Montauk, NY

[happy dog]

I am planning a trip to Montauk NY this summer with my wife a young son (age 2) does any one have suggestions on where to stay? We are sailing a jeanneau 42 DS

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, happy dog.

See "Navigation and Anchorages" at
➥ Boating in Montauk, NY: Make marina reservations & find dockage

[Sandero]

What do you mean by "stay" ? Where to anchor or what hotel to stay at?

[Boomp]

We had a nice sail there last year and really enjoyed it....but, you will likely have to pay daily for use of the dinghy dock. Its pretty crowded near the shore and from the anchorage area its a fairly long ride. The area is more oriented for 'motor' boats. Its important to get some local advice on the approach to the anchorage too. [Very narrow bouy channels]

[SailFastTri]

Montauk is not a good sailor's destination, IMHO. I've been there once by boat and would not go there again unless we needed a port for shelter or other reason. It is very sport-fishing oriented. We got a slip at Montauk Yacht Club which is supposed to be upscale but the rest rooms were dirty and service was lacking. The docks were exposed to a chop from Lake Montauk and it was not peaceful. It's all about sport fishing there.

You can anchor in Lake Montauk but dinghy access is limited. If we ever go back we would be more comfortable at anchor, rather than over-paying for mediocre facilities.

Better destinations in that area are Three Mile Harbor (very quiet, but there are restaurants at some marinas), Orient Harbor (even quieter, no commercial facilities), Shelter Island's 3 harbors, Greenport, and Sag Harbor. All of these are fairly quiet destinations except Greenport and Sag Harbor which are towns with a variety of shopping, provisioning and restaurants.

As a sailor you will likely find great sailing conditions in Gardeners Bay and these harbors are each a few miles/hours from each other, making for nice day sails as you hop between them. You could spend a week in that area and be very happy.

[Alan Brown]

Think about grabbing a town mooring in Greenport. You can dink to shore and walk downtown. Some good restaurants (Claudio's) and shops. Also recall a grocery store, but I may be wrong. We found it a good stop several years back.

Enjoyed Montauk, but it's a sport fisherman's kind of place. We were in a 35 ft. powerboat when we visited, so we fit right in with the crowd. We used the public bus to travel around town and out to the lighthouse. Great place to buy fresh seafood.

[happy dog]

Originally Posted by defjef

What do you mean by "stay" ? Where to anchor or what hotel to stay at?

I ment to dock my boat. Because my son is only two, we do not want to trap him on the boat. He likes to get off and roam. I was looking for a good family marina.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by happy dog

I ment to dock my boat. Because my son is only two, we do not want to trap him on the boat. He likes to get off and roam. I was looking for a good family marina.

If you must do Montauk try Star Marina. Try Greenport and Sag Harbor -- lots to do as you're in town as soon as you step off the dinghy dock. Some nice marinas in Three Mile Harbor -- much nicer than Montauk. 3MH has a nice beach with bay exposure at the north end (no big waves, good for a 2-Y-O) you can take the dingy and some of the marinas have pools.