The Oyster Farm Marina at Kings Creek

This is a nice marina in a beautiful creek, near a fantastic town. This Maria could be a home run. Unfortunately, it is not a well run Marina. Making a reservation was difficult. They aren’t on Dockwa and their website didn’t work. It’s online now, but it still provides a Welly little information and you can’t make reservations through it. We had to send emails to get reservations, and we had to follow up. It took a long time just to get a reservation booked. It’s 2025, get on Dockwa or allow reservations from your website. Not everybody wants to do that, of course, but make it available for those to do. As for the grounds, they are beautiful. The marina is new enough that it is in great shape. However, it’s a large Marina and if they don’t have more staff quickly, they will not be able to keep it in good shape. The pool was very small and sort of just stuck out in a piece of grass. That’s OK, it’s a marina pool. However, the water was very cloudy and green. I was surprised people were actually swimming in it. There are no umbrellas around the pool, so you’re out there in the middle of the field with no shade. One of our fellow travelers looked in a dock box at the pool for some umbrellas, instead she found a pool test kit. She tested the pool, as she has experience with this, and found there was no chlorine in the water and the alkaline levels were sky high. Bad sign. This was clearly an unhealthy pool and probably would have been shut down by the locality if they came by to test it. I don’t blame the dock hands, however, as I said this marina is woefully understaffed. And I don’t think anyone at the top really has an eye for the processes that are necessary to run a Marina. I saw a review from two weeks ago mentioning the pump out not working. It still wasn’t working. There also was no gas. Fortunately, we take diesel. Only one of the two diesel pumps worked. The price on the fuel pumps was wrong and there was no way to pay for fuel at the fuel dock. The dock hand took a picture of the pump and when we checked in, another dockhand handed the marina manager a torn corner of paper that had our gallons on it so that he could enter it in to the computer. Now, the young dock hand at the fuel pump was very helpful and gave us our slip assignment. He did not have the slip assignment for our companion boat, however. And there was no one in the office to give them their slip assignment. So they just had to pick a slip near us and hope for the best. There were no dock hands available to help docking (the only one they had was at the fuel dock). Approaching this marina is always a challenge, but we were told the approach was dredged last year. In fact, the approach was fine. Unfortunately, we were also told the dredging stopped about one marker before the marina. We found that to be correct as our 4 foot drafts were kicking out mud as we approached the fuel dock and approached our slips. Seems like it would’ve been a good idea to have them dredge just a little bit more. Definitely not a marina for you if you draw more than 4 feet. Inside the office, the highly promoted ship store seemed to be stocked with things that didn’t sell in the past. It was not a good marine store. We found humor in that the only souvenir T-shirts were from an event back in 2023. The office itself was a mess. Mail and paperwork were all over the long counter, and all sorts of papers were on every horizontal surface behind the counter. Again, no sense of organization or knowledge of how to run a business, much less a Marina. On the positive side, the restaurant at the marina was good and the service there was great. Our stay was still fun, because Cape Charles is a great little town to visit. We would love to come back, but we can’t until we see lots of reviews proclaiming changes at this marina. This Marina could be a gem but it’s not even close, it’s so poorly run. And that’s too bad. Some of the old reviews sound like this was a nice place to visit.

I base my stars mostly on the aesthetics of the marina itself which is pretty, and the staff, who were all good. However, I have no idea what the owner(s) are thinking.. Last year (2022) they suddenly hiked their prices up to $4 a foot, making it (to my knowledge) the most expensive on the lower Chesapeake Bay. That was (IMO) a really bad choice, because: a) the economy and inflation b) as others have said, the place hard to get into, and it has a bad reputation with boaters. Those two factors alone should cause a drop in rates, simply to attract more people.. It has shoaled terribly at the end of the long straight channel, and we have seen several sailboats aground there, some stuck for hours. It's definitely fun trying to maneuver in that narrow, shallow channel if there's a large powerboat coming the other way. I wouldn't even try it in a boat with a draft of more than 5ft, and definitely not on an outgoing tide. Now, in 2023, they seem to have totally removed the marina from the website, it is all about the (expensive) restaurant, events, and their cabin rentals. All very strange. I'd advise avoiding here, and going to the Cape Charles town docks instead.

Great place, some shared bikes would be nice to see the town easier. Nice facilities too. Only bad part is the shallow portion in the "channel", so ask which side of markers to hug.

Spent the weekend of July 4, 2020 at the marina., on our boat. The grounds were clean, the pool was open and refreshing. The staff in the office was very helpful. Getting to town was a bit difficult if you didn’t have a vehicle, but that’s no fault of the Marina. This marina is in an excellent location, with great a great atmosphere. The only down fall was C-pier was not open, to grab a bit to eat, have a drink and watch the sunset.

This marina is absolutely beautiful and the staff is so friendly and helpful! The environment here is relaxing, fun, and everybody feels like family. The restroom and shower facilities are immaculate and clean. I highly recommend this place to anybody, even if you don’t own a boat! 😃

I visited The Oyster Farm marina and enjoyed restaurant reservations. We enjoyed a four day stay for the 4th of July. (2020) Our stay was so very comfortable, the pool was very relaxing. The grounds were kept lovely and the sunset everyday next to the restaurant was absolutely Amazing. Nothing disappointed me with our stay. Loved, and will be back. Peaceful mind was found.

Absolutely love this marina. This is always our first choice when visiting Cape Charles. We love the atmosphere and the view. The staff is super friendly and helpful. The bathrooms are beautiful and clean. The pool is lovely, and everyone around treats you like family. You are not a stranger when you come here. The food at the eatery is delicious. We will continue to come back to the Oyster Farm marina for years to come!

