Boating & Water Access in Marshfield, MA

Green Harbor: A Working Harbor Named for a 1623 Fishing Operation

Green Harbor was originally called Green's Harbor, after William Green, who established a commercial fishing operation there by 1623 — 17 years before Marshfield was even set off from Plymouth as its own town in 1640. That makes Green Harbor's fishing identity older than the town itself, and it is still a genuine working harbor today: a small commercial and recreational fleet operates alongside the marinas and yacht club described below, per the Town of Marshfield Harbormaster's own facility listings.

The harbor sits behind Dyke Road (also spelled Dike Road across different town documents — both refer to the same road), which functions as both the access route to the marinas and Green Harbor's flood-control causeway. That dual role — road and flood barrier at once — is directly relevant to anyone keeping a boat here, since the causeway's condition and the harbor's jetty are both active civic projects right now, covered further down this page.

Green Harbor's Marinas and Yacht Club

Safe Harbor Green Harbor, at 239 Dyke Rd, Marshfield, is the marina's current branded operator — part of the national Safe Harbor Marinas network, confirmed via the marina's own Safe Harbor listing, Waterway Guide, and independent directory sites. Separately, the town's own Harbormaster page lists Green Harbor Marina (phone 781-837-1181, offering gas and food service) and Taylor Marina, also in Green Harbor (phone 781-837-9617, offering gas and diesel), as distinct facilities from the Safe Harbor operation.

The Green Harbor Yacht Club sits at 257 Dyke Road, Green Harbor (phone 781-834-9115). Between the Safe Harbor marina, Green Harbor Marina, Taylor Marina, and the yacht club, Green Harbor supports a genuine cluster of fuel, dockage, and club facilities within a short walk of one another — but this page does not attempt a slip-count directory or current transient pricing for any of them, since that kind of detail turns over by the season. Call ahead before planning a trip around any specific facility.

South River: Marshfield Yacht Club, Bridgwaye Marina, and Whites Ferry

The South River, one of Marshfield's three rivers alongside the North River and the Green Harbor/Green's Harbor river system, hosts its own cluster of boating facilities distinct from Green Harbor's. Marshfield Yacht Club is at 11 Ridge Road, South River (phone 781-834-9103, marshfieldyachtclub.com) — an active club with its own web presence, worth checking directly for membership and guest-access policy rather than assuming public dockage.

Bridgwaye Marina, at 1265 Ferry Street, South River (phone 781-834-6505), offers lodging and food alongside its marina services — a rarer combination on this stretch of coast than a pure fuel-and-dockage operation. Whites Ferry, also on the South River, is listed by the town's Harbormaster for food service. As with Green Harbor's facilities, current hours, dockage availability, and pricing for all three should be confirmed directly before a visit.

North River: Roht Marine and North River Marine

The North River — Marshfield's border with Norwell and Scituate, and part of what gave the town its original "Rexhame" salt-marsh geography before it was renamed Marshfield — has its own boatyard presence separate from Green Harbor and the South River. Roht Marine, on the North River (phone 781-837-2322 or 781-837-8135), is listed by the town's Harbormaster page as a gas facility. North River Marine sits along Route 3A, also on the North River.

Neither the town's own listings nor this research turned up a detailed service menu (engine work, haul-out, storage) for either North River facility comparable to what's documented for some South Shore boatyards elsewhere — call ahead for current service capability rather than assuming a full-service yard.

The $10 Million Jetty Realignment and the Dike Road Flood-Control Story

Green Harbor's jetty is the subject of a real, currently active infrastructure project: the Green Harbor Jetty Realignment, in planning with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and budgeted at $10 million, addressing structural damage and navigation problems caused by uneven jetty lengths — loose granite blocks and sediment buildup among them. A town official described it, per South Shore Times' reporting, as the product of "about 10 or 12 years of back-and-forth meetings with the Army Corps" before the Corps agreed to work with the town on straightening and repairing both structures. This is directly relevant to anyone navigating in or out of Green Harbor, since jetty condition affects channel navigability and sediment buildup at the harbor mouth.

Separately, Dyke/Dike Road's reconstruction and enhancement is described as being "in study phase," intended to protect roughly 500 homes in the low-lying areas behind it, with the North and South Rivers Watershed Association involved on funding and expertise. Both projects are multi-year, in-progress civic efforts as of this writing — not finished construction — so boaters and waterfront owners in Green Harbor should check current project status with the Town of Marshfield before assuming either is complete.

Gurnet Road: Marshfield's Northern Water-Access Connection Point

Gurnet Road starts in Marshfield and functions as the town's own approach toward the Gurnet/Saquish barrier-beach system that borders Duxbury Bay to the south — Marshfield's northern water-access connection point, separate from Green Harbor and the South and North Rivers. The Gurnet and Saquish themselves belong to the Town of Plymouth, not Marshfield or Duxbury, per multiple independent sources on that peninsula's unusual jurisdictional history. This page does not re-derive Duxbury Beach Reservation's ownership, mileage, or conservation programs — that material belongs to Duxbury's own water-access story. For Marshfield boaters, the practical takeaway is simply that Gurnet Road exists as a real, secondary route toward that barrier-beach system, distinct from the harbor-based boating covered above.

What This Means If You're Boating Out of Marshfield

The honest summary: Marshfield's confirmed water-access infrastructure spans three separate waterways rather than one central harbor. Green Harbor carries the most facilities and the most civic attention right now — Safe Harbor Green Harbor at 239 Dyke Rd, Green Harbor Marina (781-837-1181), Taylor Marina (781-837-9617), and the Green Harbor Yacht Club at 257 Dyke Road (781-834-9115), plus an active $10 million Army Corps jetty-realignment project and a Dike Road flood-control study protecting roughly 500 nearby homes. The South River adds Marshfield Yacht Club (781-834-9103), Bridgwaye Marina (781-834-6505), and Whites Ferry. The North River adds Roht Marine (781-837-2322 / 781-837-8135) and North River Marine on Route 3A.

What this page deliberately does not do is publish a complete slip-count directory, current transient pricing, or guaranteed mooring availability for any of these facilities, and it does not assert operating hours, since marina and yacht-club listings change season to season. Independently re-verify current operating status, hours, and services for any business named here directly with that business before relying on it — a phone number or address confirmed in research today is not a guarantee of what you'll find at the dock next season.