Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Cape Fear River, 370 miles long and the approach to the city of Wilmington, empties into the sea immediately westward of Cape Fear.
Oak Island Light (33°53’34″N., 78°02’06″W.), 169 feet above the water, is shown from a 155-foot cylindrical tower, upper part black, middle white, and lower part gray, on Oak Island on the western side of Cape Fear River entrance. It is the most conspicuous object in the approach. The abandoned lighthouse, known as Old Baldy, on the west side of Smith Island, and the buildings of the Oak Island Coast Guard Station, westward of Fort Caswell, are also conspicuous.
Western Bar Channel, close to Fort Caswell on the western side of the entrance to Cape Fear River, is used considerably by small craft bound westward along the coast. This unmarked channel had a reported depth of 8 feet in 1983, and the best water was about 50 yards offshore. The channel is not stable, and local knowledge is advised for boats drawing over 6 feet. Abreast Oak Island Coast Guard Station, the shore should not be approached closer than 0.3 miles. A dredged channel from Cape Fear River to the Coast Guard wharf had a reported midchannel controlling depth of 4½ feet in 1998. The channel is marked by daybeacons and lights.
