Heritage Harbor Ottawa

I can't say enough about the hospitality that this Harbor provides. From the personable staff and attention detail to the willingness to go the extra mile to ensure an experience like no other.

This Marina is awesome!!!⚓️🛥 The Doc Crew & fellow boaters are the best ever!!!! ⚓️🛥 I can’t say enough about the Harbor Master Jeremy & his wife Kristi, they go above and beyond. Super friendly peeps! Great stop for Loopers! Fantastic boat & kayak rentals! Great place to stay on the Illinois River! Number one in my book!!!

I had the family out for a weekend getaway,and had an amazing time! Boat rental was a blast, cottage we rented was perfect, and the food at the restaurant was great!

Outstanding staff! Jeremy and Kristi in the office really know what they're doing and they have a wonderful staff!

Thank you so much for treating us like family! A definite stop fir everyone’s trip in the Illinois River. We had help navigating in and at the dock. They took away all the anxiety of a new place. We made use of the courtesy vehicles twice, enjoying the area and restocking the boat. No clunkers here. Great new vehicles. Jeremy prepared us for the trip ahead with a detailed briefing of the river and anchorages - even coming in on his day off! Restaurant on site was good. Store had some essentials and well priced liquor too! A great stop!

Jeremy is just the best. Every looper should attend his nightly talk at 5:00. Good pool. Great Marina. 5 star.

Marina accommodations were great, clean and staff was extremely helpful. I have never experienced such a well orchastrated docking. They have it down to a science and have plenty people to assist you. The harbor master Jeremy does a presentation late afternoon where he shares with you information about what to expect all the way down the Illinois River. Not only that, but if you have a question post departure he is more than willing to assist you. In a world where great customer service is hard to find...you don't have to look far at Heritage Harbour.

We would stay more at marinas if the marinas were even close to the hospitality and value that Jeremy and his crew offer at Heritage Harbor!!!! From the professional radio communications received prior to arrival, to the free Ottawa, Il to Paduka, KY navigational brief offered to all boaters every evening. Heritage Harbor offer the use of 3 courtesy cars to reach a town that can be easily bicycled to using the old I&M Canal trail. Almost anything the boater might need is available in Ottawa, and if not, Jeremy and his staff will know where to obtain what you need. The amenities are 1st class, and everything works as advertised. We are transiting the river system towards our more expanded goal of circumnavigating the world on our sailboat. We are hopeful that we run into marinas like Heritage Harbor, but know in the back of our minds that the HH experience will be hard to surpass!!!

First Class Marina! First, I will state that the State of the Rivers "briefing" (it's nearly two hours long) given by dockmaster Jeremy Fowler every evening, should be required curriculum for all Loopers going down the rivers. It is both comprehensive and detailed. Second, we had a covey of ten boats coming out of Marselles Lock (<2 miles away) all together, and all of us wanted to come into the marina - at the same time. They coordinated with us by phone before the lock and radio after the lock so we arrived in an organized manner, each was individually directed to their slip/dock and assisted by dockhands and all were tied up within 30 frenetic minutes without incident. Very professional! The marina itself is very clean with concrete floating docks. 50 amp hookup went fine for us without any problems with the newfangled 5 milliamp GFCI pedestals as it has sometimes with other marinas. The Courtesy car we used was a 2021 Toyota Sienna minivan... with a full tank! They also have a restaurant, ship store, kayak rentals, bike trails, and much more. All for a dollar a foot. We are staying two extra days just to catch up with chores and rest up a bit before we launch downriver. Can't think of a better place to do it and as Gold Loopers, we've seen a lot of marinas in the past couple years. The staff is really first rate and helpful to the max. And then there is that briefing on the rivers too...

Beautiful marina with a great staff. Docks are new and in great shape. Nice wide walkways. Large pool, a great restaurant and good ship’s store that even has a great selection of Bourbon. At least 3 courtesy cars including a dog friendly car. Great stop to resupply. Lots of long trails to walk a dog plus a large fenced in dog park with separate sections for large and small dogs. Jeremy’s River brief was 2 hours and covered everything we needed to know to get to Paducah, KY. We feel a lot more confident about our plans knowing what we will encounter and what the current depths are.

This was our second stay at Heritage Harbor. By far, this is our favorite marina on the loop! Jeremy and Kristi are awesome Harbor masters! The coordination they displayed as 8 of us came in after hours!! Unbelievable! They have a courtesy van, restaurant, weekend entertainment, pool, and nightly river briefing. Don't pass this place by!!

Excellent communication and information before arrival. Excellent dock staff that handled four Loopers that came in simultaneously. Very nice facilities including individual slips and slip side pump out. Briefings by Jeremy on the route down river makes this a must stop for Loopers or anyone else heading south.

We couldn’t ask for a better safe harbor! The harbor master Jeremy is amazing and extremely knowledgeable. Our stay was the best decision we made so far on the AGLCA! Everything from the food and drinks to the showers and complimentary car, not to mention the very informative meeting Jeremy held for all the loopers! We can’t wait to visit again someday!

Delays at the locks kept us from arriving until after dark. We radioed ahead and dock hands we’re waiting to help us with lines when we arrived. They even helped us get our power cord connected. The marina is clean, has a restaurant, bar, entertainment and even some groceries. Highly recommend!

WHAT??? I have to be honest, we are traveling the Great American Loop and therefore have had the opportunity to visit many marinas. Previously, I thought the customer service provided by those in Michigan were heads and tails better than any other marina we had had the opportunity to visit. UNTIL NOW!! Heritage Harbor Ottawa provides customer service that is even better. This was totally unexpected since we were no longer in Michigan. Right here, just outside Chicago, a place where customer service is very important. Thank you Heritage Harbor for raising the bar!

