The Hamble River is a yachting mecca in particular for racing types. It offers an interesting little village, Hamble le Rice, with various pubs and attractions for the visiting yachtsman, and mooring options as far as the eye can see. 

Although on first sight it might appear that the Hamble River is nothing more than a giant parking lot for yachts and small craft, it is quite attractive in its own right..... especially if you have a boat without a mast as you can escape the crowds by making your way under the fixed bridges into a different world. ... read more

From the Solent, the Hamble River is approached via Southampton Water, which has already been described in a separate article. If approaching from the Southampton direction it is inadvisable to cut the corner and aim for the Easterly Cardinal beacon instead of starting your track as described in the following pilotage directions:

After locating and identifying the Hamble Point southerly Cardinal buoy (Q(6)+LFl.15s) and passing it close to port a generally northerly course is steered leaving the green beacons to starboard and the Easterly Cardinal post followed by red beacons to port. The narrow white section of the sectored light on the shore near Hamble Point (Dir.Oc(2).WRG.12s) shows the way in, and all the posts are lit. In the region of the green post number seven and the red post number six the channel swings slightly to the NNE, and the beacons and posts continue to show the way. A further sectored light on the shore at Warsash (Dir.Iso.WRG.6s) now shows the way with its narrow white sector.
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Mooring opportunities abound for the visiting yachtsman or motorboater... even so at the height of the season it may be difficult to obtain a berth.  Options include harbour authority pontoons and moorings,  Hamble Point Marina,  Port Hamble Marina,  Mercury Yacht Harbour,  Universal Marina, and Swanwick Marina.   Other possibilities include the boatyards, and for those able to push under the bridges up river anchoring might be possible. These options are all covered shortly, including visitors prices:

The first mooring facilities the visitor will come across after entering the River are the pontoons midstream more or less opposite the Harbour Master's conspicuous black-and-white building on the Warsash side. These have plenty of deep water the rule being first come first served, and are administered by the harbour authorities. They also have some visitors pile moorings and a couple of jetties with walk ashore access, namely the Harbour Masters pontoon at Warsash and Harbour Masters pontoon at Hamble le Rice, with approximately 2 m and 1.5 m respectively at CD. The outsides of these jetties are for picking up and setting down with a maximum stay of 30 minutes and the boat being attended at all times. Links to harbour masters site below: ... read more