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USA: Harbours, bridges and formalities for sailors

2,295 harbours · 771 bridges and locks · 13 inland lakes

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USA: 2,295 harbours, 771 bridges and locks, clearing in, papers and fees. Plan your trip with weather, tides and route.

Formalities

outside the EU customs unionCurrency: US dollar

Clearing in: Federal state outside the EU and Schengen. Report arrival from abroad, including from the Bahamas or Bermuda, to CBP immediately (19 CFR 4.2): by phone to the port's reporting office (Florida: +1 800 432 1216; Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana: +1 800 973 2867) or with the ROAM app. Anyone who needs an I-94, i.e. every foreign crew member on first entry, must appear in person at a CBP reporting location; until then nobody goes ashore except the skipper to report. A cruising license (up to one year, for flags with reciprocity such as Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) exempts from formal entry and clearance and from the permit to proceed between ports; arrival in every new port must still be reported (phone or ROAM). Without a cruising license a foreign yacht formally enters in every port and needs a permit to proceed. In Texas CBP lists only Brownsville as a reporting location for pleasure boats; Galveston, Freeport, Corpus Christi and Port Arthur are ports of entry for commercial shipping, call CBP there before arriving. On the Pacific coast CBP lists in California the Harbor Police Dock on Shelter Island in San Diego (around the clock, call +1 619 491 2600, option 9, beforehand), plus Mission Bay and Fifth Avenue Landing, and for Los Angeles and Long Beach Parker's Lighthouse in Long Beach, Port Hueneme and Ventura Harbor (call +1 562 366 3200 beforehand); in San Francisco call the Marine Desk beforehand (+1 510 271 8900, ext. 2006). In Oregon ROAM is the standard way (otherwise Astoria, Newport and Coos Bay), in Washington the customs docks in Friday Harbor, Point Roberts, Anacortes and Port Angeles, Roche Harbor only via ROAM, with NEXUS or I-68 by phone on +1 800 562 5943. In Alaska in person in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Haines or Anchorage, outside opening hours only by appointment. On the Great Lakes, ROAM is the standard way to report. Anyone who only travels in Canadian waters without docking, anchoring or touching another boat does not report on return. Anyone who needs an I-94, that is every crew member except U.S. citizens and Canadians, reports in person: in Michigan at the CBP reporting locations (Detroit +1 313 393 3949, Port Huron +1 810 985 9972, Sault Ste. Marie +1 906 632 7221), in New York from Lake Erie to the St. Lawrence River at +1 800 827 2851 (staffed reporting locations in Cape Vincent and on Heart Island near Alexandria Bay, May to October), in Ohio by appointment in Port Clinton, Ashtabula and Cleveland, in Pennsylvania in Erie (+1 814 833 1355), on Lake Superior in Minnesota and Wisconsin at +1 800 505 8381 (office in Grand Marais), on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Racine. For Illinois and Indiana, CBP lists no reporting location for pleasure boats; ROAM applies there.

Ausreise: With a cruising license no clearance out; without one clear out with CBP before leaving for abroad. The I-94 does not record a departure by yacht on its own: keep proof (clearance in the next country), otherwise it looks like an overstay. A new cruising license is only issued after a period abroad (15 days according to sailors).

Documents: Passport and B1/B2 visa for the whole crew: ESTA does not apply when arriving on your own yacht, because a private yacht is not a carrier under the Visa Waiver Program (8 CFR 217.2). Anyone who entered earlier by air or ferry with ESTA may return by yacht within the 90 days granted after a trip to the Bahamas, Bermuda or the Caribbean (8 CFR 217.3). Ship's papers with proof of ownership, insurance, the clearance from the last country. Selling or chartering the yacht makes it dutiable.

Fees: For private boats of 30 ft and over the CBP user fee decal (per calendar year, via DTOPS): USD 36.94 in fiscal year 2026, USD 38.04 from 1 October 2026. The cruising license is free. Anchoring mostly free, municipal mooring fields (Florida Keys, Dinner Key in Miami, Annapolis, Newport) for a fee.

