Boating, Fishing, and Travel Information for Mayport Naval Station, St Johns R, FL

The wharves at Mayport are private and are used by fishing vessels. The Mayport Coast Guard Station is at the southerly end of the waterfront. There is a marina and a yacht basin with reported depths of about 10 feet. Gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, restrooms, charter boat hire, showers, electricity, wet and dry storage, and marine supplies are available. Hull, engine and electronic repairs can be made.
Navigation:
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St. Johns River, the largest in eastern Florida, is about 248 miles long and is an unusual major river in that it flows from south to north over most of its length. It rises in the St. Johns Marshes near the Atlantic coast below latitude 28°00’N., flows in a northerly direction, and empties into the sea north of St. Johns River Light in latitude 30°24’N. The river is the approach to the city of Jacksonville and a number of towns near its shores.
St. Johns Light (30°23’10″N., 81°23’53″W.), 83 feet above the water, is shown from a white square tower on the beach about 1 mile south of St. Johns River north jetty. A tower at Jacksonville Beach and a red and white checkered water tank at Mayport Naval Station are prominent off the entrance, and water tanks are prominent along the beaches to the southward.
The Mayport Basin is on the south side of the St. Johns River just inside the entrance jetties and westward of St. Johns Point. A deep channel leads along the inshore end of the south jetty to the basin. It is marked by a 255√Ç° lighted range, lights, and lighted and unlighted buoys. Due to the relatively short distance between the lights of the range, sensitivity is poor. Mariners are advised to use the range with caution. Dangerous cross currents are reported to exist in the entrance to Mayport Basin; mariners are advised to enter at slack water or at a recommended speed of 13 knots. The waters of the turning basin are within a prohibited area of the U.S. Naval Station Reservation; commercial and pleasure vessels are prohibited from entering except in cases of extreme emergency.
Mayport is a town on the south bank of St. Johns River, 3 miles inside the entrance jetties. It has a ferry connection with the town of Fort George Island across the river.