harbor entrance
Where ships enter
A harbor entrance is the navigable opening through which vessels pass into or out of a harbor.
Natural harbors may have narrow entrances formed by headlands or barrier islands; artificial harbors often feature breakwaters that create and protect the entrance channel.
Harbor entrances are typically marked with buoys, lights, or other navigational aids: The pilot guided the tanker through the harbor entrance at dawn.
- jettyStructure extending into water
- breakwaterCoastal wave-blocking structure
- channelPassage for transmission
- beaconGuiding light source
- navigation lightsIllumination showing craft position
lightship · bell buoy · narrows · buoy · lighthouse · tides · mooring · sandbar · fairway · anchorage · docking · currents · inlet · pilotage · port authority · shoal · passage · safe passage
- nautical termsahoy, afloat, aye aye, aye-aye, becalmed
- coastal featuresshore, coast, beach, bay, cliff
- harbordock, docks, pier, piers, wharf
- harbor facilitiesdocks, pier, jetty, wharf, wharves
- water passagesinlet, mouth, channel, river mouth, estuary
- chokepointschoke point, bottleneck, pinch point, narrows, strait
maritime location
harbor entranceopen sea
Waters beyond coastlines
open ocean · high seas · deep water · open water · blue water