Allen Harbor Inlet is located on the West Passage portion of Narragansett Bay west of Prudence and Hope islands about 11 miles northeast of Newport and 14 miles south of Providence. Inside Allen Harbor are two marinas, and one of them will accept transient guests at their slips. Allen Harbor and Wickford Harbor, its sister to the south, were once home to the U.S. Navy’s Sea Bee training program.

The well-protected harbor also has more than 45 moorings that can be rented on a nightly basis. Launch service to and from the mooring field is provided by Allen Harbor Marina. Although beautiful and well-protected, Allen Harbor is remotely situated between north Kingston and East Greenwich, which means opportunities for provisioning are limited and scarce. If you need to stock your galley up or fill a prescription, you might be better off traveling a little farther north to Greenwich Bay, which has facilities a little more closer at hand.

Use NOAA Chart 13221.

From the north or south on West Passage, set a course for flashing red buoy “2” at the entrance to Allen Harbor. Unlighted green can “1” actually starts the approach channel, but the flashing red buoy serves as a better radar target and nighttime mark.

Once you have started west into the harbor, keep to the center of the channel and you should find six- to eight-foot depths most of the way in. Once you have cleared the inlet, depths deepen a bit to about ten feet, and the mooring field will be visible at the end of the harbor. The two marinas are located on the southern part of the harbor behind Spink Neck.

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