When you’re out on the water, you’re not just looking for a place to moor — you’re often looking for the restaurant at the dock, a beer garden a few minutes on foot, or an ice cream between legs. This post counts how many of the 1,102 water access points in the Dalbi database have gastronomy within 300 m. The basis is our own count from OpenStreetMap data, as of 2026-05-19.
Key figures
- 729 of 1,102 water access points have gastronomy within 300 m (≈ 66 %).
- Of those: 941 restaurants, 66 beer gardens and 242 cafés (multiple entries possible — one water access point can have several nearby establishments).
- Brandenburg (148 of 208), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (118 of 173) and Berlin (71 of 93) lead the count.
- Source: own count from OpenStreetMap data, as of 2026-05-19.
What counts as a marina restaurant
For each water access point in the Dalbi database, the analysis takes all gastronomy entries from OpenStreetMap within a 300-metre straight-line radius — roughly four minutes on foot. Restaurants, cafés, beer gardens, pubs and fast-food spots are included. Phone numbers and opening hours are deliberately not stored, because those details change too quickly in OpenStreetMap and in any case don’t replace a call before you set out.
This analysis is not based on the DTV’s “Gelbe Welle” list — it relies exclusively on open data from OpenStreetMap. That means the OSM licence terms apply (ODbL v1.0), along with the usual caveat: anything not mapped by volunteer OpenStreetMap mappers is absent from the count.
Distribution by federal state
Own count from OpenStreetMap data, as of 2026-05-19. The table lists water access points that have a restaurant, café, beer garden, pub or fast-food spot recorded within 300 m. Sorted descending by water access points with gastronomy.
| State | Water access points total | With gastronomy ≤ 300 m | Restaurants | Cafés & beer gardens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandenburg | 208 | 148 | 188 | 81 |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 173 | 118 | 180 | 55 |
| Berlin | 93 | 71 | 89 | 37 |
| Lower Saxony | 126 | 67 | 86 | 23 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 108 | 68 | 109 | 42 |
| Bavaria | 95 | 66 | 127 | 22 |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 66 | 47 | 107 | 31 |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 65 | 36 | 54 | 16 |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 56 | 30 | 45 | 18 |
| Hesse | 28 | 22 | 28 | 8 |
| Baden-Württemberg | 24 | 18 | 43 | 7 |
| Bremen | 21 | 11 | 20 | 5 |
| Saxony | 12 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| Thuringia | 11 | 7 | 6 | 3 |
| Hamburg | 9 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| Saarland | 7 | 5 | 8 | 4 |
Trip highlights
Mecklenburg Lake District and the Müritz
The Müritz is the densest marina-dining area in Germany. From the harbour at Waren to Röbel and Klink, restaurants line the dock directly. Arriving from the west, most marinas put you within two minutes on foot of a menu.
Berlin and Brandenburg waterways
The Spree–Havel waterway connects Köpenick, Müggelsee, Wannsee and the Potsdam Havel — all four cruising areas have an above-average share of water access points with nearby gastronomy. Schmöckwitz, Müggelseedamm and Wannsee in particular show dense results in the count.
Lake Constance
At Lake Constance, gastronomy at marinas is the rule rather than the exception. The per-marina count is often in single digits because restaurants are spread more broadly around the harbours than right at the dock head.
Western Pomerania lagoons
Stralsund, Greifswald, Wieck — on Rügen and Usedom the marinas are mostly within walking distance of fish restaurants and taverns. Strongly seasonal, but high density in summer.
Moselle and Rhine
River marinas differ from lake marinas: the gastronomy is often a few steps further into town, not directly at the pier. Trier, Bernkastel-Kues, Cochem illustrate the pattern in the count.
What this analysis does not show
OpenStreetMap is a volunteer database. What hasn’t been mapped doesn’t appear in the count — smaller snack stands, seasonal beach bars and recently opened venues are often absent. Restaurants also close faster than volunteer mappers can update the data. Anyone heading to a marina should check opening hours directly or call ahead before setting out.
The Dalbi app uses the same dataset as this analysis and shows water access points even without a mobile signal — including the dining options near a mooring, right in the station view and through a dedicated filter.
Further reading
- Gelbe Welle mooring stations 2026 — what the DTV quality mark means and where the certified stations are
- Boat fuel stations in Germany 2026 (German edition, EN translation in preparation): /de/blog/bootstankstellen-deutschland-2026
Sources and rights
This analysis is based on data from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL v1.0). The underlying database is licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL) v1.0. The Dalbi app distributes a derivative database and cites ”© OpenStreetMap contributors” as a mandatory attribution.
The DTV’s “Gelbe Welle” list is not reproduced in this analysis — the count is based exclusively on OpenStreetMap. “Gelbe Welle” is a word mark of the German Tourism Association, used here nominatively (under § 23 of the German Trademark Act).
Dalbi has no commercial or contractual relationship with the German Tourism Association. The data comes from OpenStreetMap, not from third-party lists.