I went for the first time to the Marina at Kings Creek. I can’t say enough about the Marina, restaurant, pool and service. On July 4th we sat and listened to the awesome band outside and viewed some of the most beautiful sunsets you could ever imagine. We also had a front row view of the spectacular fireworks show. You can also rent Golf carts and take a drive into the town for sightseeing or charter a Boat from Top Dog or Sho-Nuf Charter’s. I just feel so safe with the surroundings and can’t wait to plan my next vacation in Aug.

We've historically really liked staying here but this trip wasn't great. Things for management to improve: 1. The restrooms were not cleaned once Thur-Sun of a holiday weekend (same toothpaste in the sink the whole time...) 2. Please update the visual guide on your website marking the channel - the red 2 is not here & the green cans are not there 3. Typically the dockhands are attentive and cleaning the decks through out the day, but we only saw them hanging out in the store 4. There was no ice for purchase available by Saturday 5. Our meal at the restaurant was overcooked (chewy shrimp). Hopefully things will improve!

First, the facilities at Oyster Farm Marina are first rate. Floating docks, beautiful dock house, very nice bathrooms. We have stayed here before and loved it. Now the other. Getting in touch with Amber, the dock master is near impossible. I left two voice messages trying to find out if they were open, but no answer. I made my reservation online after I had read a days old review (they must be open!). Paid my fee online, received a e-mail, and arrived at the Marina at 3:15 in the afternoon. No answer on the marine radio, CH16. No answer on the phone. We tied up on the fuel dock and I walked to the Marina office, closed at 3 on a Saturday. I was considered a “late check in”. I called the number on the door for a late check in, left a message, no call back. I called the emergency number and got Amber. She said to take any open spot on D dock. I mentioned that there were lots of dock boxes on D dock, she said just pick an empty slot. I asked for a specific spot. Finally got D17. Very nice because as we pulled out to go dock, the “empty” slot next to us was filled by a Oyster Farms Marina member with a 42 foot boat who was out for the day. The restrooms were not serviced on Saturday from the look of them that afternoon. No toilet paper in the ladies rooms. I ransacked the men’s side and put some rolls on the door handle of the ladies side. Trash was full. The channel into Kings Creek is shallow, 5 feet in some spots. The Oyster Farm website has a cartoon explaining the channel, when your get to the red day marker and make a 90 degree turn to starboard the cartoon shows another red day marker less than 1 hundred yards. It is not there. We headed to a red day marker about 5 hundred yards away and the big sport fisher behind us cut our stern ignoring the 2nd marker and headed directly to the creek. Local knowledge is better than a cartoon, so we followed. My Garvin is from 2015, the cartoon was undated, bottom line, the cartoon needs to be updated or taken down.

Stayed here during the COVID crisis. The marina had a friendly, but skeleton crew. Sadly we had no shore power our night here due to an oversight, but not a big deal considering the short handed staff. The docks are nice and new, free laundry facilities, nice showers, and there’s small ship’s store. Fuel dock and pump out was a cinch. Good water pressure at our pedestal. Entrance was a bit tricky due to confusing navigation aids, but never saw less than 7 feet at high tide. Very nice views and rustic setting. I found T-Mobile cell service rather poor. The marina WiFi didn’t fully reach our slip, but found it on par with most marina WiFi service. I think this marina would be awesome and fun after COVID with some more life, more boaters, and open restaurants.

I will blame it on the Covid but the place is hurting. No one working when we came in. Don't think the restrooms got serviced the entire 4 nights we were here. Place was a little like a ghost town. Tons of empty slips. Of course weather was not the best, town beach still closed and virus concerns. All this being said, we do love coming here and will be back. Amber did a great job of keeping in touch with us and getting our reservation adjusted (delayed arrival 1day due to rough weather). She also gave us her contact info in case we needed anything. We will be back and hope things are on the upswing for the marina.

Beautiful Marina in a great little town with lots of things to do. however I have to base my rating off of the price for this marina. I have a 33 ft boat and it cost about $100 a night to stay here, witch is quit a bit higher than other marinas in the area, and that's ok, but if you are going to charge top dollar you need to focus on the smaller details. the channel needs to be dredged, be careful and do your homework before coming in the first time, also I very BIG pet peeve of mine is a marina that does not respond to vhf channel 16, we had to call them on our cell phone to find out what slip to go in. the wifi did not work at all, and at night the dock looked like a disco dance party because the lights on the power pedestals were all blinking on and off. But all in all we had a great time, and I am glad that we have marinas like this close to home.

Helpful staff. Everything was clean and well maintained. Pool was great just what we needed on a hot July day.

Great marina as far as the physical docks and buildings. The management is horrible. No skilled dock hands, hours open short, no friendly, no flexibility or effort to please the customers. We checked in Monday, 3 friends came in Wednesday. We asked for slips together. All were told no, “we are sold out”. Two slips next to us open all week. Also pool is horrible. Small and cloudy (chemicals off). Lastly the channel in is extremely shallow. I personally pulled two boats off bottom with my dingy in the channel. Could be a great marina if properly managed and they respected their visitors and treated them kindly. Last issue is that we came down from Middle River and planned to fuel up at Marina, price was $4.95 per gallon diesel when all over the bay is $3.00 or less. Unbelievable! This is horrible and price gouging at the extreme! Go to the Cape Charles Harbor, $2.95 per gallon.

Wish we had more time to stay. What a beautiful resort! Cannot comment on the restaurant as it was closed that day and the next day we had other family plans. However, rest assured, we WILL come back for a longer stay!

A quiet marina tucked in, on Kings Creek. The staff is great, and very helpful. They have shower facilities, laundry facilities, a pool, access to the beach overlooking the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. They have an angler store on premises. The Restaurant on premises serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. During the summer months, they have a bar and restaurant at the end of C-Pier with live entertainment every weekend. There is a short walk to the town, with shops and more restaurants.