Georgia Anchorages – AICW, Ogeechee River to St. Simons Sound (Statute Mile 602 to 680)
Please Note That Anchorages Below Are Listed in Rough Geographic Format, Moving North to South
Please Note That Anchorages Below Are Listed in Rough Geographic Format, Moving North to South
Statute Mile: 643.5
Location: Upstream Crescent River just northwest of the Waterway’s intersection with Front River
Depths: 8-15 feet
Navigation detail: 31 29.3569 N 81 19.7658 W
Swing room: 200 feet, room for 2-3 boats
Holding ground evaluation: Very good in sandy bottom
Foul weather shelter: Good protection north and south; moderate exposure east and west
Dinghy dockage: none
Provisioning: none
Waste pump-out: none
Pet friendly: Small beach area on the west shore of Creighton Narrows, east then north of the anchorage
Rating: 3 out of 5
Redbird Creek Anchorages
Statute Mile: 607
Lat/Lon:
31 50.570 North/081 09.287 West (anchorage near creeks’ mouth)
31 51.052 North/081 09.666 West (anchorage near turn to the northwest)
Location: on the waters of Redbird Creek, south and west of flashing daybeacon #99
Minimum Depth: 8 feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 40 to 45 feet depending on the particular anchorage chosen
Foul Weather Shelter: Very good
Rating: (particularly for the upstream anchorage)
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Upper Bear River and Associated Streams and Anchorages
Statute Mile: 608.5
Lat/Lon:
31 49.073 North/081 08.539 West (anchorage near forks of Cane Patch Creek and Buckhead Creek
31 48.992 North/081 08.160 West (downstream anchorage on Cane Patch Creek)
31 49.323 North/081 07.383 West (upstream anchorage on Cane Patch Creek)
31 48.455 North/081 08.429 West (anchorage on Buckhead Creek)
Location: many anchorages available on the waters of upper Bear River, Buckhead Creek and Cane Patch Creek, east of the ICW’s unlighted nun buoy #102
Minimum Depth: 11 feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels from 34 to 50 feet depending on the particular anchorage chosen
Foul Weather Shelter: Very good
Rating:
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Unnamed Creek Anchorage
Statute Mile: 612
Lat/Lon: 31 47.874 North/081 10.377 West
Location: on the waters of the charted but unnamed creek, north of flashing daybeacon #105
Minimum Depth: 9-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 36 feet ‘“ reviewed on pages
Foul Weather Shelter: Good, except open to northern winds
Rating:
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A nice anchorage, certainly could be alot of bugs with right weather. Saw it listed as Birthday creek somewhere, though not on a chart.
Big Tom Creek Anchorages
Statute Mile: 612.5
Lat/Lon:
31 46.632 North/081 09.251 West (downstream anchorge)
31 46.493 North/081 08.772 West (upstream anchorage)
Location: Big Tom Creek cuts the eastern banks of the ICW, south of flashing daybeacon #105A
Minimum Depth: 9-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 40 feet
Foul Weather Shelter:
Good on downstream anchorage, but open to western and northwesterly winds
Good on upstream anchorage, but open to northeasterly winds
Rating:
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5-14-16 Anchoered in Big Tom Creek about ½ mile in from MM613, Wide chanel and easy in and out of creek. Anchor set first try. Decent Verizon. Beautiful ssunset!! will stop here again. Charlie and Jackie on Traveler.
Anchor here whenever I get the chance on my trips up and down the ICW. The hook sets first time, every time. Plenty of swing room. Bugs in the evening some times but sometimes no. The dalphins swim round the boat and you can hear them till late at night. I put the hook down exactly where it shows on the chart above.
We anchored here on 4/8/2012. We dropped right over the 9 ft mark on the chart and the hook grabbed quickly. The charted depths are acurate. Deep side to side. Unnerving ‘monster sounds’ from shore in the middle of the night (cows snoring, I presume).
