Dún Laoghaire

Cruise ships are now back in force, typically on weekends. They anchor in the anchorage-marked location on your charts, south-east-middle of the bay, and ferry passengers to and from the harbour using tenders/lifeboats. The terminus is in the eastern part of the harbour, alongside the old Stena building. RIBs flying a yellow flag escort the tenders to and from the harbour mouth - other harbour users are expected to stay clear of the tenders; the ones I've observed do not have the best handling (whether it's the helm or the boat, I do not know). On the fishing side - beware unmarked pots on long lines, especially at low tide when the polyprop rope is not pulled down. There is no requirement that pots be flagged, and more often than not they're using old plastic cans that are camouflaged by greenery. Pots are not placed directly in the harbour mouth. Typical locations, other than "random" are along the pier arms (sea side), and on the approach to Dalkey Sound and the areas around Dalkey Island.

I reviewed these notes in October 2022. I have changed the rules and regulations section at the top because they no longer have regular ferries arriving and departing and, unless they are expecting a large ship, may not even bother manning the harbour office radio. Their additions to the give way rules for power driven vessels is dangerous as it gives extra rights to vessels which are restricted on their ability to manoeuvre by their commercial timetable.

I reviewed these notes in August 2021. Firstly, many thanks to those of you who have posted additional notes here; I have used them to modify the text above where applicable. The price of £3.80 Euros per metre is confirmed for this summer. Your attention is drawn on the requirement for a Covid Locator form if coming from overseas.

The plans to build a cruise ship pier have vanished into a wandering fog bank, to hopefully not be seen again. Current plans talk about making the previous high speed ferry area into a national sailing centre; this would likely have minimal impact on visiting yachts. All of the clubs keep a listening watch on VHF 37A/M1, not just the Marina, so you can usually chat to any of the clubs by calling for "<clubname> boathouse". The marina prices are still at ~3.80 EUR/metre for summer (per night), and ~1.90 EUR/metre for winter. The main harbour basin can be very busy with dinghies from the various clubs and the sailing school; it's definitely busier than it was a few years ago. As a visiting yacht, I'd suggest dropping sails before entering the harbour if possible and proceeding under engine. Fishing vessels should be considered with the same deference as the Navy, RNLI, and Irish Lights vessel. They tend to come through at speed. Be aware that people like to fish from the pier heads, right into the entrance channel; props and sails have been caught in the past. It was remiss of me to not mention the anchorages off of the south of Howth Head (in my 2016 comment), but like every other anchorage around here, they're not really well protected and are best suited to day trips - Dublin Bay has some funky cross-tides (it goes across the bay mouth, and around the bay, leading to good lumps), and what was a nice spot at the slack tide becomes very uncomfortable very quickly.

Pronounced "done leery". A superb safe harbour and excellent marina 3.70 euros per metre per night WiFi included. Easy safe approach to this massive harbour. Having entered the harbour Fairway no 1 on chart the entrance to the marina on starboard side is invisible due to the overlapping breakwaters that look like one long one. Keep going and you will see them open. We were berthed on z15 a long way in by the marina block passing the stunning Irish Lights building and the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Excellent town with superb ice cream at Scrum Diddys. Option of fingerprint to enter marina from shore. Just a few minutes walk to buses and railway stations. Trains to Rosslare (no changes) and Dublin.

I reviewed these notes in April 2017. The upgrading of the harbour to meet the needs of the cruising yachtie is now pretty well complete and our notes have been changed to cover that. I will also upload the 2017 charts

I reviewed these notes in April 2017. The proposed building of a cruise liner berth for 18M Euros in the middle of the harbour is still being debated, challenged in court etc. One of the latest changes is a limit of 250 meters LOA for cruise ships entering the harbour. So liners over that length would have to go to the new cruise liner berth being built in Dublin for 280M Euros (Conspiracy Theorists "Front and Centre!!") The Marina lowered it's prices a couple of years ago and the clubs no longer have moorings for visitors.

These notes were reviewed by Don in march 2017. Nothing new to report except some small price increases in places.

Regarding anchoring around Dun Laoghaire harbour: Scotsman's Bay can be very uncomfortable in certain conditions, such as swells from the NE, wind from anywhere other than NE, and the tide running across the swells. It's certainly doable, but definitely a case of check the conditions. I've fished up a fair bit of plant life from the bottom. It's also not a pleasant lee shore to have - lots of rocks and concrete structures. Sandycove to the SE is probably a better bet for getting ashore, depending on tide. These same uncomfortable conditions extend to the bay NW of the harbour walls, though it has a sandy/silted bottom instead of plant life, pretty good holding. Very shallow bay, and it dries out to nearly 1/2 a km from the shore, so pay attention to your depth. There is something resembling a slip at the root of the harbour wall, and one just a little bit towards Dublin (but still at the root of the wall/carpark that's there), but they're not intended for launch and recovery of sailing vessels. A dingy.. yeah, maybe, but you're probably better off inside the harbour - there are two public slips, one in the Coal Harbour, and one in the Inner Harbour (both of these seconds are to the west). I have seen boats anchor in the main harbour basin; the local clubs had to remove their moorings at the behest of the Harbour Company, so the ground should be fairly free of things that will want to keep your tackle to themselves. However, as noted in the article, most people will just call the marina up and take a berth there. Nearest alternatives are Poolbeg Marina to the north (in Dublin port), Greystones to the south. There are other small harbours in between Dun Laoghaire and Greystones, but they're essentially small fishing ports (think dories with 5 people in and an outboard on the back), and unlikely to be useful to a visiting boat of any type. Heading south from Dun Laoghaire, you can drop anchor in the channel between the mainland and Dalkey Island, on the Dalkey Island side. Holding is decent, but the flow through the channel can be very strong, and combines with flukey winds. While not quite a harbour by any stretch of the imagination, Killiney Bay to the south of Dun Laoghaire has some lovely views, katabatic offshore winds, and you can tuck yourself into the small bay at the north end of Killiney Bay. There's a small beach there, but I don't know if it's private to the house (looks like a small hotel!) above. I've never had an issue with the holding here, though it does shelve rapidly.

I have just become aware that the Stenna Line HSS ferry from Wales has been withdrawn so the notes have been edited to reflect this.

These notes were reviewed by Don in April 2015. Some prices have changed and we have given advanced warning of possible extensive works in the harbour starting in 2016

These notes were updated by Don Thomson on 27th November 2013. prices have been updated to 2013 and I have added some extra notes on the facilities offered by the local yacht clubs.

Updated November 2103 by Don Thomson. No changes made