Entering the Harbor

A jetty extends 1.6 kilometers south on Zuniga Shoal from Zuniga Point, the southwest extremity of North Island. The outer two-thirds of the jetty has only small sections visible at high water; the submerged jetty is marked by lights and by a light and fog signal at its seaward end. A submerged jetty extends about 200 meters west from Zuniga Point.

When entering the harbor, Buoy 5 and Ballast Point are easily identified targets, thence Shelter Island, the radar reflector on North Island, and the various piers on either side of the channel; thence Harbor Island, the Coast Guard station pier, B Street Pier, and the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. Click on the "read more" link for specific information.

Ballast Point, low and sandy, projects 0.64-kilometer northeast from the east side of Point Loma, 2.09 kilometers north from Point Loma Light. Ballast Point Light B (32° 41.2’N, 117° 13.9’W), 4.88 meters above the water, is shown from a dolphin with a green and white diamond-shaped daymark off the end of the point; the station has a fog signal. A long pier of the Navy submarine facility is 0.32 kilometer north-northwest of Ballast Point. A private fog signal is on the pier. Storm warning signals are displayed.

Restricted areas of a degaussing station are between Ballast Point and Zuniga Point, and north of Ballast Point. A safety zone is off the southeast side of the Coast Guard station east of Harbor Island on the north side of the bay.

A Federal project provides for depths of 12.81 meters through the entrance to the turning basin on the northeast side of North Island, thence 10.67 meters from the turning basin to the South Bay turning basin. (See Notice to Mariners and latest editions of the charts for controlling depths.)