The East Rockaway Inlet is the third inlet (running from west to east) on the south shore of Long Island. East Rockaway Inlet is located 25 miles east of both Verrazano Narrows and Sandy Hook. Inside the inlet to beyond the bascule bridge to the north are three marinas, and one of those marinas on Bridge Creek will accept transients. Unfortunately for most, a six-foot fixed vertical clearance bridge crosses the creek at its entrance, limiting upstream passage for most.

East Rockaway Inlet is particularly handy for mariners seeking shelter from the Atlantic Ocean. From East Rockaway Inlet, you can travel east along reynolds Channel, past Hempstead Bay and Jones Inlet, and on to Sloop Channel, which will take you in to Oyster Bay and eventually Great South Bay. This is a protected route with good depths, and is recommended when things are angry in the Atlantic Ocean.

Use NOAA Chart 12352.

From the Atlantic Ocean, your first mark to pick up will be red and white Morse (A) buoy "ER," about two miles west of East Rocaway's southern breakwall at Silver Point. From red and white Morse (A) buoy "ER," chart a course toward the flashing white breakwater light on the breakwall that bends south from Silver Point, but be sure to start a more northward course as you approach to avoid the unmarked shoals that extend out from the point.

Once inside the inlet, stay toward the center of the channel, and you will find 12- to 22-foot depths along most of its length. A bascule bridge with a 25-foot closed vertical clearance crosses the inlet at Atlantic Beach.

Local Notices to Mariners are now exclusively available online from the U.S. Coast Guard.