Wrightsville Beach

Masonboro Island

ICW mile 281

NOAA ENC chart tiles · planning aid, not for navigation

🏖 Sandbar⚓ Anchorage🎣 Fishing

✈ Brief this trip–

Right now at this spot

oldest reading 37 min ago

Sporty

Small boats will get beat up. Pick your heading and slow down.

The sea state in that call was measured 6 nm away at NDBC 41110 — that is open water, not this basin.

What that call is built on

· Observed wind N 7 kt gusting 11 — NDBC JMPN7 · Wrightsville Beach
· Observed seas 2.6 ft — NDBC 41110 · Masonboro Inlet

Wind now

N 7 kt

JMPN7, 3 nm off · 37 min ago

Gusting

11 kt

JMPN7, 3 nm off · 37 min ago

Seas now

2.6 ft

13s period · 41110, 6 nm off · 37 min ago

Water and airWater 71°FAir 69°F

NDBC JMPN7 · Wrightsville Beach (3 nm) · NDBC 41110 · Masonboro Inlet (6 nm) · NOAA 8658145 Shinn Point, ICWW · MLLW

What a local would tell you

The one everybody goes to. Anchor bow-out on the ICW side of the north end, walk over to the ocean beach. No facilities, no trash cans — pack it out. Gets shoulder-to-shoulder by 11am on a Saturday.

The tide today

NOAA has not returned a prediction for station 8658145 right now, so there is no curve to draw. Nothing here is worth guessing at — check the station directly.

Sand & tide

When is the sand out?

Barrier-island beach

No prediction

NOAA returned no tide prediction for today, so there is no clock to run. Nothing here is guessed in its place.

Beaching it right now

No tide curve

NOAA has no prediction covering this moment, so we cannot tell you which way the water is going. Do not nose onto sand on a guess.

About this spot

The island is above high water and stays there. What the tide decides at Masonboro is the sound-side sand you anchor off and whether you are still floating at four o'clock.

Rule of thumb, not a survey

This is a rule of thumb, not a survey. Nobody has measured the height of this sand to a datum, so the times are the tide curve run against a threshold we chose — treat them as give or take three quarters of an hour, and tell us if we're wrong.

Tide curve: NOAA 8658145 Shinn Point, ICWW, six-minute predictions, MLLW. Height of the sand: No threshold, because the island does not cover. The shipped knowledge line describes anchoring bow-out on the ICW side and walking over — an anchoring question, not an exposure question.

What’s biting here

All species

Red drumOpenPeak

Peak month, and 71°F is right in their band.

Min 18" total length · 1 per person per day

Spotted seatroutOpenPeak

Peak month, and 71°F is right in their band.

Min 14" total length · 3 per person per day

FlounderClosedPeak

Peak month, and 71°F is right in their band.

Unlawful to possess right now.

Ranked on the month and the measured water temperature. Limits are North Carolina’s current rules — confirm with DMF before you keep anything.

Depth

Nobody has reported a depth here. This spot is tide-sensitive, so sound your way in and post what you read. We timestamp it and correct it to the datum automatically, so the next boat gets a number they can actually use.

Getting there

from Wrightsville Beach

Distance

2.8 nm

by the waterway

Run time

22 min

arrive about 4:28 PM

Fuel, round trip

2.6 gal

2% of your 150 gal

Home before dark

1h 38m

to spare, leaving now, out and back

On the ICWstatute mile 281

Worked out for

a typical 26 ft centre console · 2 ft draft · 26 kt cruise · 14 gph

✈ Full briefing 🧭 Plan the run

Distance from ICW mile markers where both ends have one, winding-padded straight line otherwise. Time and fuel from your boat profile at 26 kt.

Worked out for a typical 26 ft centre console — we do not know yours yet. Add your boat and these become your numbers.Add your boat

What else is out here

straight line, true bearing

🛻RampTrails End Park Ramp1.8 nmSW 🍤Dock & dine · MarinaThe Sailfish at Marsh Creek Marine1.9 nmW ⛽Fuel · Pump outSeapath Yacht Club2.3 nmNNE 🛥Public dockRiverwalk Public Docks7.1 nmWNW

Nearest artificial reefAR-370 Meares Harris Reef3.8 nmE

52 ft site average · Concrete, Vessel

NCDMF site reference position, not a surveyed obstruction. Material stands well above the site average — never steer over a reef on these numbers.

Distances computed from the shipped place dataset and NCDMF reef records. Great-circle, not a route — check that the water actually connects.

Live from the water

No reports here yet. If you run this spot, post what you see — fuel price, depth, how busy it is. Depths get corrected for the tide automatically, so the number you leave is worth something to the next boat.

Know before you go

AccessBoat only — undeveloped reserve

BottomSand, good holding

FacilitiesNone. None at all.

Best tideAnchor on a rising tide

FamilyPopularNo facilitiesAnchor out

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✈ Brief this trip Map

Tides unavailable (NOAA 403) · Tide curve unavailable (NOAA 403)

Conditions, tides and alerts are live from NOAA CO-OPS, the National Weather Service and NDBC. Distance, run time, fuel and clearance are calculated from your boat profile. Member depth reports are corrected to the datum at the moment they are filed. Planning aid only — not for navigation. Carry current charts.