Boating, Fishing, and Travel Information for Charleston, OR

Charleston Boat Basin, operated and maintained by the Port of Coos Bay, is 0.3 mile N of Charleston, across the slough from Barview. The basin is used by commercial and sport fishermen. About 500 berths with electricity, gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, a launching ramp, and marine supplies are available. A pumpout station and wet and dry winter boat storage are available in the basin. A repair facility at the basin has a drydock that can handle vessels to 300 tons, 90 feet long, and 30 feet wide, and a marine railway that can handle craft 70 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 6 feet draft for hull and engine repairs. Electronic repairs can also be made at the basin. Coos Bay Coast Guard Station is on the S side of the basin.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Coos Bay, 33 miles N of Cape Blanco, is used as a harbor of refuge and can be entered at any time except in extreme weather. Coos Bay is one of the most important harbors between San Francisco and the Columbia River.
Coos Head and Umpqua River Light are good guides to the entrance. The sand dunes N toward Umpqua River are prominent. The entrance to the bay is protected by jetties. A light with a seasonal sound signal marks the N jetty. A lighted whistle buoy is 1.8 miles WNW of the entrance. The channels are marked with lighted ranges, lights, buoys, and daybeacons.
South Slough, shoal and navigable only for small boats, extends 4 miles S from its junction with Coos Bay near the entrance. A Federal project provides for a 17-foot entrance channel extending S from the junction for about 0.6 mile to the Charleston Boat Basin, thence a 16-foot channel continues to a highway bascule bridge. The highway bridge, 1 mile S of the entrance, has a bascule span with a clearance of 22 feet.