The Long Island Loop – Points of Interest

Alex,

Most of the places you list are nice stops, but not necessarily destinations.

Manhasset Bay (Port Washington) - skip it unless you need fuel.
Huntington Bay is nice - we like Northport rather than Huntington because the town is closer to the harbor. Some great beaches and nice anchorages.
Port Jefferson - has a beautiful harbor but it is getting harder and harder to find anchoring room as there are more and more private moorings in the outer anchorages. Town is kind of honkey tonk, but worth an afternoon visit. The sand dunes are worth a visit.
Greenwich CT Skip it. Go by car.
Stamford CT - OK place to stop if you need to but not a destination.
Norwalk CT - Fun downtown with great restaurants and super Maritime Aquarium for the kids. Cove Marina is a long way from town and dockage nearer town is slim pickings.
NYC (possible stop, time permitting) - Slow down and take some photos, but keep going. NYC is a destination all its own and not a place to squeeze in.

The problem with cruising on LIS is that there are hundreds of great gunkholing destinations. Your list only scratches the surface, but you are right to try and prioritize. Given that you will miss a ton of good stuff no matter what you do, I would focus more on the Eastern Sound and skip most stuff West of Port Jeff.

Basically, Huntington/Northport are the westernmost destinations that you should consider. Other spots to think about would be Westbrook, Essex, Mystic, Montauk, Greenport (this is your access point to the wineries).


Jeff,

Thanks a lot for great tips. I’m starting to get better idea and looks like Greenwich and Stamford are getting crossed off the list. Chances are NYC might be off the list for this trip as well, but I’m still debating. However, I’m not too concerned about NYC as I’m in the city every day and took my boats here on several occasions. It’s only 3 hrs away from us, so I can make the trip there anytime.

For starters looks like the best candidates in the LI Sound are:
  • Huntington Bay or Northport
  • Port Jefferson
  • Norwalk CT
Do you think that I should spend 2 nights at any of these ports or 1 night should be enough?

Other destinations you mentioned like Westbrook, Mystic and Essex are much further east (about 65 miles eastbound). Do you think it’s worth stretching this far East or there are other closer destinations I can pick between LI and CT? I’m just thinking that when I’ll do a trip to Rhode Island (and north of it) someday I can include Mystic and Essex.

Thanks,
Alex.
 
Alex, Thanks for the invite..... much appreciated....I will try and make it......

Please let me know when you get better idea if you can make it and I’ll add your info to the first page on the list of participants. We have great group of people attending the event, so you’ll have fun and will meet CSR friends from tri-state area. BTW, few boats (including myself) are planning to go to Block Island after the rendezvous at Montauk. It could be a nice addition to your list.

….I secure a slip in 3 Mile Harbor in East Hampton for the summer. 3 Mile Harbor is a great spot on the north shore of the south folk of Long Island. 3 Mile Harbour is close to many destinations including some really nice coves......
…. as mentioned, 3 mile Harbor is certainly a destination. East Hampton Point is a really nice marina with a 5 star restaurant, pool, tennis courts, van shuttle to town and the ocean beaches. …..

This is great info as I was planning to stop at 3 mile harbor during my trip to MYC and Block.

…..If visiting some wineries is something you wish to do, but your not looking to go the distance to get inside the folks of long Island, there is Matt-a-Mar Marina inside the Mattituck inlet on the north shore of Long Island. The inlet is approx. 30 miles east of Port Jeff. Town is about a 1/2 mile walk......

It sounds like a nice candidate. Can you recommend some attractions/things to do there, besides the wineries (I got to keep my two kids entertained...LOL)? I never heard of this town. I’ll google it, but if you have good links it’ll be a great help.

Thanks,
Alex.

alex,
northport is a nice stop. after that, port jeff. for wineries, agree you need to be east.. like greenport and mattituck.


Thanks Ron. It looks like it's worth marking PJ as my primary candidate for visiting the wineries.
 
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Ah, I forgot about Mattituck. It's been years since I have been in there - a bit tight for us, but I agree that this would be a good choice.
 
Based on preliminary search, Mattituck looks like a very cool place to visit. The location appears very inviting as it's kind of hiding in quite harbor off the sound. I'm adding it to my itinerary.