Lincoln Creek Anchorage
Statute Mile: 614
Lat/Lon: near 31 46.568 North/081 11.776 West
Location: on the waters of Lincoln Creek, cutting south from Kilkenny Creek
Minimum Depth: 7-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 36 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Poor to Fair
Rating:
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Walburg Creek Anchorage
Statute Mile: 619
Lat/Lon: near 31 40.060 North/081 09.714 West
Location: on the wide waters of Walburg Creek, west of St. Catherines Island, just north of the charted sharp turn to the west
Minimum Depth: 12-feet, but the deeper northern entrance requires bypassing several unmarked shoals, while the creek’s southern entrance from the Waterway is shallow
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 50 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Very Good for all but northern and northeasterly winds
Rating:
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We were just here this morning. Entered and excited from st cats sound. Tons of water, easy in and out. Just give the green can a wide berth. It was a great anchorage with sandy mud at about 20 feet deep. Only complaint was there were 5+other boats overnight and over 50 boats on the nearby beach during the day.
Dear Claiborne,
We departed Shelter Cove Marina, Broad Creek (MM 560)Hilton Head SC around 9am 12/28/11. The wind was really blowing so we decided to stay inside. It was sunny and pleasant making the days cruise very enjoyable. Around 4:30pm We crossed St Catherines Sound (MM 620) southbound into Walburg Creek. We dropped the hook about a mile down in 20 feet of water. In minutes I was sitting on the foredeck of our Silverton 37 with a strong cold drink, smoking a cigar absorbing the last minutes of a huge golden sunset.
After a quiet night we were underway and heading out St Catherines Sound inlet into the Atlantic southbound for St Simons Inlet. Conditions were perfect as the wind was light with waves 1 ft.
This anchorage is perfectly located in both distance from Hilton Head and St Simons Island and access to the Atlantic.
Walburg Creek is a magic place!
Best,
Kurt Kuykendall
M/V Jus Relaxin
Silverton 37 Conv
Cattle Pen Creek Anchorage
Statute Mile: 625.5
Lat/Lon: near 31 38.581 North/081 11.040 West
Location: this creek cuts into the eastern banks of the Waterway’s Johnson Creek stretch between unlighted daybeacons #127 and #128
Minimum Depth: 6 ½ feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 32 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Poor to Fair; open to southwestern and northeasterly wind
Rating:
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Wahoo River Anchorage
Statute Mile: 630
Lat/Lon: near 31 36.083 North/081 12.755 West
Location: located on the waters of Wahoo River, immediately east of charted Wahoo Island, ‘“ Wahoo River flows into the the ICW section of South Newport River well west of unlighted daybeacon #133
Minimum Depth: 10-feet, but use of a GPS chartplotter is strongly recommended to facilitate safe entry into Wahoo River
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 42 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Excellent in all but strong western and southwestern winds
Rating:
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We spent a quiet night here on 12/03/09. Watch the shoaling at the entrance, especially the north side. We went up stream to find shelter from the wind. Recommend going upstream for protection and to avoid the swift current near the rivers mouth.. Holding appeared great and our danforth held giving us a peaceful night.
We also found Wahoo river to be a very good anchorage. WHile we were there a major squall came roaring through. We saw 30 knts of wind and the winds were clocking. But through the entire night the holding was EXCELLENT
Crescent River Anchorage North
Statute Mile: off 643.5
Lat/Lon: near 31 30.367 North/081 20.267 West
Location: lies well northwest and north of the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #157
Minimum Depth: 11-feet, but use of a GPS chartplotter is recommended to avoid an unmarked shoal on Crescent River
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 40 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Very Good from all but strong northwestern and southeastern winds
Rating:
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New Teakettle Creek Anchorages
Statute Mile: 647
Lat/Lon: 31 26.921 North/081 18.226 West (anchorage near stream’s southern mouth)
31 27.530 North/081 18.213 West (upstream anchorage north of intersection with Mary Creek
Location: New Teakettle Creek cuts to the north, east and north of the Waterway’s unlighted daybeacon #172
Minimum Depth: 20 feet (downstream anchorage), 8 feet (upstream anchorage)
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 42 feet in downstream anchorage and up to 40 feet in upstream anchorage, north of intersection with Mary Creek
Foul Weather Shelter: Good, but downstream anchorage open to southern winds, and upstream anchorage open to strong northeasterly blows
Rating:
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An anchorage I had always meant to try, but had never fit into my travel day. Planned it out, anchored up past Mary Creek about 0.5 mi, a little bit to port of the charted deep water, and had good anchorage, with 10-15 kts out of the NE.
