Grady White 306 Canyon30' 6"
View Specs & ReviewThe Gulf Stream launch pad and the East Coast's big-boat service stop
Yachting in Beaufort & Morehead City
A Minted Location · Beaufort & Morehead City, North Carolina
Thirty miles. That is how far offshore the Gulf Stream sits from this waterfront, and it is the shortest reach to blue water anywhere between Florida and Cape Hatteras. The town marina puts it in writing — "the Gulf Stream is usually within 30 miles of Beaufort" — and almost everything else worth knowing about this market follows from that one number.
First, which Beaufort. This is Beaufort, North Carolina, said BOH-fort, paired with Morehead City across the water on the Newport River. Beaufort, South Carolina is a different town, said differently, several hundred waterway miles south, and it has its own page here. Confusing the two is the most common mistake made about this coast.
Getting in from the sea is not the constraint it is almost everywhere else on this coast. Beaufort Inlet is a federally maintained deep-draft commercial channel: NC Ports states the Morehead City channel is "45 ft., M.L.L.W." and the port sits just four miles from the Atlantic. Any recreational vessel afloat can enter. The ceiling is inland — 65 ft governs ICW passage in either direction, at the Gallants Channel bridge going north and the Morehead City fixed bridge going west, with an 85 ft power line span on the Town Creek approach as well.
The second reason to know this town has nothing to do with fishing. Inside a 175-acre marine industrial park on the waterway sits a 300-ton lift, a deep-water basin and roughly two dozen marine trades on one site. That is a legitimate reason for the owner of a 100 ft motoryacht anywhere on the coast to have this name in the phone.
What this is not is a yachting destination. Sportfishing comes first here, ICW transit second and motoryacht cruising a distant third — the 240 ft of alongside space on the Beaufort waterfront is a fuel, refit and dinner stop rather than a clubhouse scene, and knowing that before you arrive is worth more than a brochure.
Where to keep a yacht in Beaufort & Morehead City
The Beaufort waterfront itself is one long transient face. Beaufort Town Docks states it is "EQUIPPED TO ACCOMMODATE VESSELS UP TO 240 FEET" alongside, with the slips themselves running up to 55 ft, in-slip fuel and diesel at every berth, and 100-amp three-phase at $120 a night. It is explicit that this is "an all-transient marina" with no annual tenants — nobody keeps a boat here, everybody passes through. It publishes "42 floating docks… along with over 850 linear feet of side-tie dockage" on one page and "50 berths" on another.
Read that marina's rate card and you learn more about this market than any brochure could tell you. It prices April–June and October–November as peak, and summer as off-season. That is the snowbird migration up and down the Intracoastal showing up directly in a published tariff — the busy weeks here are the transit weeks, not the swimming weeks.
Up Town Creek the market gets serious about size and depth. Town Creek Marina publishes 180 ft on its face docks, more than 500 ft of wave-attenuated face dockage, wet slips from 35 to 65 ft, a 65-boat dry stack and 25 lift slips to 40 ft, with a minimum of 8 ft MLW and 12 ft MLW approaches and an 85-ton travel lift on site. Transient dockage is $3.00 per foot daily, $16.50 weekly, and the fuel is ValvTect premium diesel and ethanol-free 89-octane, in-slip. Its own by-water directions name every limit on the way in: the 85 ft power lines, then the 65 ft Gallants Channel bridge, or the Morehead City 65 ft fixed bridge if you come off the waterway. Alongside it, Homer Smith Docks runs 80 slips with non-ethanol gas, diesel and a sewer pump-out, and finger piers of 32 to 45 ft. Its maximum length is published as 150 ft on the header and marina page and 100 ft in the About block — plan against 100 ft and confirm anything larger with the office.
Across the channel, Morehead City is where the fuel and the fishing fleet live. Morehead City Yacht Basin at ICW mile marker 203 publishes slip classes to 125 ft on 24 ft widths, a basin dredged to 7–10 ft at mean low water, ValvTect gas and diesel and a pump-out — and, importantly, no on-site haul-out. PORT 32 Portside publishes deep-water slips to 125 ft with 30, 50 and 100-amp plus three-phase power and immediate access to the waterway and the ocean. The city's own municipal docks are ten floating slips from 26 to 50 ft at a $50 flat rate plus $2.00 per foot over 26 ft, with 8 to 10 ft minimum depths at dockside — modest numbers for what is, during one week each summer, the most-watched dock on the North Carolina coast. Morehead Gulf Docks sits in the middle of Charter Boat Row with five slips, 130 ft in the largest and 180 ft alongside; those slips are charter-fleet leases and are currently all full, so read it as a fuel stop with a separate after-hours line for large vessels.
