Reviews: Neuse River - South River

Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Richard Trumper, Island Fox, on Nov 13, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 34'
Draft: 4.5'

Updated review. Lukens has a seawall and dock for going ashore, making landing much easier. Stayed 3 days and never worried about anchor (it came up with lots of sticky, stinky mud)

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Richard Trumper, Island Fox, on Aug 26, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 34'
Draft: 4.5'

Stayed right in front of Lukens cemetery. Wind was 15-20 on Neuse River from the NE, saw 5-8 anchored here. Held great in black sandy mud. We were the only boat here, not even any mosquitos or flies! Cell is limited to 1 to 2 bars on Verizon and 0 to 1 bars on AT&T.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Jason Spitz, Breathe, on Sep 20, 2023
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.0'

Our last visit was 2020 and we love this anchorage just as much as last time. Spent a few nights. First night on our own and the second had 5 other boats. There's room for hundreds here. Great stop but only landing area is Luken's Cemetery. TMobile was 1 bar. No WiFi. Natural beauty is what makes this a great anchorage.
See photos at https://www.facebook.com/100063618668322/posts/pfbid02cEKrA7xV1aqhbqomWn1b1APiw8HRXjNZ2D37uGYLzSycxvi32qW6m3aDsxitoEkel/

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Janet Gannon on Jul 6, 2023
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 37'
Draft: 5.5'

We poked our way into the little bay to the west of red marker 6, where we were able to get out of the brisk south wind. Plenty of room in there for several boats. We headed over to Lukens Cemetery which has a nice spot to and a dinghy and is very interesting. You can also get ashore at the small dock located at the end of Big Creek Rd -- it looks like a kayak launch area or something. Great place to walk the dog but bring bug spray! Great holding which means your anchor's going to be muddy. Be absolutely sure to watch your depth and chartplotter on your way into South River, you'll fine depths go from 10' to 1' very quickly if you stray.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Capt. Mac Rubel on Sep 5, 2022
LOA: 48'
Draft: 5.0'

Entering South River requires a bit of attention to the ATONs and charts. Care must be taken to stay in the middle of the channel between Green "1" and Red "2" as depths shoal on the east side of the channel quickly. Pay attention to the military vessel wreck located behind Green "3" as well. There is no less than 10 feet of water in the entrance. Once in South River the "anchorage" is an area of approximately 2 square miles of 10-12 foot deep water with options for wind protection from any direction except north. Holding is good, there is no current and, by choosing where to anchor, you can minimize chop. There is morning boat traffic from the boat launch at Red "6" but, according to local knowledge, it is not that heavily used. The anchorage will hold any number of boats and is also used by locals as a heavy weather hideout. I am told that several people/businesses anchor out their boats here during hurricanes.

There is a dock at the old, historic cemetery on the eastern shore of the river and you can land at the boat launch but there are no stores or other attractions within walking distance. The eastern shore is close to the boundary on a restricted bombing range located further east so do not be surprised if you are visited by low flying jets and helicopters. Cell coverage is weak but usable for internet on all three networks. It is just slower than usual.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Martin Hameline, O'MAGOG, on Apr 22, 2022
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 46'
Draft: 6.3'

Great anchorage just a bit off the ICW
Peaceful and calm. Off the beaten track we were anchored with 9 other boats. Plenty of room. Black mud is an instant grab with our delta anchor and 22 meters of chain in 3 meters of water
With our 6'3" keel we elected to stay a bit in the centre left as we entered.
Highly recommend this anchorage and will return every time we pass north or south

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Richard Trumper, Island Fox, on May 22, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 34'
Draft: 4.5'

Anchored Saturday May 22 2021. Almost flat calm, 6 other boats and there is lots of room and the depths match charts very well. Anchored in 10 feet with a muddy bottom, and Mantus grabbed instantly. Some green flies and mosquitoes. Full bars with Verizon. Oh, and lots of dolphins all around.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Kat, S/V Arabella, on Oct 17, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 34'
Draft: 3.1'

We stopped over here on our way to Dowry Creek from Georgetown, SC. We specifically stopped due to having read it was great for pet access. Unfortunately, I can't agree with that portion. The anchorage is nice and quaint but we currently only have a kayak so we had to kayak our dogs to shore. We anchored at Hardy Creek between the sign and the shore, as close to the "dead end road" access as possible without hitting the 1 ft shoal, in 4.5 ft. It was still a long kayak run to shore. The other side of the bay was undeveloped, and looked better for shore access, but had white posted signs on all trees and I wasn't sure what they said. Didn't want to risk being shot at or whatnot, so we chose the Hardy Creek side. I had 0-1 bar with AT&T. If you don't have pets, or do have a dinghy and can go further faster, this is a nice area. Spacious. Had a nice Sunrise.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Jason Spitz, Breathe, on Jul 2, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.0'

Beautiful, Beautiful place. This is a great large area to get off the Neuse. We spent two nights in late June 2020. The days were beautiful with excellent kayaking and a trip to the Luken’s Cemetery, which we anchored off off about 300-400 yards. Close up your big screens as the sun sets as the mosquitoes here were all named Dracula. And there were lots of them. We had crabs climbing up our bridles in the mornings. Imagine the fishing/crabbing is excellent. Note there were lots of stinging nettlles and jellyfish in the water. Look before swimming here. No WiFi. No Google Fi. Spotty Verizon coverage. A nice place to getaway and relax.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Anita Smith on Apr 26, 2020
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

A very large bay where you can anchor pretty much anywhere and can move around to get wind protection from almost any direction except north. Cell coverage is weak and gets almost nonexistent in the south end of the bay.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Team AJ, Tula, on Jan 24, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.9'

You can go pretty far back if you need north wind shelter. Depth is around 10 feet in large areas. On our last visit there were a dozen other boats but plenty of room to spread out if you want space.

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Review for Neuse River - South River

Reviewed by: Skipper Bob on Jun 1, 2016
Draft: 0.0'

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