Roberts Cove & Oyster Haven
At a Glance
Roberts Cove is a small inlet between Cork Head
..... and Robert's Head about four miles SW of Roche's
Point Light. It is only of use to shallow draft boats that can
take the ground and then only in settled offshore conditions; there
is absolutely no shelter here from strong Southerly winds. It is
one of several inlets and sheltered spots along this coast Between
Cork and Kinsale which are of more interest to the independent
yachtie with a little bilge-keeler than the 15m + boat with all the
bells and whistles.
Oyster Haven is the largest of the inlets on this
coast, provides the best cover and is an alternative to
the busy harbour/anchorage at Kinsale just around the corner.
The haven has a Northerly and a Nor' westerly arm, the former
shelves rapidly off Walton Court beach and the Nor' westerly is
navigable only by dinghy to Belgooly three miles upstream.
This anchorage offers good shelter from all but Southerly winds.
The beach at Walton Court is busy in the summer as the Oysterhaven
Activities Centre is located there; they offer a wide mixture of
water based leisure activities and instruction and it was one of
the first wind surfing schools in Ireland. Regrettably they have
nothing in the way of comforts for the cruising yachtie though they
would be able to fill your water breaker; if you are really pushed
you could take the flood up the Belgooly River to Belgooly itself
where there are a few shops and a pub.
Be careful in this bay as there are oyster beds which no one will
thank you for disturbing.
Roberts Cove & Oyster Haven
Approach
The approaches to both bays are simple but unless
....... you are familiar with the area it would be wise not to try to make passage between the Little Sovereign and the shore off Oyster Haven as it gets very shallow in the middle of that channel. You also have to be aware of Harbour Rock midway between Oysterhaven beach and Ferry Point; other than that no problems.
Euro GMT
Waypoint
Charts
Rules & Regs
Hazards
Tides
Berthing
In Roberts Cove, the further up the cove you can anchor the more
...... shelter you will find; it has good holding on a sandy
bottom but be very aware that there is a good 3.5m range at springs
so you will need to be able to sit on the sand.
Oyster haven is very different in that you will be able to take a
fin-keeler in here and anchor quite happily in deepish water; the
deepest anchorage is in the mouth of the Belgooly River but there
is plenty of water up the Northerly reach until it shoals short of
the shallow draft moorings off the beach at Walton Court.
There are places in this water where there have been experiences of poor holding in weed so you need to take precautions ie make sure your anchor has definitely set and pop a tripping line on it in case it gets tangled up on some heavy stuff. If you've got an old fisherman's (AP anchor) it might be an idea to dig it out of the back locker and use that, but then you have to work out where to rig the tripping line!!
Facilities
Neither of these havens have any facilities. As has been said,
at Oyster Haven you can take a dinghy up to Belgooly where there is
a Post Office and filling station but it is a good long row.
Roberts Cove does have an ace up its sleeve in that there is a
hotel here with a bar and restaurant and even bedrooms if your crew
needs a night ashore!
What to Do
https://www.facebook.com/TheRobertsCoveInn/ This website will give you the details on the Roberts Cove hotel
History
Local Business
Uncategorised
Tide Information for oyster-haven
Tidal Information