Fairway: IALA buoyage system B: red to starboard when entering from seaward (red right returning), the opposite of Europe. On the Intracoastal Waterway the marks also carry yellow triangles (starboard) and squares (port) heading south along the Atlantic coast. Fixed bridges over the Intracoastal Waterway are mostly 65 ft (19.8 m) high, a few lower (Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami 56 ft); many bascule bridges only open at set times (VHF channel 9 from Florida to North Carolina, otherwise 13). Vessels of 65 ft (19.8 m) and over must keep to 10 knots or less in the North Atlantic right whale management areas: Southeast coast 15 November to 15 April, Brunswick to Rhode Island 1 November to 30 April, Cape Cod Bay 1 January to 15 May, Great South Channel April to July; NOAA asks smaller boats to do the same. On the Gulf of Mexico the Intracoastal Waterway continues to Brownsville, with the yellow triangles to starboard heading west; fixed bridges there are mostly 73 ft (22.3 m), 65 ft in Florida, a few only 48 to 50 ft (Fort Walton Beach, Navarre, Redfish Bay near Port Aransas). Call locks and floodgates in Louisiana and Texas on VHF channel 14 (Brazos and Colorado River: 13); pleasure craft come after commercial traffic. On the Pacific coast the bars off the river mouths are dangerous (Columbia River Bar, Coos Bay, Humboldt Bay): on the ebb with heavy swell the sea breaks, the Coast Guard then closes them to small boats at times and reports their state on VHF. In Puget Sound the Ballard Locks (Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) lead into Lake Union and Lake Washington around the clock. In Alaska up to 9 m tidal range in Cook Inlet, strong current in the narrows (Sergius Narrows, Wrangell Narrows), driftwood and ice off the glaciers.

Nature: In Florida manatee protection zones with speed limits (signposted, some only in winter); no overnight anchoring in the Middle River (Fort Lauderdale), in Sunset Lake and between the Venetian Islands off Miami Beach, no anchoring within 150 ft of marinas, boat ramps and boatyards or within 300 ft of public mooring fields, in the Florida Keys move every 90 days. No Discharge Zones (no sewage, not even treated): the Florida Keys, the coastal waters of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, Long Island Sound, parts of Maine (Casco Bay), Connecticut and New Jersey; the overboard valve closed and secured. Fishing only with the state licence (Florida for visitors USD 17 for three days). On the Pacific coast keep away from whales (100 yards, in Washington 1,000 yards from the Southern Resident orcas), sea otters and seals; national marine sanctuaries from the Channel Islands to the Olympic Peninsula; in Glacier Bay National Park motorised boats need a permit from 1 June to 31 August.

Tropical storm season: 1 June to 30 November, peak mid-August to mid-October; the whole East Coast from the Keys to New England is affected (Andrew 1992, Hugo 1989, Isabel 2003, Sandy 2012). Insurers often require the yacht to be north of Cape Hatteras during the season (in one clause 15 June to 1 November) or a hurricane plan: check the policy. The Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas is just as exposed (Ivan 2004, Katrina 2005, Harvey 2017, Michael 2018, Ida 2021), with high storm surge over the shallow shelf. On the Pacific coast the hurricanes of the eastern Pacific (15 May to 30 November) only rarely reach Southern California, mostly as a tropical storm or its remnants (Hilary 2023); further north and in Alaska the North Pacific lows bring gales and heavy swell in autumn and winter.

Emergency: 911 (you can ask for the Coast Guard); US Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 and DSC channel 70 (Rescue 21).

Sources: CBP: Pleasure Boat Overview, CBP: CBP ROAM, CBP: Florida, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: Brownsville (Texas), reporting location for pleasure boats, 33 CFR 207.180: locks and floodgates on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, CBP: San Diego, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: Los Angeles and Long Beach, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: Oregon, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: Puget Sound and northeast Washington, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: Alaska, reporting locations for pleasure boats, National Park Service: Glacier Bay, boating permits, CBP: Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: Maryland, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: New York and Newark, reporting locations for pleasure boats, CBP: New England, reporting locations for pleasure boats, 19 CFR 4.94: Cruising Licenses, 8 CFR 217.2 and 217.3: Visa Waiver Program, CBP Dec. 26-14: user fee decal for fiscal year 2027, Florida Statutes 327.4108 and 327.4109: anchoring, NOAA Fisheries: reducing vessel strikes to North Atlantic right whales, 33 CFR 62.49: Intracoastal Waterway marks, Auswärtiges Amt: USA (with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), travel and safety advice (as of 2026-10-20)

Harbours by cruising area

Alabama (Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Mobile Bay, Dauphin Island)

Big Bend and Forgotten Coast (Keaton Beach, St. Marks, Carrabelle, Apalachicola, Port St. Joe)

