Dorset, England

Poole Quay slipway

Parking — Harbourside Park 1, off Labrador Drive about 400 m east, has 206 standard spaces, 4 disabled spaces and 1 motorcycle space. The Quay Visitors multi-storey car park on Strand Street has 539 spaces with a 1.95 m height restriction.

Access — Reached along the Poole Quay waterfront path, or via Labrador Drive/Catalina Drive for the Harbourside car parks. Paddling needs no separate Poole Harbour Commissioners licence, and PHC's published exemptions from harbour dues cover vessels with no means of propulsion other than oars or sails.

Season — Poole Harbour Commissioners publishes Local Notices to Mariners covering works, events and navigation restrictions harbour-wide. Seasonal restrictions apply in parts of the harbour identified as important for overwintering wetland and wading birds.

Regulations — Poole Harbour Commissioners bans paddleboarding in the harbour entrance and the main shipping channels. Its byelaws set a 10 knot general speed limit for vessels, reduced to 6 knots in the Little Channel, between the Quays, and in Holes Bay, and require vessels to follow the Harbour Master's directions. PHC's published exemptions from harbour dues list "vessels having no means of propulsion other than oars or sails" as one exempt category, alongside small motorised craft and certified tenders.

This slipway sits on the north shore of Poole Harbour on the Poole Quay frontage, close to Poole Quay Boat Haven marina, in the town centre. Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in Europe, a shallow drowned river valley with a single narrow entrance to the sea between South Haven Point and Sandbanks. OpenStreetMap records only a bare slipway tag for this node, with no name, surface or access detail.

Poole Harbour

Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in Europe, extremely shallow away from its single main dredged channel, which runs from the harbour mouth to Holes Bay; large expanses of mudflat dry out at low water beyond it. The harbour entrance, about 300 metres wide between South Haven Point and Sandbanks, carries very strong tidal streams, particularly at spring tides, and the Sandbanks chain ferry crosses at its narrowest point with right of way over other vessels.

The harbour is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area and a Ramsar site, holding internationally important numbers of overwintering wetland and wading birds; seasonal restrictions apply in parts of the harbour identified as important for these species.

West along the Quay, Poole Bridge and the Twin Sails Bridge lift on schedule to carry road traffic over the channel into Holes Bay. Poole is also a working commercial port, with daily ferry sailings to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands departing from the harbour.

Nearby

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Quay Cafe

Cafe on The Quay, about 350 metres from the slipway.

Website

Rockley Park

Haven caravan and camping park at Hamworthy on the west side of the harbour, about 3.6 kilometres away. Takes touring bookings as well as static caravans, and is seasonal rather than open year-round.

Website

Conditions to check

Shallow or rocky

Poole Harbour is extremely shallow away from the single main dredged channel, with large expanses of mudflat that dry out at low water.

Source

Boat traffic

The harbour entrance, about 300 metres wide, carries very strong tidal streams particularly at spring tides, and the Sandbanks chain ferry crosses at its narrowest point with right of way over other vessels.

Source

Boat traffic

Poole is a working commercial port, with daily ferry sailings to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands departing from the harbour, and yacht and mooring traffic along the Quay frontage.

Source

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