One thing to hold in view before you plan around any of this: the beach-resort side of the market is a different business entirely. Anchorage Marina at Atlantic Beach accommodates boats up to 35 ft on its large floaters at $40 to $45 a night. That is a day-boat sub-market next to a big-boat service town, and the two rarely meet.
Marinas
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort Town DocksThe market's front door and the source of its defining number: "the Gulf Stream is usually within 30 miles of Beaufort", with the marina describing itself as a strategic stop for boats cruising to the islands. Alongside capacity is stated as up to 240 ft; the slips themselves run up to 55 ft. The same site publishes "42 floating docks… along with over 850 linear feet of side-tie dockage" and, elsewhere, "an all-transient facility with 50 berths." Its rate card prices April–June and October–November as peak with summer as off-season, which is the ICW snowbird migration appearing directly in a published tariff. | 500 Front Street — the Beaufort waterfront | 240 ft | — | Gas and diesel in-slip — fuel is available at each berth |
| Town Creek MarinaThe deepest water in the market: a minimum of 8 ft MLW with 12 ft MLW approaches. Face docks take 180 ft across more than 500 ft of wave-attenuated dockage, with wet slips from 35 to 65 ft, a 65-boat dry stack, 25 lift slips to 40 ft and an 85-ton travel lift on site. Its by-water directions name every limit on the approach — the former Beaufort drawbridge site, with bridge and footings removed, the 85 ft power lines, the 65 ft Gallants Channel bridge, and the Morehead City 65 ft fixed bridge from the waterway. | Beaufort — Town Creek, direct access to the ICW and Beaufort Inlet | 180 ft | — | ValvTect Marine Premium diesel and ethanol-free 89-octane gasoline, in-slip |
| Homer Smith Docks & MarinaEighty slips with finger piers of 32 to 45 ft and three-phase power. Maximum length is published as 150 ft on the header and marina page and 100 ft in the About block, and the same site states its harbor lights supply all power needs for up to 150-foot motor yachts. Plan against 100 ft and confirm anything larger with the office before you book. | Beaufort — Towne Creek | 150 ft | 80 | Non-ethanol gas and diesel, plus a sewer pump-out |
| Morehead City Yacht BasinSlip classes published at 125, 65, 60, 55, 50 and 45 ft, the largest at 24 ft of width. The basin is dredged to a depth of 7–10 ft at mean low water. Its own site is clear about the one limit that matters to a big boat: "No on site haul-out facilities." | Morehead City — ICW mile marker 203 | 125 ft | — | ValvTect gas and diesel, plus pump-out |
| PORT 32 Portside MarinaDeep-water slips for vessels up to 125 ft with immediate access to the waterway and the Atlantic. The dry stack is published at 30 ft on the marina's own site and 36 ft on the parent PORT 32 page — plan against 30 ft and confirm anything longer with the office. | 209 Arendell Street, Morehead City | 125 ft | — | Fuel dock and pump-out; shore power at 30, 50 and 100 amp plus three-phase |
| Morehead City Docks — Big Rock LandingTen floating slips with 8- to 10-foot minimum depths at dockside. Small numbers for what is, during tournament week each June, the most-watched dock on the North Carolina coast: this is Big Rock Landing, where the weigh-ins happen. | 807 Shepard Street, Morehead City — the Big Rock Landing waterfront at 710 Evans Street | 50 ft | 10 | None on site — the city states fuel is available nearby |
| Anchorage MarinaIts large floaters accommodate boats up to 35 ft, which is the honest ceiling of the beach side of this market — a day-boat operation rather than a yachting berth. A protected, deepwater harbor in its own description; confirm depth with the office before you come in. | Atlantic Beach — the beach-resort side of the market | 35 ft | — | Fuelling on site — confirm grades with the office |
Fuel docks
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morehead Gulf DocksLargest slip 130 ft with 180 ft available alongside. Set, in its own description, in the midst of Charter Boat Row with its own docks on one side and the Big Rock Landing fleet on the other. Read this as a fuel and provisioning stop for a big sportfisher, not as a berth to book. | 611 Evans Street — the Morehead City waterfront, Charter Boat Row | 180 ft | 5 | Fuel, bait and tackle, with volume discounts from 1,000 gallons and a separate after-hours line for large vessels |
Figures are as each facility publishes them on its own site; blank cells mean the facility doesn't state a number. Confirm slip availability and current rates directly — or ask us to make the calls.
