Alternate Route from the Manahawkin Bridge to Beach Haven???

[rondds]

I was told by a friend that it is not necessary to follow the ICW (purple line) down the east side of the bay (through the no wakes) to get to Beach Haven and points south. He tells me there's another route that hugs the "mainland," on the west side of the bay.

In looking at the charts, there does seem to be a fairly deep pathway to Little Egg Harbor but the chart shows no markers until you get down to Little Egg Harbor proper. Is it one of those "NOTE B" things where you need a combo of local knowledge and some bamboo day marks or is well marked? Also, if it is navigable by a deeper draft boat, is it worth taking from a time standpoint? The ICW is about 7.6mi to Beach Haven and the west route is about 9.3 miles. BUT, if there are no "no wakes" and it's clearly marked, maybe it's worth exploring????

Red line is the alternate route to the end of the no-wakes...

 

[rcknecht]

Rod, We took the inside to AC on Friday, and everyone was looking forward to those no wakes for snacks and drinks... Looks to me like it might take too much local knowledge in an unmarked area to explore with inboards...