Swansboro

Bear Island (Hammocks Beach)

ICW mile 231

NOAA ENC chart tiles · planning aid, not for navigation

🏖 Sandbar⚓ Anchorage

✈ Brief this trip–

Right now at this spot

oldest reading 54 min ago

Sporty

Small boats will get beat up. Pick your heading and slow down.

The sea state in that call was measured 27.8 nm away at NDBC 41159 — that is open water, not this basin.

What that call is built on

· Forecast wind SW 15 kt — NWS AMZ158 · Today
· Observed seas 3 ft — NDBC 41159 · Onslow Bay
· Adjacent sounds and rivers moderate chop — NWS AMZ158

Wind, forecast

SW 15 kt

AMZ158 forecast

Seas now

3 ft

4s period · 41159, 27.8 nm off · 54 min ago

Tide

2.0 ft

rising · high 13:55

Inside the waterway

Adjacent sounds and rivers moderate chop

Water and airWater 78°F

NWS AMZ158 · Today · NDBC 41159 · Onslow Bay (27.8 nm) · NOAA 8656613 Swansboro · MLLW

What a local would tell you

Boat-in only barrier island state park, and the best beach day on this whole stretch. Anchor in the marsh channel behind it or beach on the sound side. There's a bathhouse in season — rare for a boat-in beach.

The tide today

2.0 ft right now

Next high 13:55 · 2.2 ft1.6 ft range today

Best window to be here. Aim for the window around high water at 01:08 or 13:55 — this spot is tide-sensitive.

Why the tide decides this one

It is a sandbar — the ground under you changes with the water.

Sunrise 7:15 AM · Sunset 6:33 PM5h 43m of light left

NOAA CO-OPS 8656613 · Swansboro · MLLW · live predictions. Sun times from the NOAA solar algorithm for this position.

Beaufort, Duke Marine Lab is reading 0.7 ft ABOVE prediction (8 min ago). Wind is holding water in. That gauge is 24 nm away, so treat this as the regional trend rather than your basin.

measured 4.29 ft · predicted 3.63 ft · +0.7 ft · NOAA 8656483 · regional

Sand & tide

When is the sand out?

Barrier-island beach

Never covers

Bear Island (Hammocks Beach) does not go under — it sits above high water and stays there all day. What the tide moves here is the width of the sand and the depth under your anchor: low 7:25am at 0.5 ft, high 1:55pm. The sand is widest either side of 7:25am.

now 2.0 ftlow 0.5 fthigh 2.2 ftrange 1.7 ftNOAA 8656613

Beaching it right now

Rising — but tie it offtide rising

The tide is coming up. Nothing you put on the sand now will be stuck, which is the opposite problem: an unattended boat floats off. Set an anchor up the beach and check it, don't just run the bow up.

About this spot

Beach on the sound side or anchor in the marsh channel behind it. The marsh channel is where the tide will catch you out, not the beach.

Rule of thumb, not a survey

This is a rule of thumb, not a survey. Nobody has measured the height of this sand to a datum, so the times are the tide curve run against a threshold we chose — treat them as give or take three quarters of an hour, and tell us if we're wrong.

Tide curve: NOAA 8656613 Swansboro, six-minute predictions, MLLW. Height of the sand: No threshold. Barrier-island state park beach above high water.

What’s biting here

All species

Red drumOpenPeak

Peak month, and 78°F is right in their band.

Min 18" total length · 1 per person per day

Spotted seatroutOpenPeak

Peak month, and 78°F is right in their band.

Min 14" total length · 3 per person per day

FlounderClosedPeak

Peak month, and 78°F is right in their band.

Unlawful to possess right now.

Ranked on the month and the measured water temperature. Limits are North Carolina’s current rules — confirm with DMF before you keep anything.

Depth

Nobody has reported a depth here. This spot is tide-sensitive, so sound your way in and post what you read. We timestamp it and correct it to the datum automatically, so the next boat gets a number they can actually use.

Getting there

from Wrightsville Beach

Distance

50.0 nm

by the waterway

Run time

131 min

arrive about 3:00 PM

Fuel, round trip

53.3 gal

36% of your 150 gal

Home before dark

1h 22m

to spare, leaving now, out and back

On the ICWstatute mile 231

Worked out for

a typical 26 ft centre console · 2 ft draft · 26 kt cruise · 14 gph

✈ Full briefing 🧭 Plan the run

Distance from ICW mile markers where both ends have one, winding-padded straight line otherwise. Time and fuel from your boat profile at 26 kt.

Worked out for a typical 26 ft centre console — we do not know yours yet. Add your boat and these become your numbers.Add your boat

What else is out here

straight line, true bearing

⚓MarinaSwansboro Yacht Basin2.8 nmNNE 🛻RampCedar Point Boating Access Area2.9 nmNE ⛽Fuel · Pump outCasper's Marina3.1 nmNNE 🍤Dock & dineSaltwater Grill3.1 nmNNE 🛥Public dockSwansboro Municipal Docks3.1 nmNNE

Nearest artificial reefAR-3812.7 nmNE

NCDMF site reference position, not a surveyed obstruction. Material stands well above the site average — never steer over a reef on these numbers.

Distances computed from the shipped place dataset and NCDMF reef records. Great-circle, not a route — check that the water actually connects.

Live from the water

No reports here yet. If you run this spot, post what you see — fuel price, depth, how busy it is. Depths get corrected for the tide automatically, so the number you leave is worth something to the next boat.

Know before you go

AccessBoat or ferry only

FacilitiesBathhouse in season

AnchoringSound side, sand bottom

CampingPermitted, reserve ahead

State parkBoat-inBest beachFamily

Comments

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✈ Brief this trip Map

Conditions, tides and alerts are live from NOAA CO-OPS, the National Weather Service and NDBC. Distance, run time, fuel and clearance are calculated from your boat profile. Member depth reports are corrected to the datum at the moment they are filed. Planning aid only — not for navigation. Carry current charts.