Marineland is the largest single marina and harbour facility in Kariba town, with a customer-friendly environment and service-orientated attendance open from 7.30am to 5pm daily.
It has a portfolio of more than 30 houseboats available for chartering and provides a full range of all boating related facilities within its harbour to make your planning and lake experience a pleasure.
Harbour facilities include:
• mooring and storage of houseboats and speedboats,
• chartering of all types of houseboats,
• boat launching,
• hire of fishing boats and rods,
• all types of fishing bait,
• bottle store and ice supplies,
• basic supplies shop for all essentials and gas,
• fuel jetty with oils,
• secure overnight guarded vehicle parking,
• lake transfers to the various hotels and resorts,
• laundry,
• catering,
• boat repairs
Marineland also offers an efficient road transfer service from Lusaka or Harare to Kariba on comfortable air conditioned buses, with refreshments on board.
With this comprehensive selection of services on offer to Kariba visitors, Marineland describes itself as "Your Gateway to Kariba".
In addition to the booking contact details here, please note the following e-mail addresses:-
Accounts: accounts@marineland.co.zw
Harbourmaster: harbourmaster@marineland.co.zw ( all info regarding mooring )
Orders (drinks/ice etc): orders@marineland.co.zw
Reviews 12
Agnet Masuku, England
8 May 2017
Get out to Marineland! It's beyond amazing, simply the best .....
The yummy things to nibble on our boat cruise, biltong, snacks and drinks from the Marineland Harbour shop was out of this world.... best snacks we've had yet! The Marineland Manager Obert, the Captain Ed were warm and friendly, the service was outstanding, and our destination 'Spurwing Island was lovely.
Perfect time to head back from Spurwing to Marineland Harbour - It was wonderful time to watch the sun set. A delight just to wander about and take in the beautiful sights and sounds of Lake Kariba. Mind-blowing. Beautiful. Worth. Every. Penny.
Great weather and smooth sail - thanks Captain Ed.
Obert, we will definitely come back again - how about August 2017?
Ag & family
London, UK
Thank you for a very encouraging review. A praise much needed when tourism is at its at a low in this part of the world. I am printing your review for Ed (& for all staff at Marineland)and I am confident it will be so motivational for him – and me too! It is most gratifying to know there are some satisfied customers out there – Of course Ag, you are most welcome for August 2017.
Obert, Marineland
Glen Pettinger, Zimbabwe
22 April 2017
Great service. Keep knowledgeable and helpful staff and boat crew. Had a wonderful time barring 3 trumped up police tickets going back to Harare.( not your fault)
Thanks for the review, Glen. We are so sorry about your police tickets :-(
Kevin Higgins, Zimbabwe
21 April 2017
Carol and I want to thank you for the excellent service that we get from Marineland management and staff whenever we have occasion to visit. Everyone is so willing to help which of course is an excellent start to any holiday.
Thank you so much. As you know, when in the service industry, you always strive hard to provide the best service possible and very often all you ever hear are the complaints and so seldom the praise. I have copied in the Marineland staff on this reply as they will all be as delighted as us to read that we have satisfied customers which is so motivational for them to know they have achieved. We had a busy Easter period which was most gratifying. Cher, Marineland.
Charles Masunganidze, Zimbabwe
2 March 2017
You guys are stars. Keep up the good work
Innocent Mapfumo, Zimbabwe
1 March 2017
I have been a Kariba resident for years and Marineland Harbour was and has always been one of the well looked after properties.
And for tourists/visitors - I think when they got lost in Kariba, or saw it as a really strange place, nothing was more comforting than finding Marineland, a place everyone trusts and can show the way.
Chris Willis, South Africa
1 March 2017
Being a former houseboat owner for 10 years, I have had extensive exposure with most of the Kariba harbours. Marineland has been my harbour of choice even before I became a boat owner, for several reasons. Experienced and professional staff, most of whom were at Marineland before I was first hiring boats over 15 years ago . In my personal experience, Marineland give their clients a 100% and nothing less attitude. Even in the most difficult economic climate they were able to "source" whatever their clients needed. Marineland remains the best equipped harbour for clients. Clients are assured of the highest quality care when dealing with Marineland and I am grateful for that attention to detail, whenever planning a trip to Kariba.
