New owners take over at Marmong Point Marina
Lake Macquarie’s largest marina becomes part of the growing Empire Marinas familyMarmong Point Marina, Lake Macquarie’s largest privately owned marina, has a new owner, with Sydney-based Empire Marinas officially taking over the facility.
Until its sale, the Marmong Point Marina was one of the largest privately-owned full-service commercial marinas in NSW, home to 245 floating berths, swing moorings, dry storage, a large hardstand, chandlery, fuel, pump out and key onsite service trades.
The Lake Macquarie marina becomes a sister site to Empire’s 200-berth Bobbin Head facility on Broken Bay, north of Sydney.
Empire Marinas managing director Darren Vaux said Marmong Point Marina was in a sheltered cove at the northern end of Lake Macquarie, making it a perfectly protected boat anchorage.
“Marmong Point Marina is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of both the growth in recreational boating and the growth in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie communities, all just 90 minutes north of Sydney,” he said.
“Recreational boating has seen extraordinary growth over the past year with Industry turnover up 11.0 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, and over 18,500 new boats registered.
“[An estimated] 2.5 million people in Australia have boat licences and over 20 per cent of Australians go boating, making it one of Australia’s most popular pastimes.”
Marinas 'evolving'
According to Vaux – who is also president of the Boating Industry Association that is responsible for the annual Sydney and Brisbane boat shows – marinas were evolving from being little more than boat storage and maintenance hubs to become recreation destinations for a mix of visitors.
“They need to evolve and respond to changing community expectations around the built environment, environmental enhancement and climate change resilience and sit comfortably in their environment,” he said.
“They need to cater for the needs of a wide range of people from discerning large boat owners and trailer boat owners, visitors who are looking for small boat hire, visitors from the water including paddlecraft, and visitors from the landside who just want to sit and enjoy the marina environment.”
Empire Marinas is owned by the Vaux and Richardson families.
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