The Matt-A-Mar marina (http://mattamar.com/) looks very good...Thanks for the tip, Cod.

Admiral can't wait to visit "A Touch of Venice" as well as the wineries. BTW, do you guys have any recommendations on the wineries we should visit or do most of them in that area have good reviews?
 
Alex,

Mattituck is central to the wineries and I don't think you can go to wrong with any of them. You can spend a day hopping from vinyard to vinyard which many people do. In regards to the kids, the only thing I can think of nearby is the Atlantis Aquarium which is about 10 miles away in the town of Riverhead. It is small but it was done very nicely with a "Disneyesque" type of feel. Riverhead is located at the begininng of the 2 folks of Long Island.

In regards to Montauk, we're in.

Here is my info:
Vessel: 2005 500 Sedan Bridge
Crew: Steve, Kris, Brandon (19 yrs), Dalton(16 yrs), Jesse (15 yrs) all boys
Vessel Name: Retreat
Departing from: 3 Mile Harbor, East Hampton
Arrival: Fri, Aug 12th
Departure: Sun Aug 14th

I will call and give my CC #. Is there a group name?
 
Mattituck is central to the wineries and I don't think you can go to wrong with any of them. You can spend a day hopping from vinyard to vinyard which many people do. In regards to the kids, the only thing I can think of nearby is the Atlantis Aquarium which is about 10 miles away in the town of Riverhead. It is small but it was done very nicely with a "Disneyesque" type of feel. Riverhead is located at the begininng of the 2 folks of Long Island….


Steve,

thanks for the details. It’s sounds like very cool place that might be worth spending two nights. I’ve read that there’re tours that take you to the wineries, but I think maybe renting a car for two days wouldn’t be a bad idea to have full flexibility.

….In regards to Montauk, we're in.
Here is my info:
Vessel: 2005 500 Sedan Bridge
Crew: Steve, Kris, Brandon (19 yrs), Dalton(16 yrs), Jesse (15 yrs) all boys
Vessel Name: Retreat
Departing from: 3 Mile Harbor, East Hampton
Arrival: Fri, Aug 12th
Departure: Sun Aug 14th

I will call and give my CC #. Is there a group name?

That’s great!!! The group name is “Club Sea Ray”

I added your info to the first page to our dedicated thread: LI Rendezvous - 2011

Feel free to make comments there and make sure to subscribe to the thread this way you get notifications and be in the loop of any updates.
 
Sounds good, Todd. I'll keep you posted when my plan would be somewhat settled. As I recall your place is at Danford's. In your opinion what's the difference between Danford's Inn Marina and Brewers? I'm trying to decide where to stay and have good access to the town.]

Alex,
My restaurant is actually across the street from Danfords. It is Tommy's Place: http://www.tommysplace.com/#. You can view the menu here also if you like. My brother recently purchased a beautiful building across the street from the town boat ramp. He is under major renovations now but, if he is open by the time you come here we can also eat there.

As far as dockage, Danford's is very nice but not cheap. I am not familiar with Brewer's. I even googled it and could not find anything. Do you have an address? There is also the Setauket Yacht club next to Danfords complex and I believe that they have transient moorings available.
http://www.setauketyc.com/

There is also a Brookhaven Town Marina that has some transient slips but, I think they may end up being pricey and I would take Danford's if the $$ are similar. You can call them when it gets closer or contact Brookhaven Town hall now. http://portjefferson.patch.com/listings/port-jefferson-marina

Another thing to consider for the kids if you are thinking of Riverhead is "Splish Splash". This is a pretty awewsome waterpark and would be fun for the whole family! http://www.splishsplashlongisland.com/

I do like the aquarium but, it is relatively small and I couldn't fill a whole day with it. http://www.atlantismarineworld.com/

I recently saw an older Lincoln Town Car advertising "Vineyard tours" for $99.00 per person. I could delve deeper if you want.

I hope this is helpful!!
 
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Todd,

Thanks a lot for the info. It sure helps. "Splish Splash" is a great idea. I'll look in to that.

I think I got the locations mixed up between Port Wash and PJ. The Brewers is there in PW and I just checked they didn't show any locations in PJ. http://www.byy.com/Port%20Washington/index.cfm

Mooring sounds cool, I'll give them a call to see if we can make it work for us.

