Monroe Harbor, the Chicago Harbors

We loved the mooring and tender service. Great views of the city. Staff all super helpful.

The moorings at Monroe Harbor are very very rocky. However, the views and the location are amazing. Everyone should try it at least once.

Awful!! Rough bounce up and down!!

There was much good in our stay: easy, less expensive access to downtown Chicago, free tender service, beautiful views, kind and responsive workers. However the bad rocking of the boat beginning in the middle of the night overshadowed all the good. We had checked the weather to make sure we were not there on a windy night, but the consistent 7 knot wind from south and east created rollers that ricocheted around the harbor. It was unsafe to move around the boat. Things fell over that usually don’t move even in rough seas or big wakes. We would not consider staying there again.

5 stars for the tender captains and marina staff. Zero stars for the incessant traffic circling and blasting music late into the night (let alone the swarm of PWCs weaving in-and-out at 1a.m. yesterday).

Strategically located in the heart of Chicago! We were on a mooring, the tender service staff was great! Only hiccup was the ladies shower had a broken shower head…it was rough for a trawler but it’s the boat, not the marina.

Friendly people, great tender service, well maintained mooring ball . Only reason I give it less than 5 stars is we rocked a lot the first night. Second night was rolly and the 3rd night the harbor was like glass. No fault of the marina's - just not completely protected.

Excellent facility and customer service!

Quick tenders,we enjoyed our stay.

Clean comfortable and a great view, tender service is good. Short walk to the most exclusive restaurants you can think of.

The location can't be beat for downtown Chicago! Tender service is included with the mooring ball so there is no worry about securing the dink at a downtown dinghy dock. Francesco was very helpful and understanding when we ran into mechanical issues followed by severe weather.

Very reasonable price! Great tender drivers!

It was very bad!!! Actually the worse night in the 3 months we have been on the water. We paid for 2 nights and stayed only one the waves were so bad the boat was rocking like hell….. we really hope we could be at least reimbursed for one night .

Very rolly and the water taxis blast all though the mooring field waking everybody pretty much constantly. We called at eleven the second day and asked if we could cancel the remainder of our reservation and I was told we could. They charged us anyway for that night we were t there. Very poor staff. Very limited facilities but a great view of the city.

Just plain awesome q

Great location! Nice having shuttle boat readily available!

Great spot to visit the Chicago area. My only suggestion would be to update the mooring balls so that you can access a painter from six feet off the water. Thanks.

Very easy. Good communication

The staff was always courteous and helpful. The tender service was quite prompt and helpful. The captains on the tenders did a great job especially Adele and Mike. We hope to be back next year.

Bad service.... wouldn't recommend

Beautiful harbor and great tender operators.

No lines or painters to grab, just bare Mooring ball! Absolutely no reason transient mooring balls shouldn’t be accommodating. Pre season tender hours not provided. Nice and professional trender captian

Magnificent views come with a price - not just about the cost either. We stayed here early in 2023 sailing season, and had 2 incredible days sight-seeing Chicago. The facility is great, bathrooms are clean, tender services friendly and very convenient, and the cans are well-marked. It is not protected from the lake so be prepared for some lumpiness- even on very calm days.

Great staff and Tender service, I’m a new boater and I really appreciate their help!

The mooring balls do not have painters (lines) so if your boat is high like ours is, it is difficult to get a line on them. Also, the harbor is not protected from the south east so in rough conditions with waves coming from that direction it made for a very bympy night.

We stayed on a mooring ball and found it very crowded, very wavy all night, and were given codes to the marina bathrooms that didn’t work. It is convenient to stay here prior to locking through, but would definitely choose elsewhere next time.

Great launch point for loopers taking the Chicago river route.

We stayed in Monroe Harbor for 5 nights on a mooring. $43 a night. The view was amazing. We did have an unusually calm and warm week for September. The tenders were efficient and ran u til 11:30 at night. I would stay here again in a heartbeat!

