56. Matecumbe Bight Anchorage
56. Matecumbe Bight Anchorage
Statute Mile:1166
Lat/Lon: near 24 52.255 North/080 42.856 West
Location: on the large bubble of deep water known as Matecumbe Bight, south-southeast of the ICW’s unlighted daybeacon #97
Minimum depth: 6 ½ feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to northern, northwestern and western winds
Rating: 
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Comments from Cruisers (4)
Matecumbe Bight. Anchored here May 5, 2012. Things were good until shortly before dark. Fishing boats started buzzing us. One came so close to our bow that I thought he was going to hit us. One boat stopped by and told us we were in the fishing boats “runway.” So, even though it was dark, we pulled up anchor and moved farther NE behind the mangroves. There apparently is a creek that you can see on the chart, but not the naked eye, the fishing boats use.
Nice spot….good for anything but strong north winds. You might even have it to yourself.
Dan
This is one of our favorite Keys anchorages. For some reason, the water is always clear, even on the turn of the tides, and the holding is superb. We frequently check our bottom here with the excellent visibility and is a nice place to take a dip. We have rarely seen other boats here. Even if the wind switched from the West, we wouldn’t worry as the most you’d get is a bumpy 2-3 foot chop. There is nothing available here to the cruiser.
June 2009, found good holding and depths as shown on chart.