Reviews: Vero Beach City Marina

Reviewed by: Kevin Williams , m/v Blue Tortuga, on Mar 15, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 3.5'

Rating: 5

Spent 2 nights in the mooring field adjacent to the marina. Dockhands and staff were very helpful with directions in and navigating the mooring field. Due to the number of boats in the mooring field, we rafted next to another appropriate sized vessel. First for us in a mooring field but it worked well. Dingy dock super convenient. Vero Beach is 1.5 miles away, a nice walk through pretty neighborhoods or you can catch the free local bus. No restaurants on site but some within walking distance. Lots of dolphins in the mooring field!

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Teresa Scott on Feb 28, 2024
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 40'
Draft: 5.5'

Rating: 5

Beautiful location and great services. Had to be rafted to another boat but there was no one onboard it the three days we were here. Took the shuttle to the beach and walked the boardwalk. Nice place and we'll definitely be back.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Captain Gene on Feb 3, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 39'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 4

We have been here many times through the years. Here are some of our visits comments. 1 29 2024 had a slip for one night. We were on floating docks in front of Yacht club which could use some work. Easy to access and staff was pleasant and helpful. Facilities old but clean.1 20 2020 used mooring for overnight stay. Before they let us use mooring they required us to do a pump out. Had to share a mooring this time. It was somewhat difficult since no one was on the boat already on the mooring, it was windy, and it had no really easy to attach cleats available. 2 9 2018 This time had to share mooring with nice people on boat so no issues tying up. Walked to town by beach for nice breakfast and returned for dinner, plenty of choices here. Took bus to Publix, shopping mall, and lunch. Was able to ship recalled fire extinguishers back to Kidde using FEDEX to pick them up from the office here. Did a good amount of exploring with the dingy. Lots of friendly boaters here. 1 24 2017 another visit this time on mooring ball our self two days. Rented car from Enterprise for trip to Orlando a day. Unfortunately Wifi on mooring did not work well. 1 3 2016 Stayed again 12 29 2015. We stayed in a slip. Pump out worked well Decent facilities, good docking help from staff, walked to beach, and took free bus to main part of town. Nice town to visit.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Emily on Feb 1, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 52'
Draft: 5.0'

Rating: 4

Great stop. Nearby free shuttle gets you to the beach and to stores easily. Friendly staff. Good stop. Marina has all fixed docks. There are pilings on the outside at T heads. Set your fenders for about 2 ft off the water for protection on the inner slips (no exposed pilings there). Our boat was damaged by another boat coming in. Also saw another collision as a boat pulled out, but didn't look like any major damage.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Mark W on Oct 6, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 39'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 1

The marina is fantastic. But the Riverside Cafe nearby plays loud obnoxious music after 11 pm at night that will prevent me from ever visiting again.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Lisa Vidor on Jun 18, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 42'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 5

Stayed on a mooring ball. Great staff. Public bus picked you up at Marina and took you around town. Would definitely return.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Karen Munson , Oasis, on Mar 30, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 46'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 5

Another wonderful stay at Vero Beach. Laundry and restrooms are very clean and easily accesse. Wifi needs improvement with so many boats in mooring field and on the docks. Shuttle bus gets you where you need to go. We will be back.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Janet Gannon on Mar 21, 2023
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 37'
Draft: 6.0'

Rating: 5

This is a must stop on the ICW. The mooring field is snug as can be, protected 360 from winds and swell. We had a couple good blows during our stay and were cozy. Easy dinghy access, nice bathrooms, huge parks (including a 5 star dog park), a beach within walking distance, free buses (Publix, West Marine, and a Walmart grocery are all on the route that stops at the marina), and some yummy restaurants. It's easy to see why this place is called velcro beach!

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Abroad Reach on Mar 7, 2023
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 37'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Vero Beach is a great stop before busy south Florida. Before you can head to a mooring ball they will ask you to go to the fuel dock to get a pump out. Be prepared to raft up on the mooring balls, especially during peak migration season. The north mooring field is quiet and has very little boat traffic, while the south field has some wakes from the ICW (it is a slow speed minimum wake zone but there are those going too fast) and some road noise from the bridge. It is well protected from all directions. The boater community here is fantastic with a daily cruisers net and weekly events. The bathrooms are clean, and while the laundry facilities are a little run down they are certainly usable. The best part of Vero Beach is the free bus that will take you to the beach, the farmers market (on saturdays), and to groceries. The area around the marina is pretty quiet traffic wise so it allows for nice walks through the neighborhood, and there is a dog park next door!

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: JACQUES HOUYOUX , TARDIS, on Nov 25, 2022
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 38'
Draft: 5.0'

Rating: 4

Spent 4 days in a slip adjacent to the fuel dock in November 2022. I agree with all the positive comments of other reviewers. This is our first choice for a quiet stop after dealing with rough seas and winds on Indian River. Easily handles our 6' draft, unusual compared to some others, in Sebastian, for example, where all were too shallow for us. However, I was disappointed that the WiFi did not work. I tried several times while at the marina and it would never connect long enough to do any work. They advertise 4 networks. North and South seemed strong enough for us, but after connecting to the network, they dropped within a minute. Somewhat aggravating was the denial I experienced when I brought the issue to the attention of the staff. I realize Wifi is a challenge for marinas, but very annoying to have a service advertised that could work, but does not.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Donna Decaul , Miss Lynn, on Aug 24, 2022
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 53'
Draft: 4.6'

