Lake Oroville Marina

We had a great trip on Lake Oroville Last weekend for my son's 15th birthday with a bunch of his buddies. We rented a power boat at the marina with an innertube, and then camped at Floating Campground #4. Really a beautiful location - and a great place to stay. And all this kids had a fantastic time on the water, in the water, swimming and riding around in the boat.

The guys at the marina were very friendly and helpful in getting us checked in and oriented to the boat, and had lots of good advice and recommendations. After the weekend of camping, we forgot some belongings under one of the bench seats, and they were kind enough to send it back to us.

Viral images of the drought in California would have you thinking that Lake Oroville is basically drained of all water. Contrary to public perception however, there is still water at Lake Oroville- several hundred feet of it actually and boating is still one of the best ways to enjoy this gorgeous lake. My group was looking to rent a boat for a weekend in August to facilitate our camping trip on one of the floating platforms and Lake Oroville Marina was the only marina on the lake still renting out boats for overnight use.

The marina has sunk with the water quite a bit and you'll have to do a short two minute hike to get down to it. If you have equipment with you, they have carts to shuttle your equipment to the dock. Once you get there, you'll see a large selection of Forever Resort boats and a store with last minute supplies (aka beer and water). There are a number of houseboats further off in the distance too. There's a lot of exploring you can do once you leave the marina- it took us almost an hour to get out to the dam. As a quick side note, you will need to pay $6/day to park at the marina.

I had reserved a 26 foot deck boat in advance and I have to give the staff major props. They spoke at length with me on the phone to ensure that I got a boat that fit my needs and would be available when I arrived. I have to give their 26 foot deck boat even more props. It was even bigger than I thought it would be and did everything I needed it to do- it held 8 people and their gear without problem, it moved fast, had large enough fuel capacity that I could boat around for a day and still have gas at the end, HAD A BATHROOM, and was VERY comfortable. I'm emphasizing this last part because the boat was comfortable enough that four of us actually opted to sleep in the boat rather than in our tents. That's how nice this boat was! I absolutely loved driving it, towing our ski tube with it, and just relaxing in it with friends. Seriously- this boat exceeded my expectations in every regard. Remember to keep an eye on the gas tank though. 8 people can get heavy and your gas can run out faster than you think. Take care of it though, and this boat will take care of you back.

Upon renting our boat, the folks at the Lake Oroville Marina went over driving instructions, rules of the water (you need to put on your navigation lights if you're going to drive at night!), and gave us directions to our destination. After that, it was all us. I had an absolute blast at Lake Oroville and it began and ended with the Lake Oroville Marina.

Just came back from a super fun Memorial Day Weekend out on the lake. We rented the 59' houseboat from Forever Resorts. We have rented before, but it was many years back.
I really felt compelled to write this review because I'm just so impressed with the folks at the marina, such excellent customer service and everyone is just so friendly and easy going. That's the type of service and experience you want to have before kicking off your mini-vacation, right? The boats are pretty great and easy to operate, and you get all the creature comforts of home so you won't feel like you're "roughing it" too much. If I could afford it, I'd do this trip every year!

We rented a boat yesterday and had several mechanical issues. The gears were not working the amount of gas wouldn't show neither the speed. We reported it and they treated us like it was no big deal, it was a dangerous situation and it is unbelievable that they would rent a boat with all those issues. Hopefully another company starts working at any of the 3 marinas to have a different option.

Families, friends, and romantic interests will love Lake Oroville Marina at Lake Oroville State Recreation Area. Getaway...really away...and enjoy the best boating, fishing, swimming, wildlife viewing and more! With 167 miles of forested shoreline, come prepared to get lost in nature.

Have your own boat? Outstanding. If not, Lake Oroville Marina is fully-equipped and 5-star staff is there to serve. Watercraft rentals -- party, fishing and power boats, personal watercraft -- or houseboat rentals, there is absolutely something for everyone including wave board rentals and tubing.

We enjoyed three days and two nights of Forever Resorts houseboating pleasure. Home was never like this! In fact, our 4-bedroom houseboat was larger than my first home. Waking up on the water...there's nothing quite like it. Not my first houseboating experience and I hope it won't be my last.

The houseboats have all the amenities and are fully equipped. You just show-up with food and drink and away you go. Great for groups who can share the costs -- very economical. Nothing more incredible than starlit skies, quiet nights, or sunrise and sunset over the lake.

If you have your own fishing boat, bring it along. Lake Oroville provides world-class fishing opportunities. Plus, wonderful to explore the various arms of the Feather River and stunning waterfalls. The lake temps are the perfect chill for a warm summer day.

Floating, boat-in and group camping managed by California State Parks. Nearby Chico and historic Oroville provide other diversions, too. If you're feeling lucky, check out Gold Country Casino.

Lake Oroville Marina is managed by Forever Resorts an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service and state and public agencies, and operates under special use permits with the USDA Forest Service. They are an excellent host!

Never rented a houseboat before so really had no idea what to expect. Reserving was easy doing it on line but I called as well because I had some questions. The person on the other end, Chloe in this case, answered all the questions and even gave me a bit of a discount. We got the 56' Gateway. Check in was easy but took longer than it should as when I moved off to deal with pulling things off the car and parking and such when I got back someone else was being checked in. That took quite some time and was a drag. Feels like there ought to be another person there to help out but that was a bit minor. They showed us the boat. I asked for starting instructions written down and they delivered. Only needed them the first couple of times then I got the hang of it. We checked out what was on board and was impressed with what was there. Some things that weren't even listed on the web page! The one really negative thing for us was the beddings weren't made up when we boarded. We had to do that ourselves but since the beds in this boat were all against a wall on three sides doing that was a bit of a chore that I honestly did not expect to do. I really think the boats ought to come with the beds made. I have no problem undoing them and bagging the linens when we check out. Just have the beds made, please. Apart from that one thing, it was an overall GREAT experience. It's just on the pricey side, though. But still glad I did it. Checkout was an absolute breeze as well. We are thinking perhaps of getting more people and doing one of the larger ones should we do it again.