Boating, Fishing, and Travel Information for Cape May Harbor, NJ

The fishing vessels operate from wharves below and above the bridge at the northeast end of the harbor and from wharves in Schellenger Creek, at the west end of the harbor. Pleasure-craft facilities are on the north and west sides of the harbor and in Schellenger Creek. Cape May Coast Guard Training Center and its attendant facilities are on the south side of the harbor.

Cape May Inlet (38°56.2’N., 74°51.8’W.) is protected by jetties whose lights are inshore of the submerged ends. A 327° lighted range marks the channel between the jetties. Buoys mark the channel inside the harbor. At night the lights on the towers on the east side, and from the U.S. Coast Guard rescue tower on the west of the inlet are visible from well offshore.

The resort town of Cape May fronts the ocean 2 miles west of Cape May Inlet. In 2009, the controlling depth was 17 feet through Cape May Inlet to the inner end of the jetties; thence in 2008, 11.3 feet (14.1 feet at midchannel) to the Coast Guard large wharf on the south side of the harbor; thence shoaling to less than one foot to Schellenger Landing at mouth of Schellenger Creek; thence in 1994, a reported depth of 9 feet through Schellenger Creek; thence in 1999, 10 feet reported at midchannel proceeding northward through Spicer Creek Canal, which connects with the Cape May Canal. Traffic through Schellenger Creek is restricted by the 38-foot-wide fixed span highway bridge with a clearance of 4 feet that remains in the closed position.