
No ocean, no problem: Lawrence’s Clinton Lake Marina named the best marina in the U.S. by top magazine

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World
Clinton Lake Marina is pictured on May 10, 2023.
If you want to find the best marina in the U.S., captain, you might need to dig deep into your pile of maps to find this locale — Kansas.
More specifically, Lawrence, Kansas.
Never mind the squawking of the parrot on your shoulder, Clinton Lake Marina, just west of Lawrence, has indeed been named the best large marina in the entire country.
Marina Dock Age — the largest and most prestigious magazine covering the marina industry — recently awarded the prize to Clinton Lake Marina and its staff, despite Kansas’ lack of an ocean or year-round boating weather.
“What I think is really, really fun you have big, big marinas in Florida, big, big marinas in California and Washington, and here in Lawrence, Kansas, where people sometimes don’t even realize there is a marina and lakes, we were able to win this national award,” Peter Meiusi said.
What the marina does have, though, is new faces. Owners Peter and Erin Meiusi have made it a priority to expand the marina in ways that aren’t solely geared to boat owners. That includes adding a new waterside hospitality area — The Knot Bar — a self-service kiosk for kayaks and paddle boards, and the addition of Float Friday events that involve live music, food and beverages in the marina’s parking lot during the summer boating season.
“We want it to be a community destination, even if you don’t have a boat,” Peter Meiusi said. “And we are seeing a lot of faces we haven’t seen before.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World
Travis Andregg, Peter Meiusi, and Erin Meiusi, founders of the No Coast Boat Club, show off a new double-deck pontoon boat that the club has recently purchased in this May 2023 photo.
Those efforts impressed a panel of judges in the national competition, but the marina also had some large growth numbers to tout. The marina has nearly 700 slips for boats, with 400 of them being fully-covered slips. That number is up about 100 slips since the couple purchased the marina in 2021 from Erin’s aunt Megan Hiebert.
One of the marina’s slip projects also ended up being among the most unique in the country. As the Journal-World reported in May, a project to add 70 covered slips to the marina included solar panels installed on the roofs of the dock. The solar panels provide enough electricity to power the lights, the electric boat lifts, the electric grills and the several other accessories that you will find on a well-equipped dock.
Peter’s research so far suggests that the Lawrence dock is the largest in the U.S. that is getting all of its electricity from solar power.
“They like unique things, and we have a lot of unique things,” Peter said of the marina, which is located in the state park portion of Clinton Lake, about two miles west of the Clinton Parkway and South Lawrence Trafficway interchange.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World
Clinton Lake Marina added 70 new cover boat slips during the offseason. They added solar panels to the roof of the docks to make them self-sufficient from an energy standpoint.
The marina also may have gotten some credit from the judges for a unique dance, so to speak. The marina is expanding as a locally-owned venture when the trend in the marina industry is corporate consolidation. As the Journal-World has reported, two marinas on nearby Perry Lake have been sold to larger corporate entities, and the marina at Hillsdale Lake southeast of Lawrence also has sold to corporate operator.
Peter said such sales have some advantages, mainly that the corporate owners have easier access to capital and can make greater investments in amenities.
“We are trying to dance the dance of being mom-and-pop owners while still providing some of those amenities that you’re seeing from the larger operators,” Peter said.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo
The Clinton Lake Marina, pictured Jan. 6, 2022, will be the site of the new No Coast Boat Club this fall. The club will be a subscription boat service that allows members to use a boat on a regular basis without owning the boat.
It remains to be seen what the next big project will be at the marina, Peter said. In addition to the expansion of the dock space, the marina also has launched its own boat club that allows members to buy time on a fleet of boats ranging from double decker pontoons to ski boats that are housed at the marina. Managing that business, along with growing the The Knot Bar — it is adding wine to its menu — and hosting the Float Friday events, among other ventures, will be a priority for the year.
But Peter said there’s a good possibility other projects will emerge, even if they are not among the marina’s biggest. The self service kiosk for kayaks and paddle boards — which is located in the marina’s parking lot — was a good example of how a smaller project can have a big impact. That service has been an easy entry point for people to discover Clinton Lake — which with nearly 35 square miles of water and surrounding land, is the largest public nature area in the county.
“Not everybody can spend $400 or $500 for a boat for a day, so to provide a way for people to get out on the water for $16, I think that was a nice way for us to be a destination for everybody . . . it has been really fun for us,” Peter said.

photo by: Submitted
Peter and Erin Meiusi, center, are picture with Clinton Lake Marina employees at the 2025 national marina of the year awards ceremony in Nashville.