The coastal waters of Makassar consitute the potential for the development of aquaculture and marine tourism but the new in- formation about characteristic of chemical waters was still limited. The research aims to study spatial distribution and characteristic of nitrate (NO3), phosphate (PO4) and dissolved oxygen (OD) in the coastal waters of Makassar. Nitrate content was analyzed using Brucine method, using spectrophotometer DR 2800 at wavelength 410 nm, while phosphate content was determined using Ascorbate Acid method at wavelength 660nm. DO measurement was conduct- ed using portable water quality chaker, TOA-DKK. Spatial pattern of NPO in Makassar coasts was analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) following zonal analysis using t-test to understand detail characteristics of nitrate, phosphate, and oxygen at different zones. Contingency matrix showed high variance for each axis, in where site 1, 6, 16, 21 (zone 1) and site 2 (zone 2) were distrib- uted to high PO4 and turbidity; site 8 (zone 3), 9, 14 (zone 4), 10, 15 (zone 5), 11 (zone 1), 12 (zone 2) dan site 13 (zone 3) were correlated with high pH, DO, NO3, temperature and salinity; site 3, 18, 23 (zone 3), 4, 19, 24 (zone 4), 5, 20, 25 (zone 5) dan site 7, 17, 22 (zone 2) were marked with high chlorophyll-a and current velocity. Statistical analysis revealed that different traits of NO3 at near coast zone compare to off coast zone. Fluctuative feature of dissolved nitrate, phosphate, and oxygen at the coastal waters of Makassar was effected by terrestrial inputs and water movement.