New York City Watertrail

New York City is rich in water. If you're looking for a few hours of tranquil paddling or a full-day expedition, you'll find it here. The NYC Water Trail connects 160 square miles of rivers, bays, creeks, inlets and ocean in the five boroughs suitable for kayaks, canoes, and open-water rowing craft. Novice and experience paddlers alike can enjoy skyline panoramas, riverside parks, bird sanctuaries, tidal marshlands, and boundless vistas of one of the world‘s premier harbors, all from a prime sea-level vantage.

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Top destinations for kayakers and paddlers.

Bronx:
  • Pelham Bay Park
  • Hunts Point
 Brooklyn:
  • Valentino Park
  • Floyd Bennettt
 Manhattan:
  • Pier 96
  • Sherman Creek
Queens:
  • Hallets Cove
Staten Island:
  • Midland Beach
  • Conference House
 New Jersey
  • Edgewater
  • Edgewater
  • Edgewater


Manhattan Circumnavigation Paddling Safety Guide

Going Coastal with support from the National Safety Boating Council and help for NYC Parks & Recreation has created a Manhattan Circumnavigation Paddling Safety Guide that provides essential information for paddlers to approach New York City waters safely and responsibly. This includes a map of launch sites, landings, and stop-over points, basic paddling and water safety information; permits required, and boathouses, marinas, ferry, and port facilities. Major city landmarks and sights visible to paddlers are displayed. Paddlers can use the map graticules and GPS to discover them along the route. While the map is created to scale 1:92,000 and has a scale bar of 1NM, it is not to be used for navigation, but as an informational aid only

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Kayak Launches landings in New New York City.

Use the map below to do some pre–trip recognizance. The satellite images offer a birds eye unhindered panorama of the entire shoreline. The maps give street directions. Going Coastal markers show the approximate GPS coordinates of launches, landings and stopover points. In some cases the actual facilities were not yet built during the time the satellite photo was taken. If you do not see the map below, enable the JavaScript on your browser and try agian. Also, please feel free to send us any corrections, modifications, and suggestions. This page is an all volunteer effort, to serve our comminute and get people into the water. Join us by sharing your experience and knowledge, Email in any corrections and editions to the site.

Interactive map of official and unofficial water access points for kayakers and paddlers
Beaches:    Boathouses:    Docks:

Kayak Directory

Permits and Licenses Emergency Contacts
  • 911
  • USCG VHF 16
  • NYPD Harbor Unit VHF 17
Tides, Currents & Weather in New York Harbor Ferry contacts
  • S.I. Ferry: VHF 19A
  • New York Water Taxi: VHF 20A
  • NY Waterways: VHF 69 & 71

Photo Gallery of New York City's launches and landings

Gowanus Canal 2nd St

Pier 96 HRP

Anabel Basin

Watersedge Restaurant Docks

Gantry State Park beach

Gantry State Park Docks

Water Taxi beach

Newtown Creek Queens Side Side

Newtown Creek Brklyn Side

N8St Williamsburg

Brooklyn Br Park, Manhattan Br

Brooklyn Br Park

Red Hook