Tim Featherby, South Africa
1 March 2017
As owners of MV-Matusadona, possibly one of the more prestigious boats on Kariba, we naturally looked for the most safe and secure mooring facilities for our large mono-hull cruiser launched in December 2012. Fortunately, the choice was simple, it had to be Marineland. Since that time, we could not have wished for better service and support in every aspect, from the mooring facilities, provided with 3-phase shore power, through to accounts, security, launching and storage of ancillary craft, the friendly guys who are always willing to help offload supplies on arrival, the shop which provides all the essentials, the catering facility which works wonders, right down to local and international road transfers, Marineland has it all. To top it all, Marineland spent an untold fortune raising the harbour walls to protect all boats when the lake levels were at an all-time high and, last year, when the levels fell to dangerously low levels, so they further invested in their facilities by dredging the harbour to provide deeper safe mooring.
Sadly, in all this, despite being the holiday of a lifetime, tourism numbers in Kariba would appear to be dwindling and, as a destination, it is no longer the thriving Riviera it was in past times. This being due mainly to the following;
• Air access is infrequent and unreliable;
• For those who drive from Harare, there is the overriding issue of poor roads and the ever-present police road-blocks, sometime 20 – 30 on a 370 km trip, with police officers demanding fines for fictitious offences.
• To add to Kariba's woes, the high levels of illegal poaching, both fish and wildlife, have further eroded the attraction of Kariba as a destination.
In our experience, the easiest way for foreign travellers to visit Kariba is to fly into Lusaka, Zambia, which is very much closer than Harare and, from there, take a transfer by road or air to Kariba and commence the holiday of a lifetime. Marineland will be there to assist in every aspect!!
Steven Caldecott, Vancouver, Canada
3 February 2017
For Houseboat "Return 2 EDEN". Thank you very much. Our trip, the crew and boat itself was excellent. Thank you for the suggestion. It was a pleasure to do business with you and I will certainly contact in the future should I wish to book another boat. I hope that 2017 brings much change for Zimbabwe.
Rob Millar
15 January 2017
I just wanted to write to commend you on what a fantastic job you are doing at Marineland. We have been fortunate enough to come to Kariba twice in the last 4 months and on each occasion we
have been extremely impressed with the service at Marineland. The entire operation from the front gate to when you depart is excellent. The guards very helpful friendly and knowledgable; the drivers and guys launching boats very helpful and friendly; the porters helping carry stuff down to houseboats very efficient and helpful; drinks orders onto houseboats immaculate and efficient and very reasonable I might add. Alex very professional and beyond helpful always going beyond the call of duty!! Thank you for the fantastic job you are doing. It really is impressive and
you deserve to be commended, so thank you.
Greg O'Carroll, Zimbabwe
5 September 2016
Just a short note to say 'thank you so much' for organising Kariba Star houseboat for my Kiwi mates and I last month. We had a fantastic time sailing around the lake and besides being attacked by the Hippo in the tender boat we all found it very relaxing. We found everything we needed on the boat and Albert and Owen (the crew) were excellent. The food was outstanding and plentiful.....sometime too much...but no complaints. There was always cold drinks on hand....something we have come to expect on houseboats...we weren't disappointed.
Wayne Marais, Zimbabwe
27 May 2016
In my opinion, this is the best kept harbour in Kariba, well done Bob Collett and Elliot, keep up the good work, more people should visit Kariba and see for them selves.
Thank you so much for your comments, it has given us all a real boost of confidence, moral and work pride. It is currently so quiet in Kariba we so wish we could share our wonderful weather and piece of paradise with more people……what do we have to do to convince people to become more like swallows and winter here with us?
Thank you for making our day. Best Regards,
Cher, Marineland
Sally Wynn-Pitman, Zimbabwe
21 November 2014
This place is a hub for boating activities and houseboat charters in Kariba and is well-run and efficient. It's well worth paying their guarded parking fee to ensure security for your vehicle while you are on the lake. The little shop is useful for last-minute forgotten items and the cafe provides simple snacks and drinks if you have to wait for a transfer. Even the resident cat is extremely friendly!