. (Dock where boats park along a long dock - in other words, parallel parking.) We found our allotted space was VERY TIGHT. I was told that my 59 ft vessel would fit no problem. (We ended up having only 3-5 ft on each end.) In addition, I requested two 50 amp plug-ins, and was told that this was available, and that adaptors would be provided. Was given an adaptor, but it resulted in us having only one 50 amp plug-in.

Nice clean facility.

Thank you all! Been here a number of times and I like coming back. Nice safe harbor with things near by that a sailor may need. I’m looking forward to next time! Thank you Liz and all the staff! Everyone was great!

Everything at the Marina was great and easy to coordinate. We did have mechanical problems with the boat so we were not able to take full advantage of the accommodations.

Great guest facilities and good people. Cannot wait to return. Greg Falls

Friendly, organized, and helpful staff.

The harbor was so clean!! Love the views! Slips are VERY tight! Grumpy neighbor that seemed to have a permanent slip in the guest section started the stay rough but got past it.

The docks and restrooms are clean, easy to find.

The communication with the Marian prior to arriving was excellent, the Manager, Liz was super to speak with and loved the confirmation of the Slip, directions, photo's etc it's the kind of follow-up that leaves no doubts in a smooth arrival. And it was smooth. Easy to reach slip and very clean dock. The Marina itself offers everything that in pre-covid19 we would have enjoyed 100%; but we chose not to join the full bars and restaurants, instead take a long walk around the parks. As Dana Point Marina is a high-end Marina, two minor suggestion we have is to install a booster or wifi for the guest slips. The reception on our cell phone as zero to one-bar and the other, any of the "work' boats, could be docked either further up or down the slips, as to avoid both an unsightly view and to ensure even a more quiet morning wake up. All in all, excellent and it lived up to our expectations. Looking forward to passing through again - Many thanks Liz for the super job.

It could not have been easier or more wonderful. This marina is such a treat, from the ease of getting the slip, to the marina cleanness, just wonderful.

All the amenities are kept well, it was easy and simple to get the reservations made. Very quiet and the a feeling of being safe at night. Note- It would be good to send the overnight parking pass for your truck and trailer with the reservations when paid for with this service.

Great time- needed a fun break with family during the Covid Lockdown. Couldn't be better- great facility- great location- great staff- no issues. But maybe we can do without the fog next time?

Great Location and Amenities

Lovely scenic environment, well protected, clean facilities, 24 hour ice (if you have dollar bills), and courteous staff (thank you Elizabeth). Would certainly recommend and hope to return.

Quiet (no sea lions or other noisy neighbors) Marina with clean facilities in beautiful Dana Point. I followed a fleet of racing dinghies as I came in at Sunset. Docking was comfortable with an 11' beam in the 15' wide 40' slip, very well protected behind multiple breakwaters. My only complaint is the price, at $2.50/ft per night I could only afford a few nights, when compared to Oceanside at $.80/ft per night in the off-season it's quite steep.

I love the guest slips, and the facilities. Thank you all.

We sailed our 41' Columbia Ketch "Ber Necessity" from Cabrillo Way Marina in LA Harbor, down to Dana Point Harbor. We made the reservations through Docwa and it was very easy and reliable. Then I was working with Liz because we had a party for our family and friends to come see our new boat. Liz was amazing. She helped me with anything I needed and she was always so kind. The Marina at Dana Point allowed us to set up tables and a bar for our guests. We were also able to pick which slip we wanted. The Guest slips and dock and the facilities were very clean and really nice. We had a great stay and we will definitely be back. The Taylors

Had a wonderful stay. The only snag was that our assigned slip was too narrow (and directly adjacent to the pump out station's aroma), but your staff was very quick to move us two doors down to a somewhat wider slip. The slip, heads and marina could all use a makeover but we understand that's in the works. Can't wait to see the improvements!

The Guest Slips at Dana Point were great! I arrived Thursday around 1 pm and found my slip. Was able to wash the boat and get ready for my guests arrival so we could launch to Avalon. Showers were fine and it was really quiet on the docks. Liz made the process so easy. It was our first time doing a slip away from our home and I'd stay at Dana Point again.

Marina, dock, facilities great. However extremely noisy due to bands and crowds leaving after band was over.

Clean docks! Awesome amenities! We will b back 💯!

Stayed on what thought would be a quiet Thursday. Wrong! Rowing club takes up most parking. Loud bunch of drunks swearing past 10 in lot using restroom. Wife and daughter afraid to go to parking lot. Docks ok but mine had holes in it and nail heads where rubber bumper pulled away from dock. no trash containers on docks and must carry trash to land. Pump out worked at end of dock but no water hose for flushing system properly. Would help if had signs on end of dock to no which side to go down. Many paddle boarders in middle of channel don’t care if they are in the way or not.

I was assigned a slip that was too small, but this wasn't readily apparent until entering the slip was attempted. The attempt left permanent marks on the hull of my brand new boat.

This is one of our favorite stops!

Very pleased with our 2 night stay. Fortunately we were assigned # 21 easy in and out , drawback it’s on the waste pump out dock. Boats coming in to use dump station a bit of a nuisance. For the price it would make sense to be able to choose a slip. We were there midweek and there were many slips available. I have a 36 ft Sailboat and further down the dock it would have been tight. Bathrooms were clean and security locks worked well. My wife and daughter used the snack shop for snacks. Took the tender to where the Catalina Express docks for dinner. Walking to restaurants and good coffee is a distance. So bring a bike if you have room.