Cruising from Beaufort & Morehead City
The run that defines this place is the offshore one. The Gulf Stream is usually within 30 miles, which is the shortest blue-water reach on this stretch of coast, and Beaufort Inlet is four miles from the ocean on a federally maintained commercial channel carrying 45 ft at mean lower low water. A recreational vessel of any draft afloat today can come and go from the sea here — that combination of a short offshore run and a deep, maintained, all-weather entrance is the entire economic basis of this market.
Inland the picture inverts, and the number to hold is 65 ft. Northbound the Gallants Channel bridge is fixed at 65 ft; westbound on the waterway the Morehead City fixed bridge is 65 ft; and the Town Creek approach passes under 85 ft power lines. Anything taller than 65 ft runs offshore in both directions, which is exactly the trade this market makes: the easiest ocean access on the coast, and a hard inland ceiling.
The waterway mileage here is unusually well published because the service yards advertise it. Bock Marine sits at Core Creek, ICW Mile 196.5; Safe Harbor Jarrett Bay at Mile 198 with over 1,000 ft of floating dock along the waterway; Morehead City Yacht Basin at Mile 203.
Offshore of the inlet, the National Park Service runs the two anchorages that matter, and it designates them by draft. Cape Lookout Bight, roughly ten miles southeast of the inlet behind the spit, is the one for sailboats and deep-draft vessels — the Park Service notes that deep water runs close to the spit there. Just inside the inlet, the Shackleford Banks stretch from Whale Creek round to Wades Shore is designated for houseboats and shallow-draft vessels. Both carry the same rule: vessels may anchor for a total of 14 days within the boundaries of Cape Lookout National Seashore, and the Park Service docks are for loading and unloading only, not overnight tie-ups.
⚠️ Treat the shallows behind the Cape with the respect the Park Service itself uses. Its own words on that water: the average channel depth is about five feet, the surrounding water averages under three and is filled with shoals, and at Cape Lookout it is not a matter of whether you will go aground but when and how hard. Tides run 2 to 4 ft and channel currents 2 to 3 knots; the charts are NOAA 11545 and 11550. Shoaling on this coast moves between surveys, so check the current Local Notice to Mariners before you depart, and take a local's word over a chart date on the waterway crossings.
- Cape Lookout Bight — Roughly 10 nautical miles southeast of Beaufort Inlet — behind the spitThe Park Service designates this one for sailboats and deep draft vessels, noting that deep water runs close to the spit in this area. Park docks are for loading and unloading only, not overnight tie-ups. The Park Service is blunt about the surrounding shallows: average channel depth about 5 ft, surrounding water averaging under 3 ft and filled with shoals, and at Cape Lookout it is not a matter of if you will go aground but when and how hard.
- Shackleford Banks — Whale Creek to Wades Shore — Just inside Beaufort InletThe Park Service designates this stretch for houseboats and shallow draft vessels, the shallow-draft counterpart to Cape Lookout Bight. The westside dock near Beaufort Inlet is load and unload only.
Service, refit & supplies
Shipyards & refit
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Dockage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe Harbor Jarrett BayThe reason a large-yacht owner anywhere on this coast knows this town's name: a lift capacity up to 300 tons and a deep-water basin inside a 175-acre marine industrial park with roughly two dozen marine occupants on site, plus a Captain's Lounge and crew quarters. Its service department states it serves vessels up to 135 ft. | Beaufort — ICW Mile 198 | 135 ft | Short-term dockage across over 1,000 feet of floating dock space on the ICW |
| Bock MarineAn 85-ton and a 70-ton haul-out with crane, welding and fabrication on site. Its stated limits are 30 ft minimum and 19 ft 6 in maximum beam, and it hauls catamarans up to 19 feet wide. No pump-out station on site, so plan that elsewhere. | Beaufort — Core Creek, ICW Mile 196.5 | — | Transient dockage at $2.00 per foot per night including power |
Chandleries & specialty suppliers
- Radio Island Marina — 156 Radio Island Road — Radio Island, between Beaufort and Morehead CityThe closest full service marina to Beaufort Inlet in its own description, with a ship's store and service centre on site. Length, depth, slips and fuel grades all come from the office, so call before you plan a stop around it.
- Coral Bay Marina — 4531 Arendell Street, Morehead CityService, storage and marina support, monitoring VHF 16. Length, depth, slips and fuel are settled on the telephone or on a hail to 16 rather than on a rate card.
