Heritage Harbor Ottawa

The marina is really nice. The staff was friendly and professional. They were always willing to go above and beyond. Thank you! Teresa and Sean on Meant To Be.

The good: The staff are awesome, friendly,helpful. The docks are in great shape. The cost is very reasonable. They have a courtesy car. Bryce gives an excellent briefing of the trip downstream for Loopers. The not so good: The showers were in need of cleaning. Overall, this place is a must stop. I highly recommend it. They go out of their way to make your stay excellent!!!

Kristy and crew are top-notch. Our stay was amazing and they were all ready to assist in any way possible. Available depth for to come into the Marina was borderline, Kristy talked us through the right approach and we made it I. With no problems. Thank you all, Knot home

Harbormaster and deck hands were quick and amazing. Harbormaster was so accommodating, even lending out her personal vehicle because the marina vehicle was being used. We had a large flotilla come in and ahe was able to get everyone a dock to be safe during the storm. Also, this community is so cute! Highly recommend.

The marina goes above and beyond for their boaters!

Excellent stay. Expertly and efficiently handled 11 Loopers who arrived together. Friendly, courteous, and helpful staff. Great nightly briefing for the continuation of our trip downriver. Marina is clean with nice onsite restaurant and ship's store. Offers free truck to make provision run. Area has nice walking trails too.

Great staff, nice facilities, floating docks and lots of space for kids and pets.

Great facility!!! The staff were the absolute best yet!! Christie, the Dockmaster was absolutely amazing…. Organized and helpful…..arranging 10 boats in at the same time!!!!!! Full amenities with the exception of laundry , but 2 courtesy vehicles!!!! Great little restaurant on site. Bryce, the Harbor Host, was awesome…..assistant lock master at Marseilles, Harbor Host , Towboat US and also gives an amazing briefing for your travel from Heritage Harbor to Green Turtle Bay !!! This was an absolute pleasure to get the info and he was amazingly thorough!!! We can’t say enough about this facility and their staff and would recommend this to anyone,Looper or otherwise, as a wonderful stop!!!!!

In redible group of people we were a large flotilla, Bruce met us at the Lock, had prepped a float plan,got us sorted , tied off and through in no time. Christy and lots of dock hand met each of us on the dock. Tied us down. Hooked up, water connected and pumped out. Then came back to check on us. All day Christy made sure we ALL had whatever we needed. That evening Bryce gave us the absolute best briefing we’ve reviewed on the loop. Cannot thank this Marina enough for above and beyond service

Heritage Harbor was a top 5 marina for us after 4,000 miles of travel around the Loop. Excellent people on the docks, in the office, and a fantastic Harbor Host who catches lines and welcomes visitors. Wonderful facilities - bath house, pool, Tiki Bar area, cornhole boards, etc. Well stocked ships store with many provision “essentials” without leaving the marina. Nice restaurant with great covered deck overlooking the marina. Easy access to the fuel dock and an efficient young man running it. Easy access to Uber for major provisions ( Super Walmart, Kroger, Aldi, Blains Farm and Fleet located in one area of town. Nightly Captain’s Brief covering the river travel ahead, anchorages, marinas, etc all the way to KY Lake. Excellent brief by very knowledgeable instructor- very much appreciated! We will plan a longer stay on our next trip, for sure.

Your Marina is beautiful! Thanks for a great long weekend.

It was amazing. From entering the canal with 6 other loopers and all the deck hands were awesome getting us all in there. Nice place looks new.

Great place. Clean and fun

Beautiful marina! Deckhand very helpful, nice pool, restaurant and showers.

Absolutely gorgeous marina! BlueGill Restaurant food was delicious. Wished we could have spent a few days but on time limit to get north.

Very happy this Marina is here. Great night lecture for the path ahead. Keep it up. Fuel and pump out team were great.

The best stop on your southbound Illinois journey. I can’t say enough good things about this place. Well run and professional. Wish we could have stayed longer.

Great service! I really recommande a stop

Great place, super helpful, and a wealth of knowledge for journeys on the River, especially downstream. Ethanol free gas.

Excellent organization for flotillas of Loopers, with superb dock help. Jeremy's briefing is expert, really appreciate the effort he puts in to help us navigate all the way to Kentucky Lake. Definitely a must stop for Looper boats!

Great marina! Staff is awesome. Great briefing by Jeremy on the river. The restaurant is good as well. Highly recommend.

Fantastic customer service!!! Best I’ve seen after 1,500 miles on The Loop. Great food at the dog dock. Jeremy is a national treasure!

Best marina ever. They run a tight ship here and understand what boaters need during their stay. And then they deliver competent professional service while still being friendly. Wow!