We were traveling doing the Great Loop and this marina was recommended and we can understand why. The staff stayed at the dock waiting for us since we had a late arrival. They were knowledgable, friendly and so efficient. The marina was immaculate, well organized and has great concrete floating docks. We highly recommend this as a stop.

This marina exceeded our expectations! The people who work here are amazing! Always willing to help, take the time to explain things and friendly! As a first time boat owner, couldn’t be happier with our decision to put our boat in this marina.

Amazing!! I can not say enough about Jeremy and the staff at Heritage Harbor. We have stayed at countless marinas in Florida’s and Bahamas. Never have we met folks so intent on making sure they did everything they could to ensure their guests had a comfortable stay and safe voyage ahead.

My brother and I left Duluth, MN on 17 Sep 2020 traveling the Great Loop on my Grand Banks 32 woodie... in addition I am quite new with this boat and am learning as I go in this journey. Along the way I have had many issues crop up making each and every day a new experience, many of which involve which marina to spend the night or a couple of days. In my experience, you find boaters are extremely helpful to one another and the marinas on the Illinois River system we are stopping at are staying open late this year as not only has Covid hurt them but the locks were closed from Jul thru the end of Oct. I have river experience having lived on a Chris-Craft 50 for 5 years south of St. Paul, MN - but this adventure is very different than putzing up and down the upper Mississippi where the tow boats are considered children's toys (compared to those starting in St. Louis). Having read about everything I could on what to expect, for the grace of God, we met Mick - a Scotsman who is on his 5th Loop. Mick has become my mentor, one I am following until we go our separate ways at Paducah, KY. At any rate, Mick told me we would be stopping at Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa, IL - he told me we would be meeting Jeremy Fowler, the HarborMaster. Jeremy is one of the most knowledgable people I have met on this journey... especially regarding the river system and what to expect. Jeremy provides a free seminar for those heading south - such as us Loopers. He explains what to do when approaching everything from the locks and tows to where to find anchorages and safety zones when approaching a dangerous bend in the river. If you ever have a problem on your journey south you can pick up the phone and give Jeremy a call... odds are he has traveled the area and is abreast of current situations. Beyond Jeremy the Heritage Harbor Marina has every amenity you could want from a great restaurant to courtesy cars. The Team absolutely bend over backwards to make your trip safe and enjoyable... it is "the" place to stop in my opinion. That said if 5X Mick hadn't told me about Heritage Harbor I may have missed it... I can say thank you a hundred times as it was one of our best stops in the past 1450 miles. I highly recommend you spend some time at Heritage Harbor Marina... Jeremy's seminar is alone worth the price.

We are 15 months into this trip and have stayed at countless marinas from Miami to the Great lakes and we were never taken care of as well as here. Period. Mic drop.

Great hospitality from the staff and nice facilities. Special thank you to Jeremy for providing us a two hour looper briefing from Ottawa to Kentucky Lakes! Cheers Greg and Cait SV Dragonfly

Perfect..... staff is great. Jeremy runs a super nice staff and marina love staying at heritage harbor one of our favoite marinas

Beautiful marina with top notch staff! Don’t forget to get a bite to eat at the Red Dog Grill!!

I can't say enough about the staff at HHO. We were delayed at the Marseilles Lock and didn't arrive until 10PM. They were aware of our predicament and stayed to make sure we got into a slip safely after a stressful day. Greatly appreciated! We attended the Looper talk with Jeremy and found the information to be very accurate and useful on our trip south. Thank You Jeremy. First class facilities!

If it possible to give a ten star rating this place earns it!! Great people Great accommodations Great Food and priced to stay a few days!! Thanks Guys!!

We came in with about 20 loopers all at once every one was met at there slip for tie up help great docks, pool, showers, food, Jeremy and Christy made everyone feel special just a day or a week this is a must stop marina!

Jeremy (and wife Kristi too) are a true gem on the Illinois River, especially for loopers. Even a boater well experienced ion the Illinois Waterway can learn many things from Jeremy's "Looper Briefing" If you have circled Hoppies as a must-stop, you need to include Heritage for the trip to get to Hoppies. The Marina comes with excellent amenities, great prices, especially with the AGLCA discount. Great showers, restauraunt, and Quest for your mechanical needs. Don't let the lock delays cause you to miss this important stop! !

Very protected, lovely grounds, great restaurant, Jeremy gives a talk on the next 300 miles of the journey that is extremely informative. Should be a must stop for all.

We were not out of the lock until after dark. The marina had a guide boat lead us into the harbor, provided us with a late dinner, and exceeded all of our expectations. This is one excellent marina.

Best experience we have had at a marina! We were sad we were only staying one night. Jeremy and team did a great job bringing in the 4 or 5 boats coming in at the same time. Very professional. It is a great marina and the Red Dog Grill serves great food as well. A wonderful experience!

Heritage Harbor Marina is on our Top 10 list. They are organized, friendly, and knowledgeable. The service they provided is top notch. Laundry was the only thing they did have, but the one in town was nice and clean.

Heritage Harbor went above and beyond! They greater 12 boats who arrived about 9p. Was very organized and found space for everyone. They even kept the restaurant open late while Jeremy briefed the boaters on the rivers ahead. The marina is wonderful, clean, and plenty of space. Highly recommend staying there!

What a jewel on the Illinois. Great floating docks, well protected, great amenities (shower suites, tiki bar, restaurant Red Dog on property, pool) super friendly and accommodating staff, great briefing on the river by Jeremy, nice courtesy cars,etc. Can't say enough. In fact we extended stay.

Great marina! Super staff, excellent amenities, reasonable rates.

Great place. They treat you right at Heritage Harbor.

Great friendly staf and beautiful location. Jeremy spent an hour with me going through the charts down the river toward St Louis

Clean. Friendly. Scenic.