Moorings in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft

This stretch of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast holds the two harbours where the Broads meet the North Sea: Great Yarmouth, at the mouth of the River Yare, and Lowestoft, where Lake Lothing leads inland to Oulton Broad. For a boat owner they work less as a cruising ground than as gateways between the open sea and the rivers and broads behind them.

Great Yarmouth is a working port operated by Peel Ports. The entrance needs care: the offshore sandbanks shift, the stream in the river can run at four knots or more, and cross-tides near the entrance can exceed three knots at springs, so leisure craft are advised to come in only on slack water or the flood, not in strong onshore weather, and to call Yarmouth Radio for instructions first. Berthing for visiting boats in the river is limited to a short stretch of quay just seaward of Haven Bridge, and small craft are not allowed in the newer outer harbour.

Behind the town, the Yare and the Waveney meet at Breydon Water, a wide tidal expanse with a channel marked by posts, and the Bure joins the Yare just below it, so this is where boats pass between the northern and southern Broads. Great Yarmouth Yacht Station has moorings within walking distance of the town. Burgh Castle Marina, at the southern end of Breydon Water, can berth boats of around 1.5 metres draught, and going further inland needs a Broads licence.

Lowestoft is owned by Associated British Ports and can be entered at all states of the tide and in onshore weather, unlike the barred harbours further south. Moorings in Lowestoft include the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club marina by the yacht basin, and Lowestoft Beacon Marina (formerly Lowestoft Haven Marina) and Lowestoft Cruising Club on Lake Lothing, beyond a lifting bridge. At the head of Lake Lothing, Mutford Lock, now run by the Broads Authority, takes boats through to Oulton Broad and the southern Broads.

Most Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft moorings are therefore either inside these two harbours or just within the Broads, and the choice often depends on whether a boat will spend its time at sea or on the rivers.