Top 10 Marinas in the Great Lakes
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario — five lakes that together contain 21 percent of the world's surface fresh water, covering 244,000 square kilometres and stretching from Duluth, Minnesota to Kingston, Ontario. Lake Michigan alone, at 495 kilometres long, generates swells indistinguishable from a small ocean sea state, and on Lake Superior the storm waves recorded in November have exceeded 9 metres. This is serious sailing, with squalls that build in 20 minutes and Gales of November that are part of maritime legend. Yet in summer, from late May through September, the Great Lakes offer some of the finest sailing on Earth: reliable afternoon thermal breezes, clear cold water, and a network of marinas serving an estimated 200,000 registered sailboats — more than any comparable region outside Scandinavia.
Belmont Harbor, Chicago, Illinois
Belmont Harbor is one of five city-run marinas that together give Chicago's lakefront some 6,000 permanent slips. Belmont itself holds 1,200 boats and sits directly at Belmont Avenue, a 15-minute CTA Blue Line ride from the city centre. The Chicago skyline visible from the outer breakwater on a clear evening is one of sailing's great urban panoramas. Chicago is also the southern terminus of the Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac, the world's oldest freshwater ocean race, held each July since 1898.
Monroe Harbor, Chicago, Illinois
Monroe Harbor, just south of Belmont and adjacent to Grant Park, is the largest single-basin anchorage in the Great Lakes with over 2,500 mooring buoys managed by the Chicago Park District. It is primarily a mooring field rather than a marina with slips, but the location — steps from Millennium Park and the Art Institute — makes it one of the most convenient stops for provisioning and crew changes on the entire lakes circuit.
Burnham Harbor, Chicago, Illinois
Burnham Harbor, Chicago's southernmost city marina, has 985 slips and serves as the home base of the Columbia Yacht Club and its iconic floating clubhouse. The harbor is particularly well positioned for south Lake Michigan passage-making and for overnight trips to Michigan City, Indiana, or St. Joseph, Michigan — both within a comfortable day's sail of 40 to 80 kilometres.
Mackinac Island Marina, Mackinac Island, Michigan
At the northern tip of Lake Michigan, where the lake narrows to meet Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac, Mackinac Island is the finish of both the Chicago Yacht Club and the Bayview Yacht Club's races to Mackinac each summer. The island marina has 70 transient slips and is one of the few in the lakes where no motor vehicles are permitted — transportation is by horse carriage or bicycle. The Round Island Lighthouse, just offshore, is a navigational landmark recognizable from miles.
Traverse City Yacht Club, Traverse City, Michigan
West Grand Traverse Bay, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, is one of the midwest's most popular cruising destinations. The Traverse City area supports several marinas and yacht clubs with over 800 combined slips, and the Cherry Capital — as Traverse City is known for its cherry orchards — offers exceptional provisioning, dining, and a growing wine trail along Old Mission and Leelanau peninsulas. The bay's protected waters are suitable for all skill levels, while the outer Lake Michigan exposure north of the straits provides offshore sailing for experienced crews.
Cleveland Harbor, Cleveland, Ohio
Lake Erie's south shore, at 388 kilometres the shallowest of the Great Lakes, produces steep, short-period chop in winds above 15 knots. The Edgewater Marina in Cleveland has 540 slips and sits just west of the Cuyahoga River entrance. Cleveland is the largest sailing city on Lake Erie and hosts the Cleveland Race Week each summer — a series of PHRF offshore races that draws fleets from Detroit, Toledo, and Buffalo. The lake's average depth of only 19 metres means it heats and cools rapidly, producing reliable afternoon convective breezes from June through August.
Erie Marina, Erie, Pennsylvania
The Erie Marina, operated by the City of Erie, has 500 slips and sits inside Presque Isle Bay, a sheltered lagoon formed by the 16-kilometre sandy Presque Isle Peninsula. The bay's protected waters make it ideal for learning to sail or racing on a flat course, while the outside beach of Presque Isle State Park faces the full fetch of Lake Erie. Erie is approximately the midpoint of the southern Lake Erie shore and a natural overnight stop on the Buffalo-to-Cleveland passage.
Toronto Harbour, Toronto, Ontario
Toronto, with a population of 2.9 million, has invested heavily in its waterfront marinas. The Royal Canadian Yacht Club on Toronto Island, founded in 1852, is the oldest yacht club in the Great Lakes and one of the most prestigious in North America. The Island, accessible by ferry, shields the inner harbour from Lake Ontario's northeast fetch; the Ontario Place Marina and Queens Quay Marina together add 1,200 slips to the inner basin. Toronto's Lake Ontario exposure to the east provides serious offshore sailing all the way to Kingston and the start of the St. Lawrence River.
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston sits at the northeastern end of Lake Ontario where the lake empties into the St. Lawrence, and is the home of the Royal Military College Sailing Centre and several large marina complexes. Kingston is a gateway to the Thousand Islands cruising ground — 1,864 islands in the St. Lawrence River stretching 80 kilometres toward Brockville — which offers some of eastern Canada's most spectacular gunkholing and anchorages. Kingston Yacht Club's November Lake Ontario Race is one of the hardest freshwater events in the world.
Burlington Bay Marinas, Burlington, Ontario
At the western end of Lake Ontario, Hamilton Harbour and Burlington Bay together offer 2,500 slips in a sheltered inland lake connected to Ontario by a narrow ship canal. The Burlington area is home to the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, the Burlington Sailing and Boating Club, and several public marina facilities. The Canal between Hamilton Harbour and Lake Ontario is 275 metres wide and 8 metres deep; the lift bridge at the entrance has a clearance of 8 metres when closed — boats taller than that must call for a bridge opening.
Explore on the map
The Great Lakes sailing circuit covers over 15,000 kilometres of freshwater shoreline across two countries and five lakes. Use the interactive map to plot your route between marinas, find anchorages in the islands of Georgian Bay or the Thousand Islands, and understand the geography of this inland ocean. Zoom into the Great Lakes on the map to see how each lake connects to the next and plan your passage east or west.