Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts · Vineyard & Nantucket Sound · 41°27.7′N 70°33.5′W · VHF Ch 09
Oak Bluffs is the fun one — the gingerbread cottages, the flying-horses carousel, and a compact harbor right in the middle of it all. It's a dock-and-mooring stop, not an anchorage.
Take a slip in the town basin or a mooring just outside (Ch 09). The basin is entered through a narrow cut facing north, so a northerly puts surge in and makes it uncomfortable — pick your weather. There's no real room to anchor inside. In return you get the liveliest night ashore on the island, steps from the dock.
Come for the town, keep an eye on any north wind, and move to Lake Tashmoo or Edgartown if the forecast turns onshore.
Hazards & cautions. The small basin is entered through a narrow cut open to the north — a northerly sends surge in and the basin gets rolly. It's a slip-and-mooring harbor with essentially no anchoring inside; the entrance can be tricky in an onshore chop.
No cruiser reports yet. If you've anchored here, be the first — your note helps the next boat in.
Augusto ratings and editorial are our own synthesis of public-domain sources and cruiser reports. Always verify against current charts and local knowledge before you rely on them.