Best anchorages and harbours in United States

Venice

Anchorage in Roberts Bay at Venice, Florida, just inside the Venice Inlet on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, with a sand bottom and shelter on all sides.

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

Cedar Island Marina

A large family-owned marina with about 400 berths on Clinton Harbour, Connecticut, off Long Island Sound.

CSR Marine Des Moines

Full-service boatyard at the Des Moines Marina, on the east side of East Passage in Puget Sound, Washington.

Onancock Wharf & Marina

Town marina at the head of Onancock Creek, about four miles up from the Chesapeake Bay, on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Pease Ledge

Anchorage off Pease Ledge in the north-western approach to Cuttyhunk, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. The ledge itself uncovers at low water.

• Sheltered E, SE, S, SW, W

Port Clyde

Anchorage at the southern tip of the St. George peninsula in mid-coast Maine, on a mud bottom with good holding.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, S, SE

Shelter Cove Marina

Marina at the eastern end of Ninigret Pond in Charlestown, Rhode Island, the largest salt pond in the state.

Town creek

Sheltered creek anchorage off Solomons Island, at the mouth of the Patuxent River in Maryland.

• Sheltered NW, NE, W, E, S

Matanzas Bay

Mooring buoy field in Matanzas Bay off the historic centre of St. Augustine, Florida, on a mud bottom.

• Paid
• Sheltered NW, W, E, SW, S, SE

Newport

Anchorage and mooring field in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, on the east side of the East Passage of Narragansett Bay, with a mud bottom.

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

Nyack Boat Club

Member sailing club on the west bank of the Hudson River at Nyack, New York, between the Tappan Zee Bridge and Hook Mountain.

Samsing Cove

Remote anchorage in south-east Alaska on the inland side of Baranof Island, in the Alexander Archipelago.

• Sheltered NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW

Sitka

Anchorage off Sitka, on the west coast of Baranof Island in Sitka Sound, south-east Alaska.

• Sheltered NW, NE, E, SE

Vero Beach City Marina

Municipal marina and mooring field on the Indian River Lagoon at Vero Beach, Florida, just north of the Merrill Barber Bridge on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

Georgetown Yacht Basin

Full-service marina on the Sassafras River at Georgetown, on Maryland's upper Chesapeake Bay, with around 300 berths and a large boatyard.

Melbourne Yacht Club

Members' yacht club on the south side of Melbourne Harbor, at the mouth of Crane Creek where it meets the Indian River Lagoon, Florida.

Mobjack Bay Marina

Full-service marina on Green Mansion Cove off the North River, in Mobjack Bay on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia.

North Cove Marina

Marina at Brookfield Place in Battery Park City, Manhattan, at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York.

Back Harbor (Sandy Bay)

Anchorage in Sandy Bay off Rockport, Cape Ann, with a sand bottom and the Sandy Bay Yacht Club 0.2 nm to the south-east.

• Sheltered W, SW, S, SE

Bahía Fosforescente

Bioluminescent bay 2 NM east of La Parguera, one of the three bays of its kind in Puerto Rico, inside the La Parguera nature reserve.

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

Blake Island

Anchorage in Puget Sound, Washington, off Blake Island, on a sand bottom, with fresh water available.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SE

Mangrove islands

Anchorage off the outer mangrove cays, 3.5 NM south-east of Marina de Salinas on the south coast of Puerto Rico.

• Sheltered SW, S, SE

Matinicus Harbor

Harbour on the east side of Matinicus Island, the most seaward inhabited island of Penobscot Bay, Maine, 22 nm from Rockland.

• Sheltered NW, N, W, SW, S, SE

Mill Creek

Sheltered creek off the Patuxent River at Solomons, in Calvert County, Maryland, a much used anchorage on the lower Chesapeake.

• Sheltered NW, N, W, E, SW, S, SE

Regent Point Marina

Marina and boatyard on Locklies Creek, off the Rappahannock River in the lower Chesapeake Bay, at Topping, Virginia.

Rockland Harbor

Working harbour on the western shore of Penobscot Bay, Maine, sheltered by a granite breakwater nearly a mile long.

• Sheltered SE, S, SW, W, NW

Backway to St. Michael

Anchorage in the Miles River off St. Michaels, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Eastern Shore. Sand and mud bottom, sheltered from most directions.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, SE

Hop-O-Nose Marina

Full-service marina on Catskill Creek at Catskill, New York, near Hudson River mile 112.

Kemah Boardwalk Marina

Marina of 414 berths at Kemah on Galveston Bay, at the mouth of Clear Lake in Texas, between Houston and Galveston Island.

Live Oak Bay

Anchorage on the Neuse River near Fairfield Harbour, North Carolina, with a mud bottom and shelter from the north, north-east, east and north-west.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, NW