Great docks! Solid, wide, safe! Ate at Red Dog, very good. Was in Flotilla 7 & attended Jeremy’s river briefing which he does daily & should not be missed. Great staff, pump out at dock, easy reservation on Dockwa. Very clean marina!

Beautiful facility with a great staff.

Jeremy's briefing was great and food and support staff were all great.

Heritage Harbor Ottawa could not have been more accommodating of our flotilla of 16 boats who came in together. HH was ready for all of us, directed each one of us to our slips, and had all hands ready to catch our lines. They reopened the restaurant for us hungry cruisers and gave us a very informative talk on what to expect downriver. We would definitely stay their again!

Nice marina with very helpful and pleasant staff

Excellent facility and information

The facility and Staff are tops

Jeremy and crew are awesome!

Professional staff from the dock hands to the main office. Excellent facility. Very accommodating to the needs of the "Loopers."

Awesome people and great dinner! Thanks!

Wonderful marina! Very clean and helpful. Docks nice and wide. Highly recommend.

Excellent marina. 12 boats came in and they had us docked tied up and having a great meal at the restaurant within an hour!

Jeremy and the staffing here are awesome. They go the extra step to be sure their customers are taken care of. Wish we could have stayed longer. We will definitely be back. The FunQuest

The best it gets stayed until we arrived after dark with excellent directions in getting in marina help all boats get tied up and fuel

They stayed late to guide us to our slip. Very friendly and helpful. Scheduled talk on the southbound river journey is very informative and excellent.

Great, friendly staff.

Very nice, just add a laundry room and perfectio

Jeremy, the Harbormaster, was In touch ahead of our arrival with specific instructions guiding us into the marina in the low water conditions. Heritage Harbor makes for a very nice stop when heading down the River. The marina staff is very friendly and helpful. Jeremy gives a briefing on the southbound trip that is priceless!

Great stop. Quiet, sheltered. Nice bathrooms. I am so glad I didn’t miss the harbormaster’s talk about navigating the rivers south of here. We stayed 2 nights and I’d stay another if we didn’t have to move on.

One of the nicest marinas on the Illinois River. Very informative, helpful and many amenities to support needs. Good restaurant also, right at the marina. Jeremy, the harbor master gives a presentation most evenings for anyone traveling the rivers. So much to learn and very much appreciated to understand the routes and the areas to avoid, as well. Valuable!

Great place. Best bathrooms and showers since we got to michigan Missed the talk as we got in late. Kristy and crew landed us safely But Jeremy has been helpful with questions Great marina store with wine Good supper at red dog

Excellent Marina, exceptional staff. Information provided by Jeremy the Marina Manager on the waterways to Paducah was more than worth the cost of the Marina fees. Wish we had stayed longer.

WOW! This Marina has got it right! The staff is absolutely fantastic. They all go above and beyond. Thanks to Jeremy and Jacob. Jeremy is the best of the best. He knows this river. Extremely helpful with upcoming navigations. Jacob was very helpful at the docks. The Harbor Hosts Sam & Bryce were knowledgeable and always had a smile on their faces. Loved the pool and other facilities, as well. THANK YOU for a GREAT STAY!!

Extremely friendly and accommodating. Staff is amazing. Easy in and out.

The management at heritage is very good at what they do. The marina is beautiful very well-maintained . Jeremy Fowler does a seminar on travels from here to Paducah for loopers. Such valuable information So Glad We Went!! there is a very nice restaurant right on site they have three courtesy cars that you can use to go into town. We ended up staying a week due to a repair needed on our anchor we had to wait for a part. There is a bike trail right across from the marina that you can get on and it will take you into town we rode our bikes into town about three times and got to know downtown Ottawa pretty well. Very cute downtown lots of restaurants and shops cute little park with a fountain,. They had a movie theater it was great we had a wonderful time in Ottawa and staying at heritage marina

Great service. Beautiful facility. Friendly staff. Beyond helpful guides for people doing the Great Loop. Thanks again for your hospitality.

Excellent. Extremely friendly and helpful. We arrived at sunset and had helping hands ready to take our lines. Jeremy's talk on anchorages and the Illinois Waterway was outstanding.

Great experience! The staff went above and beyond to make our stay enjoyable!

After 4,000 miles of Marinas on the Great Loop we are well prepared to find both good and bad in any marina. However there is only “Great” here. The team monitored our progress with Nebo, watching us get thru the locks…and had 2 dock hands waiting for us on arrival! Who does that? Jeremy has a well oiled machine with teams of people focused on what boaters need. His daily briefing will make you a better Captain and help you stay safe. The docks are gorgeous, wide and clean. Great cleats, new power towers, water and pump out at your slip! Courtesy cars, Wi-Fi, restaurants, food and provisioning options are well defined during their welcome briefing. No stone is left unturned! There is more, but I am still here, so I am headed out to enjoy them now! Thanks for everything Jeremy!

