Inlet & bar crossing conditions

One of the most demanding bar crossings anywhere. The Columbia's ebb can run over 8 knots, and against a westerly swell and wind it builds steep, breaking seas across the entrance.

A wide Washington bar that shoals and breaks in a strong ebb against onshore swell. The Coast Guard posts and, when needed, restricts it.

The Newport entrance is jettied but still bar-affected. A hard ebb over a long-period westerly swell is the combination to avoid.

A commercial bar on the southern Oregon coast. Big long-period swell from the west stacks up on the ebb; the Coast Guard restricts it in hazardous conditions.

A narrow central-California entrance that breaks across the mouth in a west or northwest swell. The harbor patrol posts a hazardous-bar warning many days a year.

An Outer Banks inlet with shifting sandbars and currents that can reach 7 knots. The channel moves, so local knowledge and current soundings matter as much as the tide.

A short jettied New Jersey inlet that turns steep and confused when the ebb runs out against an onshore easterly wind and swell.

One of New Jersey's more demanding inlets: strong currents, shoaling, and a dogleg channel. It builds quickly on an ebb against an east wind.

A northeast-Florida inlet with shoals that shift and are often unmarked. Deceptively calm on the flood, it can stand up fast on a strong ebb against an east swell.

The New Smyrna entrance shoals and breaks on the ebb against an onshore swell, and has a long history of rough-inlet incidents. Time it for the flood or slack.

A swift southeast-Florida inlet with a strong ebb and a sandbar that breaks in an east swell. Boaters plan crossings around the current here more than most.

The famous Miami inlet. It is short and deep, but a strong outgoing ebb against a fresh east wind piles up the steep, closely spaced chop it is known for.