This paper provides a cross-shaped moored array dataset (MASCS 1.0) of observations that consist of five buoys and four moorings in the northern South China Sea from 2014 to 2015. The moored array is influenced by atmospheric forcings such as tropical cyclones and monsoon as well as oceanic tides and flows. The data reveal variations of the air–sea interface and the ocean itself, which are valuable for studies of air–sea interactions and ocean dynamics in the northern South China Sea.