The Best Marinas in Africa, Country by Country

Which African marina can handle a superyacht?

Two facilities in this dataset are built specifically with the largest vessels in mind. Abu Tig Marina on Egypt's Red Sea, the region's first yacht marina when it opened in 2005, added megayacht capacity in a 2009 expansion: 154 extra berths on top of the original 130-plus, two ship lifts rated to 30 metres and 250 tonnes, and its own diesel fuel station and maintenance centre. That same fuel and maintenance base also services the brokerage fleet feeding Egypt's Red Sea market, where brands like the Azimut 55 turn up regularly in Hurghada-area listings, worth a look at current yachts for sale in Egypt if that market interests you.

Cape Town's answer is still being built. The V&A Waterfront's Quay 7 Superyacht Marina, an investment of roughly R230 million, about US$13.5 million, adds 8 berths for vessels between 30 and 90 metres, targeted for completion around October 2026. Until then, the Waterfront's 12 visitor berths and direct access to Robinson Dry Dock and the Syncrolift carry the load.

Where can you haul out a yacht in Africa?

Haul-out capacity is where South Africa pulls ahead of every other market in this dataset. Yachtport SA, at Saldanha and Cape Town, is described as the region's only 100-ton travel-lift facility with an indoor repair workshop, feeding a Cape Town marine cluster that also includes Robinson Dry Dock and the Syncrolift right at the V&A Waterfront. It is also where most of our yacht service in South Africa work happens, from routine haul-out to full refit.

Egypt's closest equivalent is Abu Tig's pair of ship lifts to 30 metres and 250 tonnes, genuine maintenance infrastructure for a resort-and-charter fleet, not a deep-refit yard on the Cape Town model. Kilifi Creek in Kenya has a boatyard attached to its yacht club, the closest thing the country has to formal haul-out capacity, and Kenya Ports Authority has a planned artisanal fishing port at Mtwapa Creek expected to add small-scale marina berths over time. Nigeria and Morocco are thinner still. Most heavy servicing in Nigeria ties to the oil-and-gas marine supply chain in Lagos and Port Harcourt rather than a dedicated leisure yard, and Tanja Marina Bay's full-service shipyard is the closest Morocco gets within this set.

What's the best marina in South Africa, Egypt, Morocco or Mauritius?

Best depends on what you need from it: berthing, haul-out, or a straightforward city-centre stop. Here is our read on the strongest single facility in four of the six markets.

South Africa: the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

12 visitor berths inside a working harbour, plus fuel, WiFi, chandlery and laundry, and direct access to Robinson Dry Dock and the Syncrolift. Registration for South African-flagged yachts runs through SAMSA, which administers the SA Ships Register directly or, for small pleasure yachts under 25 gross tons, through South African Sailing under Marine Notice 11 of 2005. Riviera also has confirmed current listings specifically in the South African market, making the Riviera 39 Flybridge a realistic pick for coastal cruising and game fishing out of any of these harbours.

Egypt: Abu Tig Marina, El Gouna

The Red Sea's first yacht marina, now carrying both leisure and megayacht capacity to 60 metres. Every foreign yacht clearing into Egypt does so through the Egyptian Authority for Maritime Safety's Yachts Single Window, which requires vessel, crew and prior-port-clearance data submitted at least 72 hours before reaching the first Egyptian port of entry, Abu Tig among them.

Morocco: Tanja Marina Bay, Tangier

Morocco's first urban marina, 1,400-plus berths across two basins with a full-service shipyard and Blue Flag certification for vessels to 40 metres. Registration paperwork runs through the Direction de la Marine Marchande in Casablanca, though most cruising foreign yachts simply stay on their home flag under Temporary Admission rather than re-flag.

Mauritius: La Balise Marina, Black River

Built to full international standard, the island's first marina at that level, with secure berths and on-site restaurants, bars and shopping on the west coast. Mauritius also runs a recognised offshore ship registry, though that reputation is built around commercially structured vessels, not a straightforward private boat kept at Grand Baie or Black River.

Which African marinas are open year-round vs seasonal?

Most of the marinas in this guide operate year-round: Abu Tig, the V&A Waterfront, Tanja Marina Bay, Kilifi and Mombasa in Kenya, and all three Mauritius marinas take boats every month of the year. Egypt's North Coast is the clear exception. Marassi Marina & Yacht Club and Porto Marina, both on the Mediterranean Sahel rather than the Red Sea, are largely seasonal, beach-club and residential-driven leisure boating rather than year-round liveaboard cruising. Confirm current operating berths directly with either marina before you build a cruising plan around them.

Nigeria's Lagos scene carries its own caveat, not seasonality but construction timing. The Ilubirin Lagoon Marina is a newer waterfront development still phasing in, alongside the far more established Lagos Yacht Club, founded in 1932 and the country's oldest.

Picking a marina for your own boat

Country context matters here as much as the marina itself. South Africa's combination of local catamaran manufacturing, Robertson & Caine and Two Oceans Marine both build in Cape Town, plus genuine refit and haul-out infrastructure is not matched anywhere else in this set. Egypt's strength is charter and dive tourism rather than private ownership. Kenya's Mombasa Yacht Club, founded in 1910, anchors a century-old sailing culture around Kilifi Creek and Mombasa's Kilindini Harbour, and Kenya Maritime Authority registration is mandatory for any vessel kept in Kenyan waters, a stricter rule than the temporary-admission norm used further north.

Tell us your yacht's length, beam and your intended base, and we will say which of these marinas can actually fit it, and which authority you need to clear with first. If you are routing a passage through Mauritius specifically, our Indian Ocean sailing guide covers La Balise and Grand Baie as arrival and departure points in more depth, and our cost of ownership guide breaks down what a Cape Town haul-out actually costs once you are booked in. Most of the yachts for sale in Africa we list at any given moment are lying at one of the marinas above, which is worth checking before you commit to a base.