Lake Worth Inlet: the dredged entrance to the Port of Palm Beach
A dredged cut through the barrier beach, 11 miles south of Jupiter Inlet Light, protected by two jetties. A federal project carries 35 feet through the entrance channel, and Coast Pilot 4 puts the Gulf Stream about 2 miles off this stretch of coast.
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.
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.
Seas in the Stream · NWS Melbourne – Gulf Stream wave nomogram
What the Coast Pilot says
- The entrance Coast Pilot 4 describes Lake Worth Inlet as "a dredged cut through the barrier beach 11 miles south of Jupiter Inlet Light and 31 miles north of Hillsboro Inlet Entrance Light". The entrance is protected by two jetties and the cut by revetments.
- Channel A federal project provides for a 35-foot entrance channel, then a 33-foot inner channel to two turning basins with depths of 33 and 24 feet at the Port of Palm Beach. Markers include a 271°30' lighted entrance range.
- Where it shoals Coast Pilot 4 reports that "the north (right outside) quarter of the entrance channel tends to shoal along the north jetty", and refers to NOAA electronic navigational charts and USACE surveys for minimum depths.
- The Peanut Island reef A reef of scattered boulders extends about 300 yards eastward of Peanut Island, about 25 feet north of the improved channel. Coast Pilot 4 gives it "a least depth of about 4 feet" and calls it extremely dangerous; on the ebb the current sets across it to the northeast.
- Current Coast Pilot 4 gives a current velocity of "2.4 knots on the flood and 3.6 knots on the ebb" and says the currents in the inlet are strong and must be carefully guarded against.
- The Gulf Stream from here In its weather notes for West Palm Beach, Coast Pilot 4 records "the Gulf Stream only about 2 miles (4 km) offshore" with prevailing winds off the Atlantic most of the year.
- COLREGS demarcation The lines established for Lake Worth Inlet are described in 33 CFR 80.727.
Questions sailors ask
How deep is Lake Worth Inlet?
A federal project provides for a 35-foot entrance channel, then a 33-foot inner channel to two turning basins at the Port of Palm Beach. That is a project depth — what the channel was dredged for, not a survey. Coast Pilot 4 reports that the north quarter of the entrance channel tends to shoal along the north jetty, and refers to NOAA electronic navigational charts and USACE surveys for minimum depths.
How strong is the current in Lake Worth Inlet?
Coast Pilot 4 gives a velocity of 2.4 knots on the flood and 3.6 knots on the ebb, and says the currents in the inlet are strong and must be carefully guarded against.
What is the reef off Peanut Island?
A reef of scattered boulders extends about 300 yards eastward of Peanut Island, about 25 feet north of the improved channel. Coast Pilot 4 gives it a least depth of about 4 feet and calls it extremely dangerous; on the ebb the current sets across it to the northeast.
How far offshore is the Gulf Stream at Palm Beach?
In its weather notes for West Palm Beach, Coast Pilot 4 records the Gulf Stream only about 2 miles offshore. Wind from the north or northeast runs against it, and the NWS Melbourne nomogram on this page gives the seas that builds.
Sources & checks
- NOAA Coast Pilot 4, ch. 10 (2026) · 18 Oct 2026
- NOAA CO-OPS station 8722588 Port of West Palm Beach – tidal datums · 22 Oct 2026
- NOAA CO-OPS current station LWI0901 Lake Worth Inlet · 22 Oct 2026
- NWS Melbourne – Gulf Stream wave nomogram · 22 Oct 2026