Beaufort

Shackleford Banks

NOAA ENC chart tiles · planning aid, not for navigation

🏖 Sandbar⚓ Anchorage

✈ Brief this trip–

⚠ Small Craft Advisory

Small Craft Advisory issued October 22 at 3:15PM EDT until October 26 at 8:00PM EDT by NWS Newport/Morehead City NC

Live · National Weather Service, for this position

Right now at this spot

oldest reading 1 hour ago

Rough — bigger boats only

Experienced crews in bigger hulls. Everyone else will have a bad day.

The sea state in that call was measured 31.1 nm away at NDBC 41159 — that is open water, not this basin.

What that call is built on

· Observed wind N 3 kt gusting 8 — NDBC BFTN7 · Beaufort
· Observed seas 3.6 ft — NDBC 41159 · Onslow Bay
· Adjacent sounds and rivers moderate chop — NWS AMZ158
· Small Craft Advisory in effect — National Weather Service

Wind now

N 3 kt

BFTN7, 4 nm off · 49 min ago

Gusting

8 kt

BFTN7, 4 nm off · 49 min ago

Seas now

3.6 ft

15s period · 41159, 31.1 nm off · 1 hour ago

Inside the waterway

Adjacent sounds and rivers moderate chop

Water and airWater 74°F

NDBC BFTN7 · Beaufort (4 nm) · NDBC 41159 · Onslow Bay (31.1 nm) · NOAA 8656483 Beaufort, Duke Marine Lab · MLLW

What a local would tell you

Wild horses on an undeveloped barrier island. Anchor on the sound side and walk over. Stay 50 feet from the horses — it's federal park rules, not a suggestion.

The tide today

NOAA has not returned a prediction for station 8656483 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

Anchor on the sound side and walk over. Fifty feet from the horses is federal park rule, not etiquette.

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 8656483 Beaufort, Duke Marine Lab, six-minute predictions, MLLW. Height of the sand: No threshold. Barrier-island beach above high water — there is nothing to time.

What’s biting here

All species

Red drumOpenPeak

Peak month, and 74°F is right in their band.

Min 18" total length · 1 per person per day

Spotted seatroutOpenPeak

Peak month, and 74°F is right in their band.

Min 14" total length · 3 per person per day

FlounderClosedPeak

Peak month, and 74°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

77.0 nm

by the waterway

Run time

193 min

arrive about 7:20 PM

Fuel, round trip

82.5 gal

55% of your 150 gal

Home before dark

4h 9m late

you would finish after sunset

On the ICWoff channel · 5.0 nm from mile 205

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

⛽Fuel · Dock & dine · Marina · Pump outBeaufort Docks3.8 nmNNW 🛻RampEmerald Isle Boat Ramp18.6 nmW 🛥Public dockMoore Street Dock24.1 nmW

Nearest artificial reefAR-315 Atlantic Beach Reef5.7 nmW

49 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

WildlifeWild horses — 50 ft minimum

AnchoringSound side, sand

FacilitiesNone

Wild horsesNational SeashoreBucket list

Comments

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✈ Brief this trip Map

Tide curve unavailable (NOAA 403) · Tides 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.