A boat basin that has sat mostly empty along St. Augustine's San Sebastian River for nearly two decades is finally set to open as a working marina this October. Sebastian Harbor Marina will debut as a 64-slip boutique marina, developers said, capping a construction saga that stretches back to the early 2000s and stalled for years after the Great Recession halted the original project.
The marina occupies the San Sebastian River basin next to the AC Hotel by Marriott St. Augustine and the city's historic district, according to News4JAX. The basin was originally dug in the early 2000s but sat idle for nearly 20 years before construction resumed this year under John Valdes & Associates Inc., which is overseeing the marina's final construction phase. Valdes, who has decades of marina construction and operations experience, leads the marina management team.
The final build-out includes new and reinforced pilings, upgrades to the floating docks, and dredging to bring the basin to an expected controlling depth of about 7 feet at mean low water. Marine contractors modified four finger piers by shortening and reinforcing them and moved the main floating dock system 28 inches away from the concrete bulkhead, a change intended to keep docks from hanging up during storm surge and high tides, according to project updates shared on Facebook. Contractor Brance Diversified Inc. has been retained to execute the final maintenance dredging phase to reach the marina's target depth.
Storm-Hardening and Emergency Access Built Into the Redesign
Engineers also relocated the marina's access ramp to the south side of the property, increasing bulkhead clearance during high water and creating a direct access point for emergency first responders, per the same Facebook updates. The marina improvements are intended to strengthen the property against future storms, a priority underscored by recent hurricane damage elsewhere on St. Augustine's waterfront.
St. Augustine's main municipal marina needed extensive repairs from December 2025 through March 2026 after Hurricanes Helene and Milton battered its docks and pilings, as Action News Jax reported, a saga Hoodline covered in our report on the city marina's repairs. That damage left the region short on protected dockage even as demand for slips remains high; under St. Johns County waterway rules, boaters can anchor for only 45 days within a six-month period before they're legally required to relocate their vessel for at least 24 hours, a restriction that makes new wet slips especially valuable to long-term cruisers.
Slips Built for Everything From Sailboats to Large Catamarans
Sebastian Harbor Marina will offer 64 wet slips for boats up to 55 feet, according to News4JAX, though project lead John Valdes has said in Facebook videos that the marina can accommodate powerboats, sailboats, and multi-hull vessels up to 60 feet in length with a 20-foot beam, including slips engineered specifically for large catamarans. The marina will accept transient visitors as well as monthly and long-term slip tenants, though it will not permit live-aboard dockage. Slip rates are still being set, and prospective slip holders and transient guests can join an interest list at sebastianharbormarina.com.
General manager Nico Recore, who has worked at local marina and waterfront businesses for several years, said the marina should be more than simply a place to dock a boat. The protected basin offers visiting boaters an alternative to exposed anchorages, Recore said, and brings visitors within walking distance of downtown St. Augustine's restaurants, shops and attractions. Day-to-day operations will be run by Safe Passage Marina Management LLC.
Amenities and a Long-Idle Harbor's Second Act
Landside, the marina will include shore power, potable water, Wi-Fi, gated access and around-the-clock camera monitoring, along with modern restrooms and showers, laundry, pump-out stations and a harbormaster office, according to project updates on Facebook. Two waterfront apartments adjacent to the marina will also be available for short-term stays. The marina sits under 2 miles from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and roughly 5 miles from the St. Augustine Inlet, positioning it as a stop for boaters cruising the Intracoastal through a city long favored by Great Loop cruisers.
The property's current owners are investing millions to revitalize the waterfront and finish construction, tying the marina to the adjacent 142-room AC Hotel St. Augustine by Marriott, which opened in October 2025 under developer Asante Asset Management and manager McKibbon Hospitality, according to Hotel Business. Florida corporate records show an entity called Sebastian Harbor Marina, L.C. was first filed in St. Augustine back in April 1996 before being administratively dissolved in October 1997, underscoring just how long commercial interest in the site has persisted. With construction and final preparations now underway ahead of the anticipated October opening, the basin is on track to shed its two-decade dormancy for good.