Rating: 5

Last night we stayed at the Vero Beach City Marina. It's tucked away from the ICW with very little tidal movement. The laundry, showers, restrooms, fuel and pump-out services are conveniently located. We especially appreciated the FREE bus loop that travels through several business and shopping areas - hourly. We used it for a grocery trip. This location is super peaceful with "quiet hours" from 7PM to 9AM (including generators.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Shannin C+1 on Apr 29, 2022
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 50'
Draft: 10.0'

Rating: 4

Testtttt

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Addison Chan on Apr 28, 2022
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 42'
Draft: 5.0'

Rating: 5

Excellent facility friendly staff.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Patricia And Steven Stanley , Calypso, on Mar 7, 2022
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 39'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 5

One of our favorite marinas so far. The marina has great bathrooms, locking (!) showers and laundry facilities. There are 108 wet slips, 57 moorings, a dinghy dock and a captains lounge. The staff are pleasant and helpful. There is a nice restaurant within walking distance that has a fabulous Sunday brunch. Lovely parks (including a dog park) and picknic areas. Very beautiful.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Rob Dare , Liberty Call , on Jan 6, 2022
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 46'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Great marina with very friendly helpful staff. Easy access to the fuel dock. Nice facilities, large laundry room and a couple acre dog park next door. Great bus system runs hourly and covers every where that most people will need. Lots of great areas to walk a dog.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Capt Eric , Drunken Monkeys, on Apr 19, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 42'
Draft: 4.3'

Rating: 5

Professional and a great location, moorings, docks, easy assess fuel dock, nice captains lounge, laundry, dinghy dock, pump out, showers,... It's not called Velcro Beach for nothing.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Heath Phillips , Philyria , on Apr 15, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 35'
Draft: 6.0'

Rating: 5

Very cool stop. I wish I stayed longer. Very calm. There are a couple restaurants within walking distance.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Bruce Krizmanic , S/V Inspiration, on Jun 11, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 39'
Draft: 4.7'

Rating: 5

We picked up a mooring for a week to visit family and to get a few things done on the boat. It was a very quite marina, free bus service to the beaches as well as to publix.
There is also a great dog park a couple of blocks away that has area's for both large and small dogs.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Cecilia Dahl on May 2, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 51'
Draft: 6.5'

Rating: 5

This is a fabulous marina - super clean, lovely grounds, well protected and affordable. I can't say enough - we loved our stay here

I will say that they have one older gentleman working there who I believe is now the assistant harbor master who is unecessarily difficult to deal with and rude over the phone as well as radio. Over time, we learned that this is just his natural demeanor. After watching and hearing him interact with so many guests - we realized that it's best just to laugh it off - but very offensive to some guests for sure. Be aware if bump into him... it's not you, it's him - and the other folks who work at the marina are fantastic!

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Jonathan Courcy on Apr 1, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 31'
Draft: 4.9'

Rating: 1

For people who loves to anchor forget this place !
Fist time ... no problem .. second time .. turn back !
Even if there is plenty of place at the end of the channel .. mooring field
Staff of the marina won't let you anchor
And not very nice on the vhf .

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Marc Macot , Maple 3, on Mar 22, 2020
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 34'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 5

Nice to shop and get marine stuff. Nice bus services that is free. Marina staff are helpful. You should stop here.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: FloridaVic on May 30, 2019
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 3

Nice friendly, helpful staff ( only 1 on duty when I arrived mid day). Well protected ( until some idiot in a large go-fast came roaring thru with big wake.) Docks including fuel dock in need of repair. Fixed concrete and wood. Docks are showing their age and vintage. Good Valvetec fuel price. Hourly shuttle to town. They were having electrical problems. Office & fuel dock briefly lost power as I entered. I had low 105v from pedestal...battery charger kept kicking off. Fired up my gen...all good w/120v. Definitely their problem...first issue with power in 40+ Marinas in last 2200 miles of ICW. I would stay again assuming they fix electrical.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Capt. Sterling on Nov 29, 2018
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 5

Has it all, however, docks are old and fixed concrete..

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Terrance Godbold on Feb 16, 2018
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 36'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 5

This is our second stay in this city marina. Yuppers, it's a "city marina." Now that is not to say it is bad, quite the contrary, very friendly and helpful folks, good slips and a great town to visit. The showers, on the other hand leave a little to be desired. Great laundry and pretty grounds. If we do the loop a third time, we will stay here again.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Jim P on Nov 28, 2017
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 36'
Draft: 5.0'

Rating: 2

Good staff matters. Last year I gave this place 5 stars, this year I can't give then more than 2 stars. They must have hired some new inexperienced folks. As a single handed sailor, help while docking is the most important marina factor to me, and they failed miserably.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Mommac , C Chele, on Sep 26, 2017
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 52'
Draft: 5.0'

Rating: 5

Very accommodating, nice mooring field, has the "moderm" tray type that holds the line out of the water, although ours still had some dried out barnacles. Warning: they no longer accept power boats over 50'. Made an exception for us as they were no where near full. Moorings over near trees on barrier island still had 10' at our stern which was only about 25' off the trees. There are very few anchorages with safe depths Palm Bay to fort pierce

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Jim P on Jan 20, 2017
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 36'
Draft: 5.0'

Rating: 5

A well run, nice facility. Appears to stay near full with a mix of resident boats, long term visitors and short term transients.
A very convenient city bus stops right at the marina.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Reviewed by: Chris Caldwell , AskCaptainChris, on Jul 1, 2016
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 44'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 5

Vero Beach is also known as VELCRO BEACH. Ask any cruiser, everybody comes back. The mooring field is great, no wake from ICW and behind tall trees to reduce wind. Dinghy dock is well organized and you can dinghy to the Vero Beach Power Squadron. Great shuttle bus service to stores and long walk or short bicycle ride to ocean beach.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer