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Where there is water, there are boats. And where there are boats, there are marinas.

In the UK, there are marinas all around the country, dotted along the coast and on the inland waterways. Some marinas are privately owned and independently operated; others are privately owned but part of larger chains; and some are owned and operated by local councils.

Each marina is very different, depending on its location and the number of boats they can accommodate. The biggest marinas have space for 1,500 yachts, whereas some of the smaller marinas might have space for 20 canal boats.

With all of these boats to look after and berth holders to keep happy, there are many job opportunities at marinas all over the country. Marinas can be very fun, sociable places to work. There are always people around, and boats constantly come and go. Your customers are the berth holders, and they are there to have fun and relax in their leisure time.

Working in a marina is influenced by the seasons. In the summer, berthing masters might have to work until 9pm at night, having spent the past 12 hours of their shift frantically trying to find space for a never-ending stream of visiting boats. It’s hectic and challenging, but it’s great to chat to berth holders about the sailing trips they’ve just done. Winters are quieter and of course colder, but depending on your role, there might be just as much work to do.

There are a variety of marina jobs available, depending on the location, size, and type of boats that a marina attracts. We’ve highlighted a selection to inspire you:

Marina Manager
Managing a marina is a big responsibility: with budgets to juggle, staff to manage, maintenance to do, berths to fill and customers to keep happy, you’ll need to have a good understanding of boats and the marine industry in addition to usual management skills.

Salary: £30,000-60,000 per annum depending on marina size
Job type: Permanent

Seasonal Staff
You’ll love working outdoors and interacting directly with your customers, often getting to know them and their families on first-name terms. Many marinas are manned around the clock so these roles are likely to involve shift work, based around seasonal contracts. Some staff may be kept on after the summer. Overall, though, this kind of role is great fun, with opportunities to drive a tender, practice your knot-tying skills, and get a good tan in the summer.

Salary: £7.50 an hour
Job type: Permanent or seasonal; shift work likely

Marina Administrator
If you’re happiest working in an office, but are still keen to work around boats, then you could look for an administration job working in a marina. You’ll get the benefits of going to work by the water every day, and you’ll be interacting with customers over the phone, by email and face-to-face when they pop into the office to pay their mooring fees.

Salary: £18,000 per annum
Job type: Permanent or seasonal; 9-5 hours

Boatyard Operative
As well as providing moorings for boats, many marinas also operate their own boatyard facilities. Boat owners can get their boats conveniently hauled out for annual maintenance jobs such as antifouling the bottom and polishing the hull. Each boatyard will have its own staff who manage the yard schedule of haul-outs, operate the boat hoists and cranes, and make sure boats are safely chocked off ashore. There may be opportunities to undertake further training (e.g. forklift driving), and progress to supervisory/foreman roles.

Salary: £7.50 an hour +
Job type: Permanent or temporary; 8-5 hours

Jobs ashore

Tags: administrator, berthing master, boatyard, harbour master, marina