Two Years After Milton, Davis Islands Gets Its Marina Back

Marjorie Park Marina at 97 Columbia Drive is pumping fuel again. The City of Tampa now lists the marina as "back online as of September 2026," with recreational gas and diesel pumps and pumpout stations all running. Of the island's public waterfront facilities damaged in the 2024 hurricanes, the marina was the last major one to return, and its reopening ends the City's storm repair work on the island's public waterfront.

What follows the repairs is a different kind of schedule. Davis Islands Beach opens and closes to swimmers based on weekly bacteria tests. The Seaplane Basin is waiting on a dock rebuild that is still in design. When you can get on the water from the island this fall depends less on hurricane recovery and more on those two clocks.

The Last Item on the 2024 Repair List

Hurricanes Helene and Milton crossed the region two weeks apart in fall 2024. WUSF reported that the City called the parks damage the most extensive and expensive in Tampa's history, with Helene's flooding followed by Milton's winds. On Davis Islands, the two water-facing city facilities came back about 14 months apart.

WUSF's spring 2025 report expected the marina's dockmaster office and the pool to reopen in the same window. The pool reopened that summer. The City's notice confirms the marina's fuel and pumpout running as of September 2026, almost two years after the Waterway Guide closure notice. The available sources don't explain the gap. No public document we found lists which marina components were damaged or why full operations took until this fall.

The pool is now on a normal schedule. The City's fall timetable runs from August 9 through January 2 and was updated September 9, 2026. The City's pool listing for 154 Columbia Drive shows it closed Mondays and open until 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Friday hours are split, 7 a.m. to noon and 2:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday runs 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The City's current pool notice lists only Sulphur Springs Pool as closed.

What "Back Online" Covers So Far

The City's September notice confirms three things: recreational fuel, diesel and pumpout. That matters most to anyone who has spent the past two years running to a different fuel dock to top off before heading into Hillsborough Bay.

City Hall's own numbers show the marina returning as a working business, too. In the FY2027 recommended budget presented to City Council on July 30, 2026, the Parks and Recreation section says:

"Revenues increased from FY2026 projections due to the Marjorie Park Marina returning to normal operations."

The full amenity list is harder to pin down. The City's main marina page describes transient and monthly slips, off-road diesel and mid-grade gas, a building with restrooms, laundry and showers, a weather station and a ship store. It also lists 32 monthly slips for permanent tenants, with a waiting list. That page predates the storms, though, and the September notice doesn't mention slips or the store. Until the City updates it, the confirmed services are fuel and pumpout. Call the dockmaster before counting on anything else.

The Beach Runs on a Weekly Test

Davis Islands Beach was never on the repair list. When you can swim there is set by a lab result, and the latest one is high.

The Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County samples "Davis Island Beach" at 900 Martinique Avenue. The state's Healthy Beaches program issues an advisory when a sample comes back above 70 enterococci per 100 milliliters and a resample also comes back high. Here are the recent results on the Florida Healthy Beaches page for Davis Island Beach:

Most of September tested well under the threshold. Then the reading climbed over two weeks to well above it. The City's advisories page says the beach rated poor as of October 8 and that the advisory stays in effect until at least October 15 or 16, when the next results are due. The health department's notices warn against water activities. They aren't closures of the beach itself.

This happens regularly. Health department releases show advisory notices for Davis Island Beach after samples taken February 12, 2025 and July 1, 2025. In 2026, notices followed samples from February 4, February 18, April 15 and now October 7. These are release records rather than a full count of separate advisory periods. Even so, the 2026 notices so far fall in February, April and October, so the Healthy Beaches page is worth checking before a swim.

Dog owners should know the sampling site and the dog beach aren't the same place. The City lists Davis Islands Dog Park & Dog Beach at 1002 Severn Street, and no closure is posted for it. The rules require dogs to be leashed coming and going, allow no more than two off-leash dogs per person, and require dogs to stay under voice command.

The Seaplane Basin Rebuild Is Still Ahead

The next major change to the island's public water is a City dock project at the Seaplane Basin, and it has not started.

The Davis Island Seaplane Basin ramp at 846 Severn Avenue is open around the clock, with two lanes, a dock and parking. There are no restrooms. No closure is posted for it, and it's the island's only documented public launch. We found no separate City-designated kayak or paddleboard launch.

Under the City's Citywide Dock & Boardwalk Replacement program, project PR-21017 will replace the basin's "failing docks" and add a mooring field and navigation aids "to make the basin safer and cleaner." The project page shows it in design and at the permitting and submittals stage. Planned construction runs from March 31, 2027 to January 31, 2028. The same page still lists the construction fiscal year as 2025, so treat the 2027 start as the City's current plan rather than a firm date.

A mooring field would change how the basin is used. Right now boats launch and leave. Once it's built, some boats will stay on moorings. The construction window also covers most of 2027, a full boating season.

One more capital project is lined up nearby. A City water project at Peter O. Knight Airport will replace about 3,218 feet of 12- to 16-inch water mains and reroute them away from the runway. The goal is better water pressure and quality and fewer service interruptions. It's in procurement with construction set for fiscal year 2027, and no specific dates have been published.

On the Water This October

Davis Island Yacht Club at 1315 Severn Avenue is a member-owned private club. Its own storm work isn't finished. The club says it is rebuilding one of its three docks after Helene and Milton and will have no transient slips available through the end of 2026. Its calendar still shows when the bay off the island will be busiest.

• Thursday-night racing has ended for the year. The 2026 season ran April 16 to October 8. During the season, the club invites members of the public to ask for a crew spot.
• October 17–18: the Davis Island Youth Sailing Foundation's Optimist Green Fleet Regatta is on the club's sailing calendar. The foundation's Optimist and C420/High School teams train on Hillsborough Bay from mid-August through mid-May.
• October 24: the Halloween Boat-of-the-Year Regatta has Spinnaker, Racer-Cruiser, Multihull and Cruising divisions. The distance-course warning is at 11 a.m. and the drop-mark warning at noon. No race starts after 4 p.m., and awards and a costume party follow at 6:30 p.m. The notice is written for competitors and doesn't say whether spectators or the party are open to the public.

For anyone launching at Severn Avenue or fueling at Marjorie Park on October 24, expect a crowded bay from late morning through mid-afternoon.

At The Fate Team, we keep track of the details that shape life on Davis Islands, from the marina fuel dock to the Seaplane Basin's construction calendar. If you own on the island and want to know how Marjorie Park's return or the planned basin rebuild could affect your home's value, Request Your Home Valuation and we'll walk you through it.