Guide
How to read a bar report
Checked September 11, 2026 against the Coast Guard, the National Weather Service and federal rules.
The Bar conditions tile repeats what the Coast Guard reports for the five river and harbor entrances on this stretch of coast. Here is what each word means, and what it does not.
This page is never the last check. A report is a snapshot from when a watchstander looked. Call the station, listen on VHF channel 16 or 22A, and look at the water yourself before you cross.
The five bars
| Bar | Town | Recorded line |
|---|---|---|
| Umpqua River | Winchester Bay | 206-815-7188 |
| Coos Bay | Charleston | 206-815-7227 |
| Coquille River | Bandon | 541-756-9220 |
| Rogue River | Gold Beach | 541-247-7219 |
| Chetco River | Brookings | 206-815-7126 |
The Coast Guard’s bar conditions line for Oregon and Washington is 866-498-0713. The numbers above are the ones printed beside each bar on the National Weather Service’s bar observations page.
What the words mean
- No restrictions. The Coast Guard had not restricted the bar when the report was made. It is not a promise that the bar is safe, and conditions on a bar can change within minutes.
- Restricted. Recreational boats and uninspected passenger vessels (small charters) below a length the Coast Guard sets at the time may not cross. A typical notice reads “restricted to all recreational vessels smaller than 36 feet.” This is federal law, not advice: the bars on this coast are Regulated Navigation Areas, and the Coast Guard has fined a boater $3,000 for crossing a restricted Coos Bay bar.
- Closed. No vessel may cross unless the Coast Guard authorizes it. A bar is closed when conditions are beyond what the Coast Guard can safely respond to.
- Unknown. There is no current report. Either the station is unmanned, as the Coquille River and Rogue River stations have been for years (as of September 2026), or the last report is more than 12 hours old. Unknown is never an all-clear. Call the number above.
The time and the words under it
Every report carries the time it was observed, and the board shows that time and how old it is. The paragraph under a report is the watchstander’s own description (swell, wind, visibility), shown exactly as they typed it, capitals and typos included, because rewording a safety report is how meaning gets lost.
Before you cross
- Check the report before you leave the dock, and again before the crossing.
- Restrictions and closures are announced as a Broadcast Notice to Mariners on VHF channels 16 and 22A.
- Between sunset and sunrise while a bar is restricted, uninspected passenger vessels and commercial fishing vessels must call the Coast Guard on channel 16 or 22A before crossing, with the vessel’s name, position, people aboard and destination.
- Wear your life jacket on the bar, and check the marine forecast and tides too: an ebb tide against a big swell is when bars turn.