Carolina Beach Mooring Field
Statute Mile: 295
Lat/Lon: near 34 02.793 North/077 53.347 West
Location: east-southeast of the Carolina Beach channel’s unlighted daybeacon #4 daybeacon #5
Special Note: a mooring field opened at this location in February, 2012, displacing the anchorage
Minimum Depth: 7-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 42 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Excellent
Rating: 
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Comments from Cruisers (18)
A very nice anchorage/mooring field. Depths are 18-25 ft (with a lot of current), so I’m glad there are mooring balls.
Randy came out at 5pm to collect the $20 and gives us the lay of the land. Although the mooring field was not full you might want to call him in advance …(929) 667-0004.
Overall, a very pleasant stop.
John Loving
We stayed here a year ago, and I was not looking forward to a second visit. We were only spending one night and after an 8 1/2 hour day I didn’t feel much like launching the dinghy from the second deck in the wind just to go pay our mooring fee. I was very happy to read that they now send a boat out each evening to collect fees. And great news – a second dinghy dock on the beach side with access to the beach is supposed to open in about two weeks!
Raft off’s not allowed at Carolina Beach mooring as of 5-18-2013 even if all pays the $20. While there two local boats one hooked to ball other rafted off hooked to ball for less than an hour and were charged $20 each one was no more than 50 yards from his marina also the tender told me that the $20 is per calendar day if you are there on 18th is $20 still there on 19th another $20 not for a 24 hour time period as I left to help my friend get his boat back to marina and received a call stating that I would be sent a bill from Carolina Beach for $20 when told I was not staying that is when he told be it was not a 24 hour period. Just FYI for anyone else stopping by Carolina Beach mooing. Did enjoy my stay there as it was my first over nite trip and raft off with newly purchased sailboat.
We have stayed in Carolina Beach on the mooring balls on 2 occasions. The mooring ball fields is easy to enter right off the channel. The mooring field is less than 10 minutes at no wake speed off the ICW. The tethers on the mooring balls seem short (maybe 5 ft) so it’s easier to grab the tether from the side of the boat rather than from the bow. The city sends a boat to collect the mooring fee about 6 PM each evening.
The City of Carolina Beach has a dinghy dock at the end of the channel which is less than 1/2 mile away. There is also a restaurant at the end of the channel that has a face dock. From the dinghy dock it is an easy walk to the beach.
Jerry Kusky
Knot So Fast
The mooring field is easy to enter, with plenty of depth. The mooring balls are large, but the pendants are small and slimy. The dinghy dock is a long, long way down, at the end of the harbor. The moorings do provide a secure place to spend a night or to visit Carolina Beach for a day or two. At $20/night, they are over priced compared to other moorings. At the same price, St. Augustine offers a laundry, captains’ lounge, and quality heads/showers.
Glen and Jill Moore
DeFever 40 Last Dance
We used the Carolina mooring field on 16/17 Nov 12 and found it very easy to use and well worth the $20/night. The moorings have short pendants with a float and loop at the end. Pass a line through the loop to moor up. Randy, the guy who collects the money, is a former live-aboard and generally helpful guy.
Access to the area is slightly complicated. Follow the ICW to G 161 and turn into the Carolina Beach basin channel’s R 2. Do /not/ try to round off the corner. A boat with 5.5′ draft hit and bumped when taking this shortcut.
Great news . Looking foward to stop for a few cold ones.
Carolina beach good work.
Ed & Joyce
Those of us who prefer to anchor, and I have done so many times successfully in Carolina Beach, think the “slap in the face” is what we are getting! I know and trust my anchoring gear, and I go where I can use it. I didn’t spend thousands of dollars on it just to carry it around with me. Hopefully, sufficient room for anchoring will be retained.
We just got back from a 4 month trip around the south, including FLA Keys. $20 is above market, but Carolina Beach, which is our part time home port, is a great stop. The balls are a good addition and it is good to see more mooring balls being installed in the south. We have also been to Maine on our boat, and the mooring balls there are more, but we found some that were as low as $15 and the highest was in Sag Harbor, Long Island, the cost was over $75 (we anchored – LOL) – supply and demand wins.
John Winter
Well that’s a slap in the face to the forward thinking town of Carolina Beach for spending their local taxpayer’s money to establish and maintain a safe harbor and mooring field for transient boaters, especially in a harbor that is known for not having good anchoring conditions. Capt Mike was lucky he didn’t drag his anchor and he obviously doesn’t get around too much or he would know that a 24 hour mooring ball rental for $20 is well below the average cost virtually anywhere in the world, and worth every dime when you need it the most.
Harbormon
Cruising News:
What a great addition to this area. Arrived on Monday night 9/17/12. There is a big sign upon entering, just grab a ball and call or register on line. Boats from 26′ – 55′. Randy the dockmaster is great. He will come to your boat and collect the $20 fee not to mention that he offered to take us ashore or bring us ice if needed. Really glad to be on a ball during the big blow on Tuesday.
Capt. RL
Cruising News:
Visited the new Carolina Beach mooring field on August 18 and called the mooring mgr using the no. that was posted on the sign. Was told the fee was 20.00 for 24 hrs. No one was using the moorings. I dropped the hook 50 yards away for free. Plenty of room and depth. Too much to tie up on the ball, and free would be best as you will dingy to day-dock and spend money locally. At best have boats register for maybe a 5.00 fee… Just my thoughts on a nice protected basin.
Capt Mike, Wilmington NC
Spent a nice relaxing night in Carolina Beach, NC in the new mooring field. This spot had a terrible bottom akin to pudding. The new concrete anchors sunk up to 8′ in the mud and now one feels quite secure.
Dave Thomas
Today, 11/07/2011, survey boat was observed laying marker bouys for the future Carolina Beach mooring field. The bouys are south of the island just past daymark 5. There is still room for a few boats to anchor south of the island and room for a few on the north side of the island.
One of our regular anchorages. Anchored here 4-20-10 in 9 ft MLW. There is now a very unattractive bait barge (selling bait I guess) anchored in the middle of the cove. Doesn’t interfere with anchoring though.
Jean Thomason
I anchored in this location in Oct 2001, with a Catalina 400. Plenty of room.
This is good anchorage in but not in heavy weather. My boat and one other were anchored here in a heavy NE gail, winds 35 kts and greater. Both of us dragged and tried reanchoring several times. We both finally had to go to a marina. The marina at marker “4” was kind enough to let us both tie up at his fuel dock for 2 days. All of the bridges going north were closed due the high winds and there was no traffic anyway. The locals told me afterwards that the bottom there is not good holding in heavy weather. Ashley and Carol, S/V Blind Date
Carolina Beach is home for us. We have a condo there to live in when we get “old”. We stayed a month at federal Point Marina and the pool, personnel, and laundry were really nice. They have fireworks every Thursday and free movies Sunday at the lake all summer. A long walk but Granny’s has the best breakfast and Michaels the best chowder. The anchorage is not a problem. We met a couple from Sweden with a two meter draft who were anchored over July 4. Fort Fisher and the aquarium are a hit with visitors.
Wright and Gladys Anderson
First & Ten