Excellent excellent and did I say excellent? 😃 The staff were amazing. Very attentive to the boaters needs. Very organized and a wealth of information. One of the best Marina's we have been to in 5700 miles. Keep up the great work! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. And the restaurant food was amazing!

This was a no miss stop. Harbor master and staff are ACCOMODATING. Jeremy gives a great briefing on river conditions, anchorages to use and ones to avoid, marinas along the way to Paducah. Marina is a beautiful setting, courtesy cars available to ride into town and provision, shop and sight see. The adjacent Red Dog Grill had excellent food. I could spend a week here exploring their menu items. However the restaurant is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. All the reviews echo the same thoughts as we experienced. Just great to meet someone who cares so much for what they do. That i really respect.

Good stay! Loved our food at Red Dog! Jeremy gave great captains talk! All staff polite and helpful! Nicest loaner car on the loop! Nice restrooms/showers! Nice floating docks and power! In slip pump out! Highly recommend!

Truly our best marina stay yet as we are doing the Great Loop. The staff is over-accomodating, greeting us upon arrival, getting us tied up and even connecting our electric! They have everything you might need on site and if not, they have 2 loaner vehicles available for your use. The showers were awesome and they even provide everything you need in case you forgot it! (ie: shampoo, cream rinse, body wash, etc). The water pressure was GREAT and bathrooms were clean. My personal favorite was the well informed "talk" Jeremy offers to all Great Loopers in helping us navigate the commercial waterway, inform us of current depths of anchorages and river currents. I would definitely stay here again and again if we pass this way!

Third time staying with them. Absolutely one of the best marinas on the Loop!! Jeremy and Kristi run the marina so well! Lots if crew to help you dock. Beautiful marina and facilities. Nice restaurant. Great pool. Sam and Bryce are excellent Harbor hosts. Courtesy car. Jeremy's nightly river briefing is exceptional! Don't miss this stop!!

Awesome stop along the Illinois River. Very welcoming and the harbor master is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. A must stop for boaters and especially loopers.

This is a beautiful, very well maintained marina. We enjoyed the lovely pool, had a great dinner at The Red Dog Grill. The very best thing was a very informative briefing by Jeremy, the harbor master about the waterway, marinas, anchorages, on the way down to Paducah. We like this marina so much, decided to stay another night.

I can't say enough about the hospitality that this Harbor provides. From the personable staff and attention detail to the willingness to go the extra mile to ensure an experience like no other.

This Marina is awesome!!!⚓️🛥 The Doc Crew & fellow boaters are the best ever!!!! ⚓️🛥 I can’t say enough about the Harbor Master Jeremy & his wife Kristi, they go above and beyond. Super friendly peeps! Great stop for Loopers! Fantastic boat & kayak rentals! Great place to stay on the Illinois River! Number one in my book!!!

I had the family out for a weekend getaway,and had an amazing time! Boat rental was a blast, cottage we rented was perfect, and the food at the restaurant was great!

Outstanding staff! Jeremy and Kristi in the office really know what they're doing and they have a wonderful staff!

Thank you so much for treating us like family! A definite stop fir everyone’s trip in the Illinois River. We had help navigating in and at the dock. They took away all the anxiety of a new place. We made use of the courtesy vehicles twice, enjoying the area and restocking the boat. No clunkers here. Great new vehicles. Jeremy prepared us for the trip ahead with a detailed briefing of the river and anchorages - even coming in on his day off! Restaurant on site was good. Store had some essentials and well priced liquor too! A great stop!

Jeremy is just the best. Every looper should attend his nightly talk at 5:00. Good pool. Great Marina. 5 star.

Marina accommodations were great, clean and staff was extremely helpful. I have never experienced such a well orchastrated docking. They have it down to a science and have plenty people to assist you. The harbor master Jeremy does a presentation late afternoon where he shares with you information about what to expect all the way down the Illinois River. Not only that, but if you have a question post departure he is more than willing to assist you. In a world where great customer service is hard to find...you don't have to look far at Heritage Harbour.