On the Beaufort & Morehead City calendar
One week dominates this calendar and it is not close. The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament ran its 68th annual on June 5–13, 2026, with the Captain's Party on June 6 and six fishing days from June 8. The 2026 event drew, in its own words, "a fleet of 278 boats competing for a staggering total purse of over $9 MILLION", and the winning fish weighed 919.9 lb. During that week this waterfront holds one of the highest concentrations of big sportfishing hulls anywhere on the US East Coast, and the weigh-ins happen at Big Rock Landing on the Morehead City municipal docks. The save-the-date for 2027 is June 11–20.
The same window carries the rest of the fleet. The Keli Wagner Lady Angler tournament ran June 5–6, 2026 with weigh-ins at Big Rock Landing, and Big Rock Kids and the Big Rock Triple Crown — 64 boats in its second season — fill out the days around it. If you are planning a transient stop anywhere in this market in early June, book long before you leave.
Outside the tournament, the market's own event is the Annual Wooden Boat Show at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, May 1, 2027, 10:00 to 16:00, free to attend — held each year on the first Saturday in May and billed by its host as the longest running boat show in the southeast. Crystal Coast Restaurant Week returns January 26–February 2, and Beaufort Wine & Food's Spring Fest runs three days in 2026 — take the dates from the organisers.
The NC Seafood Festival takes over Evans Street in Morehead City on the first weekend of October. The organisers' most recently published dates are the 38th annual, October 4–6, 2024 — confirm the current year with them before you plan a trip around it.
Yachts we'd shortlist for Beaufort & Morehead City
Reviewed the same way as everything on this site — specifications verified against the builder's own numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the busy season in Beaufort and Morehead City?
Spring and autumn, not summer — and the town marina's own rate card proves it. Beaufort Town Docks prices April–June and October–November as peak, with summer as off-season, which is the Intracoastal snowbird migration showing up directly in a published tariff rather than in anyone's opinion. The exception is tournament week in early June, when the sportfishing fleet fills every dock on both sides of the water. The social calendar here is the tournament calendar, so plan a transient stop around it in either direction.
What size yacht can enter Beaufort Inlet, and can it continue on the Intracoastal?
Any recreational vessel afloat can enter from the sea, and 65 ft of air draft decides whether it can leave inland. Beaufort Inlet is a federally maintained deep-draft commercial channel at 45 ft MLLW, so draft is not the constraint here that it is almost everywhere else on this coast. The Intracoastal is a different story in both directions: the Gallants Channel bridge north is fixed at 65 ft, the Morehead City fixed bridge west is 65 ft, and the Town Creek approach passes under 85 ft power lines. Anything taller than 65 ft runs offshore.
How far is the Gulf Stream from Beaufort, North Carolina?
Usually within 30 miles, according to Beaufort Town Docks itself — the shortest run to the Gulf Stream anywhere between Florida and Cape Hatteras, and the reason this market exists. Beaufort Inlet sits four miles from the Atlantic on a federally maintained deep-draft commercial channel that NC Ports states as "45 ft., M.L.L.W.", so a boat can be through the inlet and into blue water inside a morning. That combination of a short offshore reach and a deep, maintained, all-weather entrance is what draws the sportfishing fleet here rather than to a prettier harbour.
Where can a large yacht be hauled out or refitted in North Carolina?
Here, and the numbers are the reason. Safe Harbor Jarrett Bay at ICW Mile 198 publishes a lift capacity up to 300 tons and a deep-water basin inside a 175-acre marine industrial park with roughly two dozen marine trades on site, plus crew quarters, and states it serves vessels up to 135 ft. Town Creek Marina runs an 85-ton travel lift, and Bock Marine at Core Creek has 85-ton and 70-ton haul-outs and takes catamarans up to 19 ft wide. Morehead City Yacht Basin, by contrast, states plainly that it has no on-site haul-out.
When is the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, and how busy does the waterfront get?
Its 68th annual ran June 5–13, 2026, with 2027 saved for June 11–20 — and busy does not cover it. The 2026 event drew, in the tournament's own words, "a fleet of 278 boats competing for a staggering total purse of over $9 MILLION", with a winning fish of 919.9 lb, and weigh-ins at Big Rock Landing on the Morehead City municipal docks. For that week this waterfront holds one of the highest concentrations of big sportfishing hulls on the US East Coast. The Keli Wagner Lady Angler ran June 5–6, 2026 in the same window. Book a transient slip months ahead or do not plan to be here.