Island Harbour Marina is located off the south coast of England within The Solent and on the east side of the River Medina on the Isle of Wight. It is situated in a rural part of the island's countryside, about two and a half miles above the island's principal port of Cowes. At low water, the final approaches to the marina dry, and it maintains its depths via lock gates at its entrance.

The marina is set upriver, in the middle of the island, behind lock gates. It offers complete protection from all conditions. With the rise of the tide, safe access is possible during daylight hours under all reasonable conditions.

The marina is under new management as of 2025.

Keyfacts for Island Harbour Marine

Position and approaches

Haven position

50° 43.511' N, 001° 16.793' W

This is set at the entrance to Island Harbour Marine's lock gates.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

Island Harbour Marina is a commercial marina with over 225 berths on the east bank of the River Medina in the small hamlet of Binfield. The marina is located approximately ½ way between the Isle of Wight's principal port of Cowes and its County Town of Newport but is set in a rural secluded valley. Its site is pleasantly undeveloped and surrounded by the river on one side and green pastoral fields on the other.

The marina is located on the east or port side of the river a little under three miles upriver and southwards of the entrance's No. 1 and No. 2 buoys where the Medina is tidal.

Lock gates maintain sufficient operational depth within the marina. 100 of the marina's pontoons are reserved for Island Harbour residents. The rest are available for non-residents of which 20 are designated visitor berths. They charge £3·40 per meter per night [2023] and can accommodate boats up to 15.2 metres (50ft) LOA with a draft of 2.1 metres.

The river is navigable for boats up to 1.8 metres draught to Folly Inn, after which it quickly dries. Access to the marina, located ½ a mile above the Folly Inn, depends on the tide's state and the requisite draught.




The following guidelines are based on the tide times for Cowes:

• • Up to 0.91 metres (3 ft.) should have access 5 hours before and 4½ hours after high water during Spring tides. They should only be restricted by office hours during Neap tides.


• • Up to 1.22 metres (4 ft.) should have access ⁺/_- 4½ hours on either side of a high water Spring tides and be only restricted by 1 hour during Neaps.


• • Up to 1.52 metres (5 ft.) should have access ⁺/_- 3½ hours on either side of all tidal cycles.


• • Up to 1.83 metres (6 ft.) should have access 3 before and 3½ hours after high water Spring tides. Access should be 2 before and 2 ½ hours after high water during Neap tides.


• • Up to 2.0 metres (6½ ft.) should have access ⁺/_- 2 hours on either side of high water of all tidal cycles.


• • Up to 2.1 metres (6¾ ft.)⁺/_- 2 hours on either side of high water during Spring tides, but check with the marina office during Neaps.

Tidal heights can vary depending on atmospheric conditions, so it is advisable to add a safety margin of at least ½ hours to the above times, especially on a falling tide. If operating on the margins or if there is any doubt, it is always best to check with the Harbour Office.

In all cases, it is recommended that advance bookings be made with the marina call sign [Island Harbour] on Ch. 80 or +44 1983 539 994 or via email at enquiries@island-harbour.co.uk. Vessels intending to berth in the marina should notify the Lock Control Tower when in Folly Reach on the approaches to the Folly Inn.

How to get in?

The guide for Cowes and the River Medina offers a tide timer and sailing directions for the approach and journey up the river to Newtown.

Those approaching Cowes and the River Medina from the west will find that the guide Western Approaches to The Solent and the run-up to Southampton details the methods for entry via The Needles, the Western Solent, including its eastern shorelines to the north and south, and onward to connect with this guide from the west.

Similarly, Eastern Approaches to The Solent and the run-up to Southampton Water describes approaches to the Eastern Solent, the eastern side of the Isle of Wight, and the northeastern coastline, covering the eastern Solent waters and their shorelines to the north and south, and onward to connect with this guide from the east.




The channel, which previously went out at 45° from the holding pontoon, now runs parallel to the outer waiting pontoon. Bring the starboard-hand buoy abeam and then turn 90° degrees to port in towards the lock and keep on this line until abeam of the holding pontoon or the vessel has entered the lock gates. Beware of the mudbanks on either side of the entry channel and stay within the channel markers.




The lock is 24.4 metres long and 9.1 metres wide. All movements through it are directed from a prominent white and hexagonal overlooking the control tower, along with red or green traffic lights.



Berth as directed by the lock keeper. Pontoons ascend alphabetically eastward from the lock.

Why visit here?

Island Harbour Marina's area began as the two mill ponds for a tide mill called the East Medina Mill. However, this was not the first mill here. Around 1250, monks dammed the site and built the first mill on this spot. The abbey transported its wool to Southampton from a quay alongside the mill.

East Medina Mill was built in 1790 by William Porter, and the mill itself stood above the current marina lock gates. Porter was a Newport baker who built the mill with a Newport hairdresser, William Gregory. The mill house was a substantial building about 25 metres long and 10 metres wide, comprising five floors. Corn was unloaded from vessels of up to 70 tons that could come alongside the mill's quay. Then its undershot wheel, two sets of barley stones, one American wheat cutter, one oat cutter, and three pairs of French stones would grind through thirty loads of wheat per week. The resultant flour was left to dry on the mill's flat roof before being bagged and placed in the storehouse in the southern half of the mill to await loading back into the boats alongside the quay. Alongside the storehouse was a bakehouse that produced bread and biscuits. At the time of the mill's construction, the Medina served as a mooring place for Australia-bound convict transports. These ships are believed to have purchased 'ship's biscuits' from the mill, earning it the local name of the 'Botany Bay Mill'.

