Anchoring in Dana Point
Posted July 1, 2019
Dana Point has three areas where you can drop an anchor and stay up to 5 days in a 30 day period. The west basin is very nice. The east basin is mostly bad. Anchoring outside the harbor in front of Doheny Beach is amazing on the rare days and nights with calm seas.
Leave your contact info with the harbor patrol if you leave your boat so they can call you if there is a problem. You are only allowed to be off your boat for 3hrs a day during daylight hours and you must be aboard at night. They come around every evening with a spot light writing down boat names to make sure you don’t stay longer than allowed.
Dana Point Harbor Layout
West Basin Anchorage
The West Basin anchorage is the primary anchoring location. In the off season months there is generally room for everyone that wants to anchor. Peak summer season and weekends are generally crowded. I haven’t found the mud bottom to hold very well. Plan on using a short scope in the summer and weekends. I’m usually at 3-1 in 15-20’ of water. You will often see boats work at setting there anchor a few times as they try to keep distance from other boats. You have to be very precise where your anchor sets and a lot of times it drags to far before it sets and you have to start over. If you put out 7-1 to set your anchor early in the day be sure to pull chain back in so you are 3-1 or maybe 4-1. A lot of boats come in late in the day and if you keep a lot of scope out somebody will end up setting their anchor on top of yours. Also, the south end of the anchorage is shallow near the rock jetty so set your anchor so you don’t swing within 100’ of the jetty.
The wind will often come over the west side cliff pretty fierce in the afternoons. Be prepared to check your anchor when the wind hits as there isn’t much time to react here if you do start to drag towards the yacht club.
There is a dinghy dock by the pier that has a 2 hrs limit. It is a bit of a walk to the restaurants that are all on the east end of the harbor. This end does have the Ocean Institute and the docks for their tall ships. It gets very fun and busy in the summer with all types of water activities. Sailing dinghies, SUP’s, kayaks, and outriggers give you plenty of people to chat with and watch.
East Basin/Fuel Dock/Bait Barge Anchorage
Most things are bad about anchoring in the East Basin by the bait barge. The only nice thing is you are close to the dinghy dock and restaurants. The downside is the bad smell from the breakwall, the noise from the bait barge generator that runs 24/7, the bird crap that will be on your boat from the birds that hang out by the bait barge, the traffic for the fuel dock and bait barge are non-stop and starts early. Use this end only if you have to.
The mud bottom is similar to the west basin. The anchors I’ve used seem to drag a bit before they set. I usually try to back up fairly close to the jetty so I am out of the way of the boats heading to the fuel dock and bait barge. You will be anchoring in about 15-20 feet of water.
Doheny Anchorage
Anchoring outside of Dana Point is one of the coolest places to anchor if it’s a long period ground swell on the smallish side. It needs to be small enough that you can sleep at night, but big enough to make surfing fun. It is a short paddle in to Doheny to surf or SUP. There is a line of buoys running parallel to beach. Stay outside of those markers. There are also signs on the buoys at the harbor entrance that say you must be 500 yards from the harbor entrance to drop anchor. I found a city ordinance that states you can't anchor within 1,000 yards of any place with human powered watercraft. I haven't found anything in writing that says anything about 500 yards, except for the signs themselves. It's tough to say what law is being enforced. Just be prepared to explain to the harbor patrol that your are approximately 550 meters from the signs by the harbor entrance and you should be fine to stay at these coordinates and surf a little if the conditions are right.
33° 27.440' N
117° 40.948' W
The chart shows a sewer pipe running close to these coordinates, so make sure you are clear of it. I don’t know if it is buried or not. I would imaging that can change as the sand shifts. I’ve had excellent success with my anchor holding very well here for several days.
