The Waterfront was primarily filmed in North Carolina, with key locations including Wilmington, Southport, and Wrightsville Beach.
- Wilmington was used extensively for various town scenes, including the Chamber of Commerce (which stood in for Havenport hospital), local businesses like William E. Poole Designs (Jenna's family hardware store), Caprice Bistro, and the Black Cat Shoppe. Neighborhoods like Audubon/Devon Park were also filming spots, for example, Diller's house. Some scenes also featured the old City Hall portion of Thalian Hall as a bank and places such as the United States Postal Service office in downtown Wilmington.
- Southport provided several recognizable locations such as Fishy Fishy Cafe, which served as Buckley Crab Shack (the family restaurant), Potter’s Seafood market, Morningstar Marina, and the Southport City Pier, which was transformed into the Havenport town pier. The sheriff’s department scenes were filmed at the International Longshoremen’s Local 1838 building in Southport.
- Wrightsville Beach was featured notably in some aerial shots and scenes including a high school swimming competition filmed at the Wrightsville Beach Outrigger Canoe Club.
In sum, the show used real coastal towns in North Carolina to represent the fictional town of Havenport, capturing the scenic and cultural essence of the region.
