Best anchorages and harbours in United States

Roche Barbor

Anchorage off Roche Harbor on the north-west tip of San Juan Island, Washington, with a mud bottom and shelter from most directions.

• Sheltered N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

Mooring near South Bristol

Anchorage on the mid-coast of Maine, in the South Bristol and Boothbay region. Rock bottom, with fresh water available.

• Sheltered W, E, SW, S, SE

Santa Barbara

Open roadstead off the Santa Barbara waterfront in California, anchoring on a sand bottom east of the harbour.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE

Shaws Cove

Small rocky cove on the Laguna Beach shore in California, within the Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve.

• Sheltered N, NE, NW

Sheffield island

Anchorage off Sheffield Island, the southernmost of the Norwalk Islands on northern Long Island Sound, in Connecticut, with a sand bottom.

• Sheltered E, SE

Snipe Key

Anchorage off Snipe Key in the Lower Florida Keys, about 16 nm north-east of Key West, on a sand and weed bottom.

• Sheltered E, SW, S, SE

Snoring Bay

Small cove on the south-east side of Sucia Island in the San Juan Islands, Washington, within Sucia Island Marine State Park.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, SW

South Basin

Anchorage and county mooring field on the south side of the Rickenbacker Causeway, off Key Biscayne in Biscayne Bay, Florida.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW

South Beach

Anchorage off the southern tip of South Beach, Miami Beach, near the Government Cut inlet in Florida.

• Sheltered NE

South Twin Bay

Anchorage in western Prince William Sound, Alaska, in the waters off Knight Island Passage near the Native village of Chenega.

• Sheltered NE, E, SW, S, SE

Split Rock Point

Anchorage off a rocky headland on the New York shore of Lake Champlain, about four miles south-east of Essex.

• Sheltered SW, S, SE

Squantum

Mooring buoy off Squantum, a peninsula of Quincy in Massachusetts, bordered by Dorchester Bay and Quincy Bay south of Boston Harbour.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, SW

St Augustine

Anchorage and mooring area on the Matanzas River at St Augustine, Florida, around the Bridge of Lions in the historic city centre.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, S, SE

Stave Island

Anchorage off Stave Island in Lake Champlain, Vermont, north-west of Malletts Bay near the South Hero shore.

• Sheltered E, SW, S, SE

Tavernier Key

Anchorage on the Atlantic side of Tavernier Key, an uninhabited mangrove island in the Upper Florida Keys.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W

Thumb Cove

Anchorage on the east side of Resurrection Bay, within Thumb Cove State Marine Park, about 7.8 miles south-east of Seward, Alaska.

• Sheltered NE, E, SE

Tierra Verde

Anchorage off Tierra Verde in Florida, in a sheltered basin opening onto Boca Ciega Bay near St. Petersburg, mud bottom.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, E

Topanga Beach

Open mooring off Topanga Beach in Santa Monica Bay, California, between Santa Monica and Malibu, with a sand bottom and shelter only from NW through NE winds.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE

Tybee Cut North Of Channel

Anchorage in Tybee Cut, a creek branching north off the Wilmington River near its mouth at Wassaw Sound, Georgia.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

Wading River

Tidal estuary in the New Jersey Pinelands, a tributary of the Mullica River, with its lower three miles forming a navigable arm just west of the Garden State Parkway.

• Sheltered W

Watch Hill Cove

Anchorage off Watch Hill, Westerly, Rhode Island, on the edge of Little Narragansett Bay. Sand bottom with good holding.

• Sheltered E, SE, S

Well Rock anchorage

Anchorage in the outer waters off Cohasset Harbour, on the Massachusetts coast south of Boston, on a sand bottom.

West island mooring

Mooring buoy off Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, on Biscayne Bay, Miami. Part of the city mooring facility, sheltered from N and NE.

• Sheltered N, NE

Westerly

Anchorage off Watch Hill in Westerly, the south-westernmost point of Rhode Island, sheltered by Napatree Point at the entrance to Little Narragansett Bay.

• Sheltered N, NE, E

Western Cove

Anchorage in Penobscot Bay off Eggemoggin Reach, Maine, on a mud bottom giving good holding.

• Sheltered SW, S, SE

White Horse Key

Anchorage off White Horse Key, a mangrove and sand island in the Ten Thousand Islands of south-west Florida.

• Sheltered NW, W, SW

Wilton Creek

Sheltered creek off the Piankatank River near Deltaville, Virginia, regarded as one of the Chesapeake's best hurricane holes.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

York Harbor

Tidal anchorage on the York River, southern Maine, sheltered from most directions but open to the south-west.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, S, SW, W

Zúñiga

Anchorage near Zuniga Point at the tip of Coronado, where San Diego Bay meets the Pacific in California.

• Sheltered NW, W, SW