North Yorkshire, England

Staithes Harbour slipway

Launch — Arriving vessels are asked to complete the Harbour Commissioners' registration form; the harbour office at Seaton Garth, which handles it, is unmanned.

Parking — Bank Top car park, on Staithes Lane at the top of the village, has space for 122 cars and 4 coaches and is open every day, 24 hours; charges apply from 9am to 6pm between 1 March and 31 October, and there is an adjoining private car park that uses automatic number-plate recognition. Parking on the harbourside itself, at Seaton Garth, is reserved for permit holders only.

Access — The old village and harbour have no public vehicle access; from Bank Top car park it is a walk down a steep bank of about five to ten minutes to reach the water. No gate, barrier or opening hours specific to the slipway are published.

Season — No seasonal closure of the harbour to launching is published.

Regulations — The Staithes Harbour Order 1932 established the Harbour Commissioners' jurisdiction over Staithes Harbour and Beck. Vessels entering or leaving the harbour must not exceed 5 knots, and depositing fish offal in the harbour or beck is prohibited. No published fee specific to unpowered craft was found; valid third-party insurance is compulsory for moored boats, with proof required annually.

Staithes Harbour is a small drying tidal harbour on the North Yorkshire coast, formed where Staithes Beck meets the North Sea in a narrow cleft between high cliffs and overlooked by the headland of Cowbar Nab. This slipway is one of several public launch points inside the harbour.

Staithes Harbour

The South Breakwater carries visitor berths. A North York Moors National Park Authority grant added mooring rings and ladders there in 2018, and several yachts moored there that year.

Beyond the breakwaters the coast opens toward Boulby Cliffs to the north and Runswick Bay to the south. The cliffs and intertidal zone immediately east of Staithes form a Site of Special Scientific Interest for their Jurassic geology and fossil record, and the water lies within the Runswick Bay Marine Conservation Zone: about 68 square kilometres extending three nautical miles offshore, protecting a seabed of rock, sediment and gravel that gives herring, sprat, cod, whiting and plaice their spawning and nursery grounds. Harbour porpoises and seabirds such as kittiwakes are recorded there too.

Nearby

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Seadrift Cafe

Harbourside cafe at Seaton Garth, at the junction with Church Street.

Cobbles of Staithes

Cafe on the High Street serving hot drinks, snacks and ice cream.

Website

Serenity Touring Caravan & Camping Park

Touring, tent and glamping site open to public bookings, about a mile from the harbour; seasonal, 1 March to 31 October.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

Staithes is a small drying tidal harbour, unsuitable for vessels that cannot safely take the ground.

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Shallow or rocky

The harbour entrance should be approached on a course of 225 degrees True to avoid outlying rock shelves extending 500 metres northwards on either side of Staithes Wyke.

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Limited exit

With onshore winds, entry to the harbour can be hazardous due to breaking seas and should be avoided.

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Other

At night, the harbour entrance is marked with port and starboard lights: a green flash every 4 seconds on the West Arm, a red flash every 4 seconds on the East Arm.

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Other

The cliffs either side of the harbour are unstable, with rockfalls known to occur at their base.

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Boat traffic

Staithes is a working fishing harbour with moorings, and an RNLI inshore lifeboat launches from the Cowbar side.

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