When we arrived, another boat was occupying the mooring ball we had reserved. The staff was great and suggested we find another buoy then simply advise them as to the one we chose. My previous review, which is still here following this one, mentioned that no mooring lines are attached to the buoys. It would be really nice if the water taxis could add a quick stop along their routes to tie a mooring line for incoming boaters. Previous review: This is the second time we've moored at Monroe, both times there was no line connected to the buoy/can. This makes it extremely difficult to tie off. It was very windy and impossible to hold the boat in place with a boat hook. Luckily someone in a kayak caught the bowline and tied it to the buoy for us. I've been boating for 42 years in case you think this is some kind of amateur complaining.

Everyone in the marina always provides great service. Special kudos to the tender service crew… they are truly phenomenal!!!

The "New" Monroe Harbor is an absolute joy. When I started boating to Chicago back in the 1990's, everyone I dealt with at Monroe Harbor was either rude, dismissive, or just plain unpleasant. So I stopped coming to Monroe Harbor. No longer. Everyone I dealt with - Harbormaster, tender boat captains, even the ice bag vendor - was courteous and friendly. Special shout out to Steve, for helping me get my boat up and running after a little mishap.

Location is Top notch, water taxi to shore is prompt and esay. Staff are pleasant and helpful. The only downfalls for us were no pendants on the balls making it difficult to grab and the SE winds caused some very rollie nights, it felt like we were anchoring out in the lake.

First night was great. When the winds and swell are coming from the southeast, this place is a bouncy hell hole…we barely slept at all the second night for that reason.

Nice large mooring field. No lines on balls so you must call harbor master to assist you with tying up. Nice water taxi service. Very rocking. Like a washing machine. Great location. Fireworks every Saturday night and they were fantastic! Nice clean rest rooms.

I cannot thank the staff at Monroe enough. Luke was a tremendous help when my bilge pump went out and saved the day. I will be certainly return and highly recommend this harbor.

Staff very helpful and friendly Winn be back. My only wis is that they put pendants on the mooring balls.

I really liked the marina. The location was great and we never had to wait long for the tender. The only downside was that the mooring buoy didn’t have a pickup buoy attached to it so we had to lean over the railing to thread our line through the buoy.

Perfect, kindness, people helpfull.

Very convenient and enjoyable

The staff of the tenders and the harbor master were very helpful and great to deal with in many different situations I had, as anyone who owns an older boat will know

We loved staying on the can - cool breezes, no crowds, easy maneuvering, free and efficient tender service. AND all at less than one-third the price of a slip!

The location is great and the staff was very accommodating. A tender service is used by the marina operator to ferry people to and from their boats and the service should be better. On one occasion we had to wait nearly 30 minutes for a tender to pick us up for a trip to shore. It was not a peak time, it was the middle of an afternoon, but they only had one tender making the run. Speaking with season customers, this is a common occurrence and complaint.

Just simply fantastic weather, great views and friendly people on the water taxi. The view and the many restaurants are absolutely fantastic.

Beautiful location. Great tender service with dedicated staff. Wifi totally substandard, event by the office, not to mention at the mooring cans. Water refill not at all compliant with basic hygiene norms : one has to use the faucets of the pump out dock, which are connected to water hoses used for cleaning holding tanks. Connecting one's own hoses does not prevent bacteria spreading. Separate faucets should be installed on a separate dock ! Shocking !

The staff at the Harbor office (Jenn) was awesome... so patient and informative as we are new to the area. Tenders to and from shore are readily available and tender Captains are excellent. There are no facilities to speak of but Chicago downtown and Riverwalk is basically a stones throw away.

Great location. Mooring balls are a pain to hook to. No line hanging to grab hold of. Difficult for a larger boat to feed line through eye. The harbor tinders (water taxi) are great.

Great tender service; attractive price; convenient pump-out and water facilities. First night was on a mooring ball that was open to the swells from the opening in the inner breakwater -- but the helpful staff was able to relocate us to a more protected ball where we slept much better.

Calm, sheltered mooring, exceptional water taxi access. Very helpful staff. Could not have been better.

We were moored in really high winds and the help of the harbor tender pilot was invaluable. Thanks a bunch from the crew of Coracle!

We had a great weekend. Too many things to do in Chicago. Tender service was great! Props to captain blue beard!