Do you know if they have anchorage in the area, in case if mooring won't work?
 
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I will look into anchorage. I'm not sure about that. I know they used to have some areas available. Larry on this site (Oakland, NJ) shoots over from Ct. sometimes and I think he told me about anchoring out in the cove. Try shooting him a PM or I can txt him to get more info.
 
Thanks Todd. I'll PM Larry for details.
 
FYI
Not much at matt a Mar. Touch of Venice has moved to a new location on the other side of town. I am not sure what eatery is moving in there. Just wanted to mention.
Ed
 
FYI
Not much at matt a Mar. Touch of Venice has moved to a new location on the other side of town. I am not sure what eatery is moving in there. Just wanted to mention.
Ed

Thanks for heads up, Ed.


Is it now a long ways to get to the Touch of Venice from Matt-A_Mar? Are their other and better places you can recommend?
 
Can you guys recommend couple places to get diesel at a good price? Would I be out of luck with these ports?:

Northport
Port Jefferson
Clinton CT
Essex CT
Norwalk CT
 
Come on guys, someone has to know where you get cheaper fuel....

I'm trying to pick a port between Northport and Port Jefferson to spend two nights. Which would you pick?
 
Hey guys,

Can someone give me few tips on East Hampton? We're planning to stay in 3 Mile Harbor and I'd like to visit E.Hampton village. I was planning to eaither stay on the hook or grab a mooring, but based on the pictures of the area the village seams to be quite far away (1-2 miles dinghy ride and then couple miles on land). Is there a dinghy dock and then call for a cab? Is the village nice, is it worth the hassle?
 
Hey Alex,

There aren't any moorings for public use. The most popular marina is East Hampton Point. They have a 5-star restaurant, pool, tennis courts and I believe a shuttle to town. Town is worth visiting. Many restaurants but way to many womens clothing stores. Another marina which is next to East Hampton Point is Maidstone Harbor. The dock master is Eric (860) 287-3582. They may be able to accomodate you. This is much more protected than East Hampton Point Marina and the docks are all connected so you can walk over to East Hampton point to go to the restaurant. There is also a restaurant at Maidstone called Harbor Bistro. If you end up in 3 mile harbor, let me know as I will probably be there unless we are on the hook in some cove. When are you planning to visit?
 
Hey Alex,

There aren't any moorings for public use. The most popular marina is East Hampton Point. They have a 5-star restaurant, pool, tennis courts and I believe a shuttle to town. Town is worth visiting. Many restaurants but way to many womens clothing stores. Another marina which is next to East Hampton Point is Maidstone Harbor. The dock master is Eric (860) 287-3582. They may be able to accomodate you. This is much more protected than East Hampton Point Marina and the docks are all connected so you can walk over to East Hampton point to go to the restaurant. There is also a restaurant at Maidstone called Harbor Bistro. If you end up in 3 mile harbor, let me know as I will probably be there unless we are on the hook in some cove. When are you planning to visit?

Thanks for the tips, Steve.

We're planning to go to 3 mile harbor right after the Block Island trip, which is right after the MYC Rendezvous. So, we're looking at Aug. 18th.

Do you think that we should make advanced reservations to any of those marinas? I'm not sure what we're doing yet as far as the way to stay (hook or marina). I hear that this is very nice harbor and being on the hook is a very cool there (just like Shelter Island). I'm still debating since we're not 100% sure if the group will stay in the marina on the Block or mooring. But, I'd like to mix things up and dont want to be always in the marina.

Do you recall if the anchorage area is close enough to a marina where we could leave the dinghy and get a ride to the town? Is this a common thing transients do in that area?
 
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It is a beautiful harbor to be on the hook and yes this is common for people to dinghy in to the marina. There is a dinghy dock at East Hampton Point. Advanced reservations that time of year is recommended for East Hampton Point. They don't have a lot of slips. Maidstone rents out there seasonal slips so they may not take a reservation until they know they have availibilty. Seasonal slip renters are required to let the dockmaster know if they are leaving the slip for an extended period of time. I would check to see what the cancellation policy is for EHP. If its 72 hours, lock it in, then you can decide later.
Anchorage area is very close
 
Great, that makes things much easier. Thanks a lot for your help, Steve.
 

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