We would stay more at marinas if the marinas were even close to the hospitality and value that Jeremy and his crew offer at Heritage Harbor!!!! From the professional radio communications received prior to arrival, to the free Ottawa, Il to Paduka, KY navigational brief offered to all boaters every evening. Heritage Harbor offer the use of 3 courtesy cars to reach a town that can be easily bicycled to using the old I&M Canal trail. Almost anything the boater might need is available in Ottawa, and if not, Jeremy and his staff will know where to obtain what you need. The amenities are 1st class, and everything works as advertised. We are transiting the river system towards our more expanded goal of circumnavigating the world on our sailboat. We are hopeful that we run into marinas like Heritage Harbor, but know in the back of our minds that the HH experience will be hard to surpass!!!

First Class Marina! First, I will state that the State of the Rivers "briefing" (it's nearly two hours long) given by dockmaster Jeremy Fowler every evening, should be required curriculum for all Loopers going down the rivers. It is both comprehensive and detailed. Second, we had a covey of ten boats coming out of Marselles Lock (<2 miles away) all together, and all of us wanted to come into the marina - at the same time. They coordinated with us by phone before the lock and radio after the lock so we arrived in an organized manner, each was individually directed to their slip/dock and assisted by dockhands and all were tied up within 30 frenetic minutes without incident. Very professional! The marina itself is very clean with concrete floating docks. 50 amp hookup went fine for us without any problems with the newfangled 5 milliamp GFCI pedestals as it has sometimes with other marinas. The Courtesy car we used was a 2021 Toyota Sienna minivan... with a full tank! They also have a restaurant, ship store, kayak rentals, bike trails, and much more. All for a dollar a foot. We are staying two extra days just to catch up with chores and rest up a bit before we launch downriver. Can't think of a better place to do it and as Gold Loopers, we've seen a lot of marinas in the past couple years. The staff is really first rate and helpful to the max. And then there is that briefing on the rivers too...

Beautiful marina with a great staff. Docks are new and in great shape. Nice wide walkways. Large pool, a great restaurant and good ship’s store that even has a great selection of Bourbon. At least 3 courtesy cars including a dog friendly car. Great stop to resupply. Lots of long trails to walk a dog plus a large fenced in dog park with separate sections for large and small dogs. Jeremy’s River brief was 2 hours and covered everything we needed to know to get to Paducah, KY. We feel a lot more confident about our plans knowing what we will encounter and what the current depths are.

Excellent communication and information before arrival. Excellent dock staff that handled four Loopers that came in simultaneously. Very nice facilities including individual slips and slip side pump out. Briefings by Jeremy on the route down river makes this a must stop for Loopers or anyone else heading south.

We couldn’t ask for a better safe harbor! The harbor master Jeremy is amazing and extremely knowledgeable. Our stay was the best decision we made so far on the AGLCA! Everything from the food and drinks to the showers and complimentary car, not to mention the very informative meeting Jeremy held for all the loopers! We can’t wait to visit again someday!

Delays at the locks kept us from arriving until after dark. We radioed ahead and dock hands we’re waiting to help us with lines when we arrived. They even helped us get our power cord connected. The marina is clean, has a restaurant, bar, entertainment and even some groceries. Highly recommend!

WHAT??? I have to be honest, we are traveling the Great American Loop and therefore have had the opportunity to visit many marinas. Previously, I thought the customer service provided by those in Michigan were heads and tails better than any other marina we had had the opportunity to visit. UNTIL NOW!! Heritage Harbor Ottawa provides customer service that is even better. This was totally unexpected since we were no longer in Michigan. Right here, just outside Chicago, a place where customer service is very important. Thank you Heritage Harbor for raising the bar!

We were traveling doing the Great Loop and this marina was recommended and we can understand why. The staff stayed at the dock waiting for us since we had a late arrival. They were knowledgable, friendly and so efficient. The marina was immaculate, well organized and has great concrete floating docks. We highly recommend this as a stop.

This marina exceeded our expectations! The people who work here are amazing! Always willing to help, take the time to explain things and friendly! As a first time boat owner, couldn’t be happier with our decision to put our boat in this marina.

Amazing!! I can not say enough about Jeremy and the staff at Heritage Harbor. We have stayed at countless marinas in Florida’s and Bahamas. Never have we met folks so intent on making sure they did everything they could to ensure their guests had a comfortable stay and safe voyage ahead.

