North Point Marina — Attraction in Winthrop Harbor

I don't own a boat that's occupying a spot in the marina, I just come by 2-3 times a year and take my family and sometimes friends for a pleasant walk near the water.

If my boys are with my wife & myself then of course they're gonna hit the playground before the stroll near the boats.

My most recent visit was on the last day of this past September but miraculously the weather was beautiful that day and hit the upper 70s.

I've always loved being near a large body of water since I grew up a navy brat living in Guam, Hawaii and Japan before my father's last duty station at Great Lakes prior to his 20-year retirement in June '91.

Even though it's a freshwater lake, you look straight out and you can't even tell the difference except that the waves are much smaller so for me it's a time machine back...

This was our fourth season at North Point. The marina is surrounded by the state park and nice beaches to the north and south. Plenty of walking trails, and for the most part quiet and friendly. The public restroom building burnt down almost 3 years ago and has yet to be rebuilt. The private baths are, for the most part clean, except on major holidays. Docks are in need of maintenance. The main channel coming into the marina desperately needs dredging. Sailboats with drafts deeper than 5' might want to look elsewhere. The town of Winthrop Harbor is just so-so, with limited restaurants and shopping amenities. We plan on staying another year, but beyond that is dependant on the management co attention to the docks...

Marina administrative & operational staff are very professional and respond quickly to slipholders' requests! They get 5 stars!

That being said, we REALLY NEED the following improvements next season ... that's why the overall review is only 3 stars.

(1) dredge the marina entranceway & main fairways, (2) apply repellent or install equipment to keep the seagulls (and their residue) off the pump-out docks and empty slips, (3) apply chemicals to eliminate/mitigate the severe lake weed problem early in the season, (4) remove floating weeds from all the wells, (5) repeat steps 2 thru 4 as often as needed (at least monthly), (6) re-fasten or replace all loose/warped dock boards, (7) tamp down all protruding...