Central California (Morro Bay, Monterey, Santa Cruz)

Chesapeake Bay: Maryland (Annapolis, Baltimore, Solomons, St. Michaels, Potomac)

Columbia (Astoria, Ilwaco, Longview, Portland)

Connecticut (Long Island Sound, Mystic, Stonington)

Delaware and Maryland: Atlantic coast (Ocean City, Lewes, Rehoboth)

Delaware Bay and Delaware River (Delaware City, Philadelphia)

Florida Keys (Key West, Marathon, Islamorada, Key Largo)

Florida Panhandle (Panama City, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola)

Georgia (St. Simons Island, Brunswick, Savannah)

Gulf of Alaska (Yakutat, Cordova, Valdez, Whittier, Prince William Sound)

Kenai and Cook Inlet (Seward, Homer, Seldovia, Anchorage)

Kodiak (Kodiak, Port Lions, Old Harbor)

Lake Erie: Michigan and Ohio (Monroe, Toledo, Put-in-Bay, Sandusky, Cleveland)

Lake Erie: Pennsylvania and New York (Erie, Dunkirk, Buffalo)

Lake Huron: Michigan (Port Huron, Saginaw Bay, Alpena, Mackinac Island, De Tour)

Lake Michigan: East Shore (St. Joseph, Holland, Muskegon, Ludington, Traverse City, Charlevoix)

Lake Michigan: Illinois and Indiana (Chicago, Waukegan, Michigan City)

Lake Michigan: Upper Peninsula (Escanaba, Manistique, Beaver Island)

Lake Michigan: Wisconsin (Kenosha, Milwaukee, Sheboygan, Door County, Green Bay)

Lake Ontario: New York (Niagara, Rochester, Sodus Bay, Oswego, Sackets Harbor)

Lake Superior: Minnesota and Wisconsin (Duluth, Grand Marais, Bayfield, Apostle Islands)

Lake Superior: Upper Peninsula (Ontonagon, Keweenaw, Marquette, Munising, Whitefish Bay)

Louisiana: Bayous and West Coast (Houma, Morgan City, Intracoastal City, Lake Charles)

Louisiana: New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and the Delta (Slidell, Grand Isle, Venice)

Maine: Downeast (Mount Desert Island, Bar Harbor, Eastport)

Maine: Midcoast (Boothbay, Camden, Rockland, Penobscot Bay)

Massachusetts: Boston and North Shore (Marblehead, Gloucester)

Massachusetts: Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod and the Islands

Mississippi (Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis)

New Hampshire and southern Maine (Portsmouth, Kittery, Portland)

New Jersey (Cape May, Atlantic City, Barnegat Bay)

New York and Long Island (New York, Hudson, Long Island, Montauk)

North Carolina: Sounds and Outer Banks (Oriental, Ocracoke, Manteo, Elizabeth City)

North Carolina: south coast (Southport, Wrightsville Beach, Beaufort, Morehead City)

Northeast Florida (Daytona Beach, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach)

Northern California (Bodega Bay, Fort Bragg, Eureka, Crescent City)

Okeechobee Waterway (Stuart to Fort Myers)

Oregon coast (Brookings, Coos Bay, Newport, Tillamook)

Puget Sound and Hood Canal (Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Everett, Lake Washington)

Rhode Island (Newport, Narragansett Bay, Block Island)

San Francisco Bay and Delta (San Francisco, Sausalito, Oakland, Sacramento, Stockton)

San Juan Islands and northern Washington (Friday Harbor, Anacortes, Bellingham, Point Roberts)

Santa Barbara Channel and Channel Islands (Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara)

South Carolina (Beaufort, Charleston, Georgetown, Myrtle Beach)

Southeast Alaska North (Juneau, Sitka, Haines, Skagway, Glacier Bay)

Southeast Alaska South (Ketchikan, Prince of Wales Island, Wrangell, Petersburg)

Southeast Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach)

Southern California: Los Angeles (Newport Beach, Long Beach, Marina del Rey, Catalina)

Southern California: San Diego and Orange County (Mission Bay, Oceanside, Dana Point)

Southwest Florida (Naples, Fort Myers, Sanibel, Charlotte Harbor)

Strait of Juan de Fuca (Neah Bay, Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend)

Texas: Laguna Madre (Baffin Bay, Port Mansfield, Port Isabel, South Padre Island)

Texas: Matagorda Bay to Corpus Christi (Port O'Connor, Rockport, Port Aransas)

Texas: Sabine Pass to Freeport (Port Arthur, Galveston Bay, Kemah, Galveston)

Treasure Coast and Space Coast (Stuart, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, Cape Canaveral)

Virginia: Eastern Shore (Cape Charles, Chincoteague)

Virginia: Norfolk, Hampton Roads and the lower Chesapeake Bay

Washington coast (Willapa Bay, Westport, La Push)

West Florida (Sarasota, Tampa Bay, Clearwater, Cedar Key)

Inland lakes

Bridges and locks

Locks

Movable bridges

Fixed bridges (359)

Frequently asked questions

USA: Do I need to clear in?

