Anchorage

Cape lookout

Shelter: NE, W, E, SW, S, SE
Seabed: mud
Anchoring: Allowed

Large natural anchorage inside Cape Lookout Bight, at the southern end of Cape Lookout National Seashore on the North Carolina Outer Banks.

Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Best entered from seaward via Beaufort Inlet and the ocean rather than the rear route through Back Sound and Barden Inlet, which is shallow and shifts continually. The bight carries 15 to 30 feet of water on a mud bottom and gives good shelter in the prevailing winds.

Practical

No facilities of any kind; this is a wild anchorage. Mud bottom holds well. The nearest services lie to the north-west, with The Boathouse Marina about 7 miles off and Beaufort Docks around 8 miles.

Ashore

Land the tender on the open beach to walk to the 1859 Cape Lookout lighthouse with its black and white diamond pattern. Shackleford Banks, the nine-mile barrier island carrying around 100 wild Banker ponies, lies just to the west.

History

The lighthouse entered service on 1 November 1859. During the Second World War, in 1942, the bight served as an assembly anchorage for convoys running between Charleston and Chesapeake Bay.

Key facts

Type: Anchorage
Coordinates: 34.61746, -76.54879 (34°37.05'N 76°32.93'W)
Country: United States
Shelter: Sheltered from north-east, west, east, south-west, south, south-east winds
Seabed: mud
Anchoring: Allowed
Services: Beach
Boaters' rating: 4.7/5
Updated: July 7, 2026