Dexter Filming Locations: The Coral Cove Marina

             


The location: The Coral Cove Marina.


Q. What is it supposed to be on the show?

    A. A somewhat run-down marina.


Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

    A. In Miami.


Q. When did we see it on the show?

    A. In Episode 5 (Season 2), "The Dark Defender".

    We see Debra & Lundy walking on a dock at the Coral Cove marina, where Dexter keeps his boat.

    A distant shot shows an old train trestle/bridge in the background, as Debra stumbles on the dock and complains about the marina's state of disrepair.

    She starts to talk about the "Bay Harbor Butcher" case, when suddenly Lundy sits down on the dock and starts taking off his shoes and socks. She looks at him like he's crazy.

    Then he opens a paper bag and starts having his lunch, with his bare feet dangling in the water.

    Debra becomes increasingly irritated, as Lundy ignores her. He tells her it is 1 o'clock, and that he always stops & eats lunch at 1 o'clock.

    She gets even angrier as he refuses to discuss the case, and when he mentions she's "very fidgety" (which reminds her of her father's former criticisms).

    As she starts to walk away in a huff, Lundy tells her that he's observed that the marina has no security, and that he's ordering 24-hour surveillance on it. That appeases her, and she sits down next to him on the dock, and takes off her shoes & socks.

    ( But the decision to install video cameras at the marina poses a problem for Dexter, who doesn't find out until he has been caught on tape checking his boat for traces of blood. )


Q. What is it actually in real life?

    A. A blue collar marina - but nowhere near Miami.


Q. Where can I find it in real life?

    A. I thought I was pretty familiar with the Long Beach coastline and its various marinas, but to tell the truth, I never even knew that this place existed until I had to track it down for this particular scene location.

    Of course, technically, it's not even Long Beach, it's Wilmington - so perhaps that lets me off the hook. ;)

    The scene was filmed at a somewhat seedy little marina called Leeward Bay Marina, at 611 N. Henry Ford Avenue, just north of Terminal Island.

    You'll find it just west of Henry Ford bridge, where the Dominguez Channel passes under Henry Ford Avenue. In fact, from aerial maps, it appears that the marina is actually in the Dominguez Channel, just SW of the intersection of E. Anaheim Street and Henry Ford Ave.

    While most marinas tend to be in upscale areas, working-class Leeward is lost in an isolated, industrial area on the Long Beach/Wilmington border.

    The boats it houses tend to be older ones, often with live-aboard owners.  Railroad trains hauling freight chug by on the nearby trestle/bridge, along with trucks hauling crushed cars on the Terminal Island freeway - while next door are storage yards and mammoth cranes.

    The waters around it are reportedly badly polluted, with residents joking about the marina being "where the sewer meets the sea". So if I were Keith Carradine (who plays Lundy), I'd think twice about dangling my feet in the water there. The flood control channel washes everything out to that part of the world, and marina residents report seeing everything from dead dogs to dead porcupines floating by after a storm...

    Another scene in the same episode was shot here: the scene at the coffee bar where Debra & Dexter are sharing coffee at an outdoor patio.

    The marina photos below were shot by Dexter fans Kerry & Eric, of Long Beach, who earlier discovered the locations of the hot dog stand , Cody's school and Paul's playground.
    Thanks guys!


    Here is an aerial photo of the marina. And here is a map link.


Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

    A. As I mentioned above, I had no idea that this marina even existed.

    But fortunately, the scene on the show included a very clear shot of the distinctive Henry Ford bridge (which leads from mainland Long Beach to Terminal Island), and I've seen that bridge many times before in other movie scenes (such as "Transformers", "To Live & Die in L.A." and "The Fast & the Furious". filmmakers tend to like the Terminal Island area when they're looking for rough, industrial locations.

    So, I used Live Local maps to take a closer look at the waters around the bridge, and sure enough, there was the marina. The next step was to determine it's name was but a little Googling turned up the facts I needed.



 
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