Marina · California

Shelter Island Marina

Name: Shelter Island Marina
Address: US

565 slips · 200-ft cap · 25 ft basin · highest single-day launch volume on the US West Coast (4 lanes). Yields to Navy fleet per Port-Navy protocol. Mission Bay RV Resort 5 mi NW · 50-amp · 45-ft cap.

Slips: 565 slips
RV staging: 0 dedicated spots
Water body: San Diego Bay / Pacific

City harbormixed tenureSan Diego Bay / PacificCited .gov + operator sources

The rig-decision numbers

Slip capacity

565 slips

Max vessel length

200 ft LOA

Public ramp lanes

4 lanes

Channel depth · low water

25 ft

On-site services

Marine fuel

Available

Vessel pumpout

Available

Oversize / RV lot

Car-only lot

RV dump station

None on site

Overview

Shelter Island Marina is the Port of San Diego's flagship recreational marina inside the western shore of San Diego Bay — 565 mixed wet slips spread across eight concrete floating piers, a 200-ft vessel-length cap on the outer megayacht row, year-round diesel and gasoline fuel service, a free vessel-pumpout station, and a 4-lane public boat ramp that runs the highest single-day trailer-launch volume of any West Coast public ramp per the Port's published annual recreation report. The marina sits roughly 0.5 miles north of Naval Base Point Loma's main gate and operates under a long-running Port of San Diego concessionaire agreement; vessel transits in and out of the marina basin must yield to active Navy fleet traffic per the published Port-Navy coordination protocol, which gives carrier-strike-group and submarine departures absolute right-of-way through the bay's main shipping channel. Channel depth runs 25 ft at the marina basin and the San Diego Bay main shipping channel holds 50+ ft to accommodate the Navy's nuclear carriers and the commercial container traffic moving through the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. The 4-lane public launch ramp at the foot of Shelter Island Drive holds 250 trailer-parking spaces — the highest trailer-parking count of any single ramp facility in California — and runs $8 per launch with a $14 daily trailer-parking fee. The ramp opens daily 0500 to 2200 with after-hours access by gate code for registered slip-holders. Slip wait lists for annual berths run 18 to 24 months per the Port's published wait-list dashboard; transient slips accept reservations 90 days out through Dockwa with priority to vessels participating in the annual Yachting Cup, the Lipton Cup, or the Master Mariners regatta. Storm policy: the marina is sheltered from typical Pacific winter swells by the Coronado peninsula and Point Loma but issues mandatory mooring inspection notices when NWS San Diego posts a Wind Advisory above 35 knots. The RV-relevant truth is restrictive: the Shelter Island marina lot is signed car-only and Point Loma's parking ordinances ban overnight RV parking on every public street under San Diego Municipal Code §86.0139 (passed 2017 specifically to address oversize-vehicle camping along Catalina Boulevard and Rosecrans Street). The closest RV-friendly basecamp is Mission Bay RV Resort 5 miles northwest on East Mission Bay Drive (private, 50-amp electric full hookups, 45-ft rig cap, 260 sites, books 12 months ahead for summer weekends and the August Sandcastle Days week). For state-park alternatives, the next option is San Elijo State Beach 30 miles north in Cardiff-by-the-Sea (CA State Parks, 171 sites, 30-amp, 35-ft cap, reservecalifornia.com 6 months out).

Where to park the rig

Operator class

City harbor

Marina-lot RV staging

0 dedicated spots · car-only

Closest RV-friendly campground

Mission Bay RV Resort (private, 50-amp, 45-ft cap, 5 mi NW on Mission Bay) · no on-site dump

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Primary sources

Other marinas in California

Two Harbors Mooring Field

700 mooring balls · 75-ft cap · 60 ft inside Isthmus Cove · largest mooring field on the California coast. No auto ferry to Catalina — stage rig on mainland and ferry as foot passenger. Tender boat handles fuel + pumpout on radio request.

Tahoe Keys

256 slips in a residential canal grid · canal mouth shoals to 9 ft at low water · year-round private. 40-ft mast cap under US-50 bridge. Marina lot bans RVs — Campground by the Lake 1.2 mi east is the rig basecamp.

Tahoe City Marina

188 slips · north-shore public access · zero ramp lanes (launch 1.5 mi south at USFS Lake Forest, 3 lanes, $20). 6–8 year wait list for annual slip. William Kent USFS Campground 2 mi south is the rig basecamp.

California rules · last verified 2026-05-10

State rental tax: 9.75% · not collected by PickRV
Min driver age: 21+ std · 25+ Class A
Gravel roads: Permit required
Generator quiet: 22:00-06:00