Moriches Bay extends for about 8 miles from Quantuck Canal to Narrow Bay and provides an inside passage for small boats. The general depths in the bay range from 5 to 7 feet and as low as 1 to 2 feet at low tide, but the southern part is shoal. The marked channel may be shifted significantly to the north in order to mark best water.
When navigating the Long Island Intracoastal Waterway through Moriches Bay northeast of Moriches Inlet, extreme care must be taken as this area is prone to extreme shoaling.
Speonk Point, near the eastern end of Moriches Bay on the north shore, is marked by several bulkheaded
jetties and a prominent flagstaff.
Seatuck Cove, on the north side of Moriches Bay, about 1 mile westward of Speonk Point, is entered through a privately dredged channel that leads northward for about 1.1 miles and then forks into three branch channels: East Branch, the easterly branch; Seatuck Creek, the northerly branch; and Little Seatuck Creek, the westerly branch. In 1981, the controlling depth in the entrance channel and in the three branches was 7 feet. Private seasonal buoys mark the entrance channel to the fork and the channel in East Branch to the small-craft facilities just inside the entrance.
A landing at Eastport is on the point just above the fork between East Branch and Seatuck Creek. In 1981, depths of 2 to 3 feet were reported at the landing. Berths, moorings, electricity, gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, some marine supplies and a pump-out are available at small-craft facilities on East Branch. Lifts to 15 tons can handle craft for engine and hull repairs. Depths of 3 feet are reported alongside.
Hart Cove, westward of Seatuck Cove, is entered through a privately dredged channel, marked by private seasonal buoys, that leads to the head of the cove.
Small-craft facilities:
Small-craft facilities are near the head on the west side of the cove. Gasoline, water, ice, storage, marine supplies, a launching ramp and a 30-ton mobile hoist are available; hull and engine repairs can be made.
Tuthill Cove, locally known as West Cove, on the north side of Moriches Bay, 1.5 miles westward of Seatuck Cove, is entered through a privately dredged and partially marked channel that leads to the head of the cove; in 1986, the channel had a reported controlling depth of 2 feet. Several privately dredged channels lead from the main channel to small-craft facilities on the east side of the cove. A Coast Guard Sector Field Office and Station is on the east side of the entrance to Tuthill Cove. East Moriches is on the north side of the cove.
Tuthill Point is on the west side of the entrance to Tuthill Cove.
Moriches Inlet, 44 miles westward of Montauk Point, is a shallow entrance from seaward to the deeper water in Moriches Bay. Weather continuously changes the jettied entrance, which is subject to extreme shoaling. Both east and west jetties are marked by a light, and the approach to the inlet is marked by a lighted whistle buoy. Due to rapidly changing shoaling conditions and existing dangers in Moriches Inlet, it is considered unsafe for mariners to navigate this inlet at any time. Buoys are not
maintained in this inlet.
A fish haven, marked by a buoy, is about 2.5 miles south-southwestward of Moriches Inlet East Breakwater Light.
