Inlets and bars on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts
Can your boat get out the inlet today?
One verdict for your boat (Go, Think twice or Stay in) and the hour the inlet bar is calmest, worked out from the swell, the wind, the tide and the current.
One email when we launch at your inlet. Nothing else.
Barnegat Inlet
Stay in
Small Craft Advisory
Northwest wind 19–24 kt, gusts to 30. Seas 3–5 ft.
6 AMNoon5 PM
Biggest waves on the bar by the hour: light blue calm, orange caution, red breaking. An estimate from the swell, tide, current and the Army Corps' latest channel survey.
Today at the inlets
New Jersey
5 inlets · 5 Stay in
- Shark River Inlet, NJStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 18 kt
- Manasquan Inlet, NJStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 18 kt
- Barnegat Inlet, NJStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryNo window to cross: wind to 24 kt and seas to 5 ft
- Absecon Inlet, NJStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 18 kt and seas to 4 ft
- Cape May Inlet (Cold Spring), NJStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 20 kt and short, steep seas to 5 ft
New York
5 inlets · 5 Stay in · 1 coming
- Montauk (Lake Montauk Harbor), NYStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 17 kt and short, steep seas to 5 ft
- Shinnecock Inlet, NYStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 21 kt and short, steep seas to 4 ft
- Moriches Inlet, NYStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 21 kt and short, steep seas to 6 ft
- East Rockaway Inlet, NYStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 24 kt and short, steep seas to 4 ft
- Jones Inlet, NYStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 21 kt and short, steep seas to 5 ft
Coming: Fire Island Inlet
Maryland & Virginia
2 inlets · 1 Think twice · 1 Stay in · 1 coming
- Chincoteague Inlet, VAStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 16 kt and seas to 4 ft
- Rudee Inlet, VAThink twiceCross 4–5 PM; the bar breaks noon–2 PM; seas to 4 ft
Coming: Ocean City Inlet
The Carolinas
1 inlet · 1 Go · 10 coming
- Little River Inlet, SCGoCalm on the bar all day
Coming: Oregon Inlet, Hatteras Inlet, Ocracoke Inlet, Bogue Inlet, New River Inlet, Masonboro Inlet, Carolina Beach Inlet, Lockwoods Folly Inlet, Shallotte Inlet, Murrells Inlet
Florida
8 inlets · 6 Go · 2 Think twice · 4 coming
- St. Marys Entrance (Fernandina), FLGoCalm on the bar all day
- St. Johns River Entrance (Mayport), FLGoCalm on the bar all day
- Fort Pierce Inlet, FLThink twiceCross 7 AM–noon or 4–5 PM; a strong ebb runs against the swell 1–3 PM; seas to 4 ft
- St. Lucie Inlet, FLThink twiceCross 7–10 AM; seas to 4 ft
- Lake Worth Inlet (Palm Beach), FLGoCalm on the bar all day
- Port Everglades Entrance, FLGoCalm on the bar all day
- Bakers Haulover Inlet, FLGoCalm on the bar all day
- Government Cut (Miami), FLGoCalm on the bar all day
Coming: St. Augustine Inlet, Ponce de Leon Inlet, Port Canaveral Entrance, Hillsboro Inlet
Washington & Oregon
10 inlets · 10 Stay in · 3 coming
- Quillayute River (La Push), WAStay inGale WarningNo window to cross: wind to 26 kt and seas to 10 ft
- Grays Harbor Bar, WAStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryNo window to cross: wind to 30 kt and seas to 10 ft
- Columbia River Bar, ORStay inGale WarningNo window to cross: wind to 28 kt and seas to 11 ft
- Tillamook Bay Bar, ORStay inGale WarningNo window to cross: wind to 23 kt and seas to 10 ft
- Depoe Bay, ORStay inGale WarningNo window to cross: wind to 24 kt and seas to 11 ft
- Yaquina Bay Bar, ORStay inGale WarningNo window to cross: wind to 21 kt and seas to 11 ft
- Siuslaw River Bar, ORStay inHazardous Seas Warning until 10 AM; Gale Warning from 10 AMNo window to cross: wind to 26 kt and seas to 10 ft
- Umpqua River Bar, ORStay inHazardous Seas Warning until 10 AM; Gale Warning from 10 AMToo rough for this boat all day: wind to 25 kt and seas to 12 ft
- Coos Bay Bar, ORStay inHazardous Seas Warning until 10 AM; Gale Warning from 10 AMNo window to cross: wind to 24 kt and seas to 12 ft
- Chetco River Bar, ORStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryNo window to cross: wind to 19 kt and seas to 11 ft and fog
Coming: Neah Bay Entrance, Coquille River Bar, Rogue River Bar
California
9 inlets · 3 Go · 1 Think twice · 5 Stay in · 2 coming
- Humboldt Bay Bar, CAStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryNo window to cross: seas to 11 ft
- Noyo River, CAStay inSmall Craft AdvisoryThe bar breaks all day
- Bodega Bay, CAStay inSmall Craft Advisory until 3 PMNo window to cross: seas to 11 ft and fog and thick fog
- Santa Barbara Harbor, CAGoCalm on the bar all day
- Ventura Harbor, CAStay inCross 6–8 AM; seas to 5 ft
- Channel Islands Harbor, CAStay inCross 6–8 AM; seas to 5 ft
- Dana Point Harbor, CAGoCalm on the bar all day
- Oceanside Harbor, CAThink twiceCross 6–10 AM; the bar breaks noon–5 PM
- Mission Bay Entrance, CAGoCalm on the bar all day
Coming: Morro Bay Entrance, Newport Harbor
Live estimates for a 22 ft center console, today, Monday, Nov 9, updated every 30 minutes. Survey: the Army Corps' latest channel survey, the depth the bar estimate uses; bars move, so an old survey is flagged. Swell and tide only: there is no NOAA current station at that inlet, so the estimate leaves the current out and an outgoing tide can make it rougher than shown. Not for navigation.
How it works
1
Tell us your boat
Its length and type, your home port, and how cautious you like to be.
2
We check your inlet, hour by hour
Swell and wind from our forecast, corrected against NOAA buoys, with NOAA's tide and current predictions for the inlet itself.
3
One verdict at 6 AM
Go, Think twice or Stay in, with the reason and the best window to cross and to come home.
Why the tide decides the inlet
When the tide runs out against an incoming swell, the waves on the bar stand up: taller, shorter and closer to breaking. The same inlet can be easy at 7 AM and rough at noon.
Boater Intel times that for your inlet, every hour, so you cross on the right side of the tide.
“Breakers make across the inlet with an ebb tide and an easterly wind.”
Get Boater Intel at your inlet
Tell us where you keep your boat and we'll email you when we launch there.