The Government has confirmed a $12.5 million investment through the Regional Infrastructure Fund towards Ōpōtiki Marina, made up of a loan and equity, with project partners matching that with a further $12.5 million to take the package to $25 million. The money will support the marina basin, wharf and piers, a boat ramp, and the associated marine infrastructure, and is expected to create up to 87 jobs during construction.
The site sits on part of an 18-hectare block of former farmland just off State Highway 2, in a purpose-built basin on the western side of Pākihikura, set back about 700 metres from the Waioeka River mouth and immediately west of Ōpōtiki township. The full design, developed over several years of planning, includes a marina basin for around 130 pleasure craft, a two-lane boat launching ramp with public parking, a commercial wharf with room for roughly 25 commercial vessels, and a haul-out area with a hardstand and travel lift rated up to 100 tonnes, along with space for marine trades businesses. Marine industry support for vessels is planned both onshore, on the hardstand via mobile boat hoist liftout and transfer, and alongside a purpose-built maintenance wharf. That’s the long-term design rather than the confirmed scope of this particular round of funding, but it gives a sense of the scale being planned.
For anyone wondering what size boat the marina will suit, the harbour entrance offers a rough guide to navigational access rather than a firm answer. The channel was designed for a minimum depth of about 3.7 metres at mid-tide, with navigation planned for wave heights up to two metres, and boats will use this same channel to reach the marina. That figure doesn’t on its own set the largest vessel the marina can take. Berth lengths, fairway widths, manoeuvring room and lifting capacity within the marina itself will also come into it.
