When working in the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed that every time I had to enter an unknown port, it was at night and most of the time raining or foggy. I relied on good
charts,
radar and Good Navigation planning in order to enter an unknown port. The vessels I captained were 110' to 210' steel hulls. The companies that those vessels were chartered to, expected us to provide excellent service and timely arrivals in the ports and offshore at the platforms. The excuse of never been there before and wanting to wait for daylight would have gone over like a lead balloon.
But the main thing is if you can plan your arrival at daybreak then do so. But you still really need to get out the
charts for that area, the light list, the Coast Pilot (USA) or Sailing Directions (Rest of the World) and Tide and Current tables. The after perusing them carefully and doing the tides and Currents, (sail vessels are more susceptible then power vessels are to Tidal actions
). Work out your way points, gleam the land marks from the
charts and Coast Pilot and work out your plans for entry or departure.
Just an observed point here; It seemed that the first few arrivals and departures at a new port was always at night for me. So I'm use to it.