East Medina Mill's water wheel was excellently placed, and when it impounded a Spring tide into its two mill ponds, it produced sufficient flow for the mill to operate for six hours. The mill was a total success and became one of the great English tide mills, but William Porter was not to benefit from his great endeavour, and he was far from it. Being overly ambitious, his East Medina Mill was part of a three-mill project, with a corresponding mill on the western bank of the Medina called 'West Medina Mill', locally nicknamed 'Port Jackson', and the Yarmouth Mill being built at the same time. Porter had vastly over-stretched himself, and 'The Newport Bank', financing all the mills, became nervous from the outset. They foreclosed on the loan in 1791, and Porter was declared bankrupt before the completion of his mills. He died a few years later in 1794, leaving his pregnant wife and four small children destitute.




After Porter's bankruptcy, William Roach took on the lease of the mills and bought them outright in 1797. The mills were to remain in his family for eight generations over the next 140 years. As millers, they shared their mills with King George III's troops. From the outset, East Medina Mill was a barracks and hospital for Hessian mercenaries from Germany and Prussia. During their tenure, eighty-four of their number fell victim to typhus and were buried in the Whippingham Church. A memorial was placed in the church's graveyard, close to the Folly Inn, in 1906. West Medina Mill barracked the Dutch soldiers of Count Bentinck's regiment. Among these troops' deployments was the quelling of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In the early 1800s Napoleonic wars, East Medina Mill was used to hold French prisoners of war.

In 1930, the mill was severely damaged by a terrible storm that ripped off most of its roof and sent it flying into cottages as far as 100 metres away. In 1933, the ageing John Roach, last in the line of the milling family, sold the mill to the local Council but stayed on as a tenant until September 1937, when he finally ceased operations there. He owned and continued milling in West Mill and Lower Shide Mills until he finally retired a couple of years later at the age of 78. The Borough of Newport used the East Mill as a storehouse for waste material but allowed it to fall into disrepair. In 1945, a major fire destroyed half of the building, and what remained was abandoned until 1950, when it was finally demolished.




In the 1960s, the brothers Alan and Colin Ridett enlarged the original millponds and turned them into a marina. They bought the Paddle Steamer Medway Queen, which arrived in 1965 to act as the marina's first clubhouse. Over the intervening half-century, the marina changed hands several times, with the current owners buying it in January 2013. During this time, the marina has been known by a succession of names, such as Binfield Marina, Wight Marina, and Medina Yacht Harbour. It took its current name, Island Harbour Marina, in 1987.




The derelict paddle ship immediately outside the marina is not the remains of the Paddle Steamer Medway Queen but that of PS Ryde, Britain's last coal-fired paddle steamer. Island Harbour has long been associated with a number of paddle steamers operating as floating nightclubs and restaurants. PS Ryde was commissioned and run by Southern Railway as a passenger ferry that crossed the Solent between the mainland and the Isle of Wight from 1937 to 1969. During this time, PS Ryde saw wartime service, which included active duty during D-Day at Omaha Beach. After her ferry service ended in 1970, PS Ryde was rescued from the breakers' yard and extensively re-fitted as a restaurant and nightclub. She was severely damaged by a fire in 1977, which led to her temporary closure. However, she re-opened and carried on until 1989, when her deteriorating condition forced her to close for the last time. Abandoned on moorings from that time, scrapping started in 2010 but was halted. The new owners of the marina are currently looking into the feasibility of still saving her.




From a sailing perspective, Island Harbour Marina offers unparalleled protection in a very unusual and idyllic rural setting. Surrounded by green fields and riverbank walks, it is a world away from the bustle of Cowes. The marina's extensive open grassy areas make it ideal for barbecues, children and family pets. Younger children may also make use of the children's play area, and older ones may note the marina's close proximity to the IOW Music Festival ground. Those who want to relax will find a charming restaurant and bar with good food and a nice atmosphere on site. A new riverbank cycle-way has recently been completed between the marina and Newport, and further plans are for it to be extended to the Folly Inn.

What facilities are available?

All pontoons are fully serviced with water and power. A new customer shower block, completed in June 2015, provides excellent shower and toilet facilities. It also has laundry facilities, free wireless broadband internet access, and rubbish and waste oil disposal facilities. The marina has an arrangement with ‘Wight Cycle Hire’ for daily bike rental.

Full boatyard facilities can be found ashore including a chandlery and an on-site boat builder and repair workshop that can cater for most issues. The yard has a 50-ton travel hoist and a hardstanding area that can hold about 100 boats ashore fully furnished with water and electricity. There is an on-site restaurant and a small basics shop.

Petrol and diesel can be had on the river approaches, and are available from Lallow's Boatyard, between Cowes Yacht Haven and Shepards Wharf or more conveniently from Cowes Harbour Fuels barge close south of the chain ferry, +44 1983 200716. Cowes Harbour Fuels also supply Calor gas. The Town Quay has scrubbing berths next to the Harbour Office. Cowes as a whole offers almost any conceivable marine service or facility a vessel could require.

Newport, the County Town of the Island, with its abundance of pubs, shops and restaurants, is a pleasant 30 minute walk along the new river-way cycle-path. A Waterbus provides a river link between Cowes, East Cowes, The Folly, Island Harbour and Newport along the River Medina. VHF Ch. 77 M: +44 7974 864 627

Any security concerns?

The entire marina, gates and carpark areas are continuously monitored by a CCTV system.

With thanks to:

Michael Harpur S/Y Whistler.