Moorings on the Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay is the freshwater lake formed where the Rivers Taff and Ely meet, held back from the Severn Estuary by the Cardiff Bay Barrage, built in 1999. The barrage is about 1.1 kilometres long and keeps the lake, some 200 hectares in area, permanently at high water level. Before it was built, boats could only come and go for a couple of hours either side of high water.

Cardiff Harbour Authority runs the barrage and the bay under contract to Cardiff Council. Three locks in the barrage connect the bay with the estuary. Outbound locking runs on the hour and half hour and inbound at quarter past and quarter to, with some restrictions at weekends, and boats drawing more than two metres must call Barrage Control on VHF channel 18 well in advance. The bay is kept at a depth of at least about 2.5 metres, with a 5 knot limit in the inner harbour. On the Ely, boats can reach Cardiff Marine Village about 1.5 miles upstream, through the lifting section of the Pont y Werin footbridge. On the Taff, pleasure craft are advised not to go beyond the Butetown Link Road bridge, as the water above it is shallow.

Moorings on Cardiff Bay for longer stays are at Cardiff Marina, Penarth Marina, Cardiff Yacht Club and Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, one of the largest yacht clubs in the UK. Boats at Penarth Marina pass through the marina's own locks as well as the barrage. The harbour authority also runs short-stay visitor pontoons in the inner harbour near Roald Dahl Plass.