My brother and I left Duluth, MN on 17 Sep 2020 traveling the Great Loop on my Grand Banks 32 woodie... in addition I am quite new with this boat and am learning as I go in this journey. Along the way I have had many issues crop up making each and every day a new experience, many of which involve which marina to spend the night or a couple of days. In my experience, you find boaters are extremely helpful to one another and the marinas on the Illinois River system we are stopping at are staying open late this year as not only has Covid hurt them but the locks were closed from Jul thru the end of Oct. I have river experience having lived on a Chris-Craft 50 for 5 years south of St. Paul, MN - but this adventure is very different than putzing up and down the upper Mississippi where the tow boats are considered children's toys (compared to those starting in St. Louis). Having read about everything I could on what to expect, for the grace of God, we met Mick - a Scotsman who is on his 5th Loop. Mick has become my mentor, one I am following until we go our separate ways at Paducah, KY. At any rate, Mick told me we would be stopping at Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa, IL - he told me we would be meeting Jeremy Fowler, the HarborMaster. Jeremy is one of the most knowledgable people I have met on this journey... especially regarding the river system and what to expect. Jeremy provides a free seminar for those heading south - such as us Loopers. He explains what to do when approaching everything from the locks and tows to where to find anchorages and safety zones when approaching a dangerous bend in the river. If you ever have a problem on your journey south you can pick up the phone and give Jeremy a call... odds are he has traveled the area and is abreast of current situations. Beyond Jeremy the Heritage Harbor Marina has every amenity you could want from a great restaurant to courtesy cars. The Team absolutely bend over backwards to make your trip safe and enjoyable... it is "the" place to stop in my opinion. That said if 5X Mick hadn't told me about Heritage Harbor I may have missed it... I can say thank you a hundred times as it was one of our best stops in the past 1450 miles. I highly recommend you spend some time at Heritage Harbor Marina... Jeremy's seminar is alone worth the price.

We are 15 months into this trip and have stayed at countless marinas from Miami to the Great lakes and we were never taken care of as well as here. Period. Mic drop.

Great hospitality from the staff and nice facilities. Special thank you to Jeremy for providing us a two hour looper briefing from Ottawa to Kentucky Lakes! Cheers Greg and Cait SV Dragonfly

Perfect..... staff is great. Jeremy runs a super nice staff and marina love staying at heritage harbor one of our favoite marinas

Beautiful marina with top notch staff! Don’t forget to get a bite to eat at the Red Dog Grill!!

I can't say enough about the staff at HHO. We were delayed at the Marseilles Lock and didn't arrive until 10PM. They were aware of our predicament and stayed to make sure we got into a slip safely after a stressful day. Greatly appreciated! We attended the Looper talk with Jeremy and found the information to be very accurate and useful on our trip south. Thank You Jeremy. First class facilities!

If it possible to give a ten star rating this place earns it!! Great people Great accommodations Great Food and priced to stay a few days!! Thanks Guys!!

We came in with about 20 loopers all at once every one was met at there slip for tie up help great docks, pool, showers, food, Jeremy and Christy made everyone feel special just a day or a week this is a must stop marina!

Jeremy (and wife Kristi too) are a true gem on the Illinois River, especially for loopers. Even a boater well experienced ion the Illinois Waterway can learn many things from Jeremy's "Looper Briefing" If you have circled Hoppies as a must-stop, you need to include Heritage for the trip to get to Hoppies. The Marina comes with excellent amenities, great prices, especially with the AGLCA discount. Great showers, restauraunt, and Quest for your mechanical needs. Don't let the lock delays cause you to miss this important stop! !

Very protected, lovely grounds, great restaurant, Jeremy gives a talk on the next 300 miles of the journey that is extremely informative. Should be a must stop for all.

We were not out of the lock until after dark. The marina had a guide boat lead us into the harbor, provided us with a late dinner, and exceeded all of our expectations. This is one excellent marina.

Best experience we have had at a marina! We were sad we were only staying one night. Jeremy and team did a great job bringing in the 4 or 5 boats coming in at the same time. Very professional. It is a great marina and the Red Dog Grill serves great food as well. A wonderful experience!

Heritage Harbor Marina is on our Top 10 list. They are organized, friendly, and knowledgeable. The service they provided is top notch. Laundry was the only thing they did have, but the one in town was nice and clean.

Heritage Harbor went above and beyond! They greater 12 boats who arrived about 9p. Was very organized and found space for everyone. They even kept the restaurant open late while Jeremy briefed the boaters on the rivers ahead. The marina is wonderful, clean, and plenty of space. Highly recommend staying there!

What a jewel on the Illinois. Great floating docks, well protected, great amenities (shower suites, tiki bar, restaurant Red Dog on property, pool) super friendly and accommodating staff, great briefing on the river by Jeremy, nice courtesy cars,etc. Can't say enough. In fact we extended stay.

Great marina! Super staff, excellent amenities, reasonable rates.

Great place. They treat you right at Heritage Harbor.

Great friendly staf and beautiful location. Jeremy spent an hour with me going through the charts down the river toward St Louis

Clean. Friendly. Scenic.