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Inlet

Hillsboro Inlet: submerged jetties, rocky reefs and a 13-foot bridge

Thirty-one miles south of Lake Worth Inlet, a marked entrance channel under the Hillsboro Inlet Entrance Light. Coast Pilot 4 warns that the jetties are submerged at the entrance channel and that rocky reefs extend north and south of the entrance lights.

Last checked 22 Oct 2026NOAA Coast Pilot 4, ch. 10 (2026) · NOAA CO-OPS station 8722862 Hillsboro Inlet Ocean – tidal datums · NWS Melbourne – Gulf Stream wave nomogram
Mean tide range · Hillsboro Inlet Ocean (NOAA 8722862)
2.52 ft
Current past the bridge on the flood (reported)
5 to 6 kn
South of Lake Worth Inlet
31 miles
Shoaling reported in 1990 · between Lights 1 and 2
about 1 ft

Channel depths come from dredged-area records and change between surveys. This is not a nautical chart – use official charts and the Local Notice to Mariners.

Wind against the Stream

A northeast wind against the Stream builds the seas

NWS Melbourne publishes a nomogram of significant wave heights over the Gulf Stream by wind speed and direction, for an 18-hour wind duration. The office notes that boaters sometimes find the Coastal Waters Forecast underestimates wave heights in north to northeast winds.

  • 15 kn NE≈ 9 ft
  • 20 kn NE≈ 12 ft

Seas in the Stream · NWS Melbourne – Gulf Stream wave nomogram

What the Coast Pilot says

  • The entrance Coast Pilot 4 places Hillsboro Inlet "31 miles southward of Lake Worth Inlet", connecting with the Hillsboro River and the Intracoastal Waterway, and notes its importance as a base for party fishermen who run out into the Gulf Stream. The entrance channel is marked by lights, daybeacons and a lighted entrance buoy.
  • The landmark Hillsboro Inlet Entrance Light (26°15'33"N., 80°04'51"W.) stands 136 feet above the water on an octagonal pyramidal skeleton tower, lower half white and upper half black, on the beach on the north side of the inlet.
  • Submerged jetties Coast Pilot 4 states: "The jetties are submerged at the entrance channel; caution is advised."
  • Rocky reefs Rocky reefs are reported to extend northward and southward of the respective entrance lights, and Coast Pilot 4 adds that "the southern reef is reported to dry at its southern end at low tide".
  • Current Coast Pilot 4 reports the current in the entrance setting "northward across the channel on the flood and southward on the ebb", and on the flood past the bridge "as much as 5 to 6 knots".
  • A dated shoaling report Coast Pilot 4 still carries a 36-year-old entry: "In 1990, shoaling to a depth of about 1 foot was reported at the entrance channel between Lights 1 and 2." It is printed with its year and no newer survey figure is given.
  • The A1A bridge The Route A1A bridge has a bascule span with a clearance of 13 feet; the bridgetender monitors VHF-FM channel 16 and works channel 13, and opening regulations are in 33 CFR 117.289. An overhead power cable at the bridge has a clearance of 64 feet.
  • Outside the inlet Southward of Hillsboro Inlet shoaling is rapid; Coast Pilot 4 reports depths of 6 to 8 fathoms 1.5 miles offshore, and fish havens extending 1 to 2.4 miles offshore between Hillsboro Inlet and Port Everglades.

Questions sailors ask

How high is the Hillsboro Inlet bridge?

The Route A1A bridge has a bascule span with a clearance of 13 feet. The bridgetender monitors VHF-FM channel 16 and works channel 13, and opening regulations are in 33 CFR 117.289. An overhead power cable at the bridge has a clearance of 64 feet.

How strong is the current at Hillsboro Inlet?

Coast Pilot 4 reports the current in the entrance setting northward across the channel on the flood and southward on the ebb, and on the flood past the bridge as much as 5 to 6 knots.

How deep is Hillsboro Inlet?

Coast Pilot 4 gives no project depth and no recent survey for this entrance. The one depth it carries is a report from 1990 of shoaling to a depth of about 1 foot in the entrance channel between Lights 1 and 2, printed with its year and never replaced by a newer figure. Depths change; this page is not a chart.

What does the Coast Pilot warn about at Hillsboro Inlet?

Two things at the entrance. "The jetties are submerged at the entrance channel; caution is advised." And rocky reefs are reported to extend northward and southward of the respective entrance lights, the southern one reported to dry at its southern end at low tide.

Sources & checks

Written by buoya editorial from the sources above. Every figure was checked against its source on 22 Oct 2026. Found something wrong? Report a correction.