Harbour

Point Defiance Marina

Name: Point Defiance Marina
Address: Tacoma, US
Telephone: +12534043960

Tacoma, United StatesPacific Northwest

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Type: Harbour

Public marina inside Point Defiance Park, on the north-west tip of Commencement Bay in Tacoma, in operation since 1903.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from Commencement Bay or from the Tacoma Narrows. Marina sits just east of the Vashon Island ferry terminal. Day-use transient floats lie in front of Anthony's restaurant. Inner basin protected from the south by a breakwater.

Practical

Fuel berth with petrol and diesel. Pump-out station, public boat launch, tackle and gift shop, boat rentals. Day-use transient moorage only at the outer floats. Certified 5-star Clean Marina.

Ashore

Inside Point Defiance Park, 760 acres of forest, gardens and waterfront established in 1888. Within walking distance: Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, Fort Nisqually living history museum, Owen Beach, and the start of the Ruston Way waterfront walk via the Wilson Way footbridge, 605 ft long and 50 ft high.

History

The point was named after the 1841 Wilkes expedition, which mapped Puget Sound and judged that a fort here, paired with one at Gig Harbour across the Narrows, could defy any enemy fleet. The fort was never built. The land became a Tacoma public park in 1888 by federal authorisation from President Grover Cleveland.