Federal state outside the EU and Schengen. Report arrival from abroad, including from the Bahamas or Bermuda, to CBP immediately (19 CFR 4.2): by phone to the port's reporting office (Florida: +1 800 432 1216; Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana: +1 800 973 2867) or with the ROAM app. Anyone who needs an I-94, i.e. every foreign crew member on first entry, must appear in person at a CBP reporting location; until then nobody goes ashore except the skipper to report. A cruising license (up to one year, for flags with reciprocity such as Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) exempts from formal entry and clearance and from the permit to proceed between ports; arrival in every new port must still be reported (phone or ROAM). Without a cruising license a foreign yacht formally enters in every port and needs a permit to proceed. In Texas CBP lists only Brownsville as a reporting location for pleasure boats; Galveston, Freeport, Corpus Christi and Port Arthur are ports of entry for commercial shipping, call CBP there before arriving. On the Pacific coast CBP lists in California the Harbor Police Dock on Shelter Island in San Diego (around the clock, call +1 619 491 2600, option 9, beforehand), plus Mission Bay and Fifth Avenue Landing, and for Los Angeles and Long Beach Parker's Lighthouse in Long Beach, Port Hueneme and Ventura Harbor (call +1 562 366 3200 beforehand); in San Francisco call the Marine Desk beforehand (+1 510 271 8900, ext. 2006). In Oregon ROAM is the standard way (otherwise Astoria, Newport and Coos Bay), in Washington the customs docks in Friday Harbor, Point Roberts, Anacortes and Port Angeles, Roche Harbor only via ROAM, with NEXUS or I-68 by phone on +1 800 562 5943. In Alaska in person in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Haines or Anchorage, outside opening hours only by appointment. On the Great Lakes, ROAM is the standard way to report. Anyone who only travels in Canadian waters without docking, anchoring or touching another boat does not report on return. Anyone who needs an I-94, that is every crew member except U.S. citizens and Canadians, reports in person: in Michigan at the CBP reporting locations (Detroit +1 313 393 3949, Port Huron +1 810 985 9972, Sault Ste. Marie +1 906 632 7221), in New York from Lake Erie to the St. Lawrence River at +1 800 827 2851 (staffed reporting locations in Cape Vincent and on Heart Island near Alexandria Bay, May to October), in Ohio by appointment in Port Clinton, Ashtabula and Cleveland, in Pennsylvania in Erie (+1 814 833 1355), on Lake Superior in Minnesota and Wisconsin at +1 800 505 8381 (office in Grand Marais), on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Racine. For Illinois and Indiana, CBP lists no reporting location for pleasure boats; ROAM applies there.

USA: Which documents do I need on board?

Passport and B1/B2 visa for the whole crew: ESTA does not apply when arriving on your own yacht, because a private yacht is not a carrier under the Visa Waiver Program (8 CFR 217.2). Anyone who entered earlier by air or ferry with ESTA may return by yacht within the 90 days granted after a trip to the Bahamas, Bermuda or the Caribbean (8 CFR 217.3). Ship's papers with proof of ownership, insurance, the clearance from the last country. Selling or chartering the yacht makes it dutiable.

USA: What fees apply?

For private boats of 30 ft and over the CBP user fee decal (per calendar year, via DTOPS): USD 36.94 in fiscal year 2026, USD 38.04 from 1 October 2026. The cruising license is free. Anchoring mostly free, municipal mooring fields (Florida Keys, Dinner Key in Miami, Annapolis, Newport) for a fee.

USA: What is the emergency number at sea?

911 (you can ask for the Coast Guard); US Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 and DSC channel 70 (Rescue 21).

USA: How many harbours does Sailseer cover?

Sailseer covers 2,295 harbours with harbour info, weather and route planning. Plus 771 bridges and locks with opening times and clearances.