Best anchorages and harbours in United States

Pulpit Harbor

Almost landlocked anchorage on the north-west shore of North Haven island, in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Mud bottom with very good holding.

• Sheltered N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

South Bristol Harbor

Anchorage in The Gut, the narrow tidal passage that separates Rutherford Island from the mainland at South Bristol, Maine.

• Sheltered N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

Upper Matecumbe Key

Anchorage off Little Basin on the bayside of Islamorada, Upper Matecumbe Key, in the Florida Keys.

• Sheltered NE, E, SE

East River and Put In Creek

Anchorage in the East River, a tributary of Mobjack Bay in Mathews County, Virginia, with Put In Creek branching off at its head.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, S

Eaton's neck lighthouse

Anchorage off Eatons Neck at the entrance to Huntington Bay on Long Island Sound, New York. Mud bottom.

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

Harpswell harbor - Stover's point bay

Anchorage off Stover's Point in Harpswell, Maine, set among the islands of Casco Bay on a mud bottom.

• Sheltered W, SW, S, SE

Presque Isle Beach 11

Anchorage off Beach 11 at the tip of Presque Isle, the sandy peninsula reaching into Lake Erie about 4 miles west of Erie, Pennsylvania.

• Sheltered N, SE, S, SW, W, NW

Town Creek

Anchorage in Town Creek along the Charleston peninsula, between the Cooper and Ashley rivers in South Carolina, with sand holding.

• Sheltered NE, E, SE

Watch Hill Yacht Club

Yacht club managing around 72 moorings in Watch Hill Cove, on Little Narragansett Bay at Westerly, Rhode Island.

Belleair North

Anchorage on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near the Belleair Causeway, off Belleair Beach in Pinellas County, Florida.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SW, S, SE

Blue Hill Inner Harbor

Inner harbour at the head of Blue Hill Bay in Maine, separated from the outer harbour by Parker Point and Sculpin Point.

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

Burlington

Mooring field off the Burlington waterfront on the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain, with a sand bottom.

• Paid
• Sheltered SW, W

Cementon Dock

Small creek-side dock on the Hudson River at Cementon, a hamlet of the Town of Catskill in Greene County, New York.

Dowry Creek Marina

Anchorage off Dowry Creek Marina on the Pungo River near Belhaven, North Carolina, beside ICW Mile 131.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, SE

East Cove

Open anchorage on the east side of Apalachicola Bay in Florida, near St. George Island and the East Hole shoals, sand bottom.

• Sheltered W, E, SW, S, SE

Long Key Bight

Anchorage off Long Key in the Florida Keys, on a bottom of sand and weed. Sheltered from the south-east only.

• Sheltered SE

Lou Mac

Anchorage off the village of Oriental, on the Neuse River in eastern North Carolina, beside Lou Mac Park.

• Sheltered NW, N

Monterey Basin General Anchorage

Open anchorage in Monterey Harbour, on the Monterey Peninsula in California, within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

• Sheltered E, SW, S, SE

Titusville

Anchorage on the Indian River off Titusville, Florida, on the Intracoastal Waterway near Mile 878, with a sand, mud and weed bottom and shelter from NW through SE winds.

• Sheltered NW, NE, W, E, SW

Illahee State Park

Marine state park with 1,785 feet of saltwater frontage on Port Orchard Bay, on the Kitsap Peninsula between Bremerton and Bainbridge Island.

• Sheltered NW, N, W, SW

Sea Breeze Anchorage

Anchorage at Carolina Beach, North Carolina, on the Intracoastal Waterway, with a mud bottom and good holding.

• Sheltered NE, E, SE, SW, W, NW

Skipjack Cove

Anchorage in a sheltered cove off the Sassafras River near Georgetown, Maryland, about seven miles up from the river mouth.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E

Back Creek, Solomons Island

Anchorage in Back Creek at Solomons Island, Maryland, the inlet off the Patuxent River where most of the town's marinas lie.

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

Cape Charles Yacht Center

Deep-water marina on Virginia's Eastern Shore, inside the dredged Cape Charles harbour at the southern tip of the Delmarva peninsula, on the bayside of the Chesapeake.

Emery Cove Yacht Harbor

Private 430 berth marina on the Emeryville Peninsula, East Bay shore one nautical mile north of the San Francisco Bay Bridge.

Hans Marina

Small marina on the Waccamaw River near Bucksport, on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Isle of Shoals

Anchorage at the Isles of Shoals, a small archipelago about 6 miles off the New Hampshire and Maine coast. Gosport Harbour lies between Star, Cedar and Smuttynose islands.

• Sheltered W, E, SW, S, SE

Palm Beach Sailing Club

Private sailing club on the west bank of Lake Worth Lagoon in West Palm Beach, at 4600 N Flagler Drive.

Vinoy Marina

Resort marina of about 74 berths on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront, next to the Vinoy hotel, taking vessels up to roughly 120 feet.

Charlestown Marina

Marina set in the historic Charlestown Navy Yard on Boston Harbor, occupying berths on Piers 6 and 8 in Charlestown, Massachusetts.