Duplin River Anchorage
Statute Mile: 649
Lat/Lon: 31 25.961 North/081 17.632 West
Location: Duplin River cuts north from the waters of Doboy Sound, northeast of the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #178
Minimum Depth: 12 feet, but a GPS chartplotter would be most useful is successfully bypassing several unmarked shoals flanking Duplin River’s southern mouth
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 48 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Good, except open to strong southern and northern winds
Rating:
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Folly River Anchorage
Statute Mile: 649
Lat/Lon: near 31 25.599 North/081 20.109 West
Location: Folly River cuts off from Doboy Sound’s southwestern banks well west-northwest of the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #175
Minimum Depth: 10-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 42 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Fair; wide open to northeasterly winds
Rating:
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Dark Creek Anchorage
Statute Mile: 649
Lat/Lon: near 31 27.059 North/081 20.124 West
Location: off the northwesterly reaches of Doboy Sound, on the waters of Dark Creek
Minimum Depth: 9-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 38 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Good from all but strong southwesterly winds
Rating:
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North River Anchorages
Statute Mile: 651
Lat/Lon:
31 23.516 North/081 20.124 West (anchorage a short hop west of flashing daybeacon #182)
31 24.132 North/081 21.481 West (upstream anchorage)
Location: North River runs generally west from the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #182
Minimum Depth: 8 feet, but a GPS chartplotter wold be helpful in avoiding several shoals flanking the river’s banks
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 50 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Fair on anchorage west of #182; open to eastern and northeastern winds; Excellent on upstream anchorage
Rating:
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Back River Anchorage
Statute Mile: 651
Lat/Lon: near 31 23.736 North/081 19.629 West
Location: found on the easterly portion of Back River, east of unlighted daybeacon #181
Minimum Depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 38 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Fair to poor; fair weather anchorage only, unless winds are blowing fofmr the north or northeast; good protection from these two quarters
Rating:
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South River Anchorage
Statute Mile: 653.5
Lat/Lon: near 31 21.902 North/081 19.903 West
Location: southeast of flashing daybeacon #190
Minimum Depth: 14-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 45 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Fair
Rating:
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Spent a nice night here in fair weather. Wide and deep, easily laid out 150 feet of rode and rode an easy circle with the tide changes. For as shallow as the chart shows the mouth of this river, a large shrimp boat came by me in the evening. And at dead low tide, at that. Local Knowledge!
South Altamaha River Anchorages
Statute Mile: 660
Lat/Lon:
31 19.239 North/081 26.166 West (anchorage northeast of intersection with New Hope Creek)
31 19.960 North/081 26.288 West (anchorage east of intersection with Wood Cut)
31 19.704 North/081 27.393 West (anchorage west and northwest of Two Way Fish Camp)
Location: South Altamaha River cuts into the ICW’s northwesterly banks hard by unlighted daybeacon #216A
Minimum Depth: 6 feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 40 to 45 feet depending on the particular anchorages chosen
Foul Weather Shelter:
Good (anchorage northeast of intersection with New Hope Creek)
Very Good (anchorage east of intersection with Wood Cut)
Excellent (anchorage west and northwest of Two Way Fish Camp)
Rating: (on two downstream anchorages)
(anchorage west and northwest of Two Way Fish Camp)
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Waterway Anchorage
Statute Mile: 665
Lat/Lon: near 31 16.313 North/081 23.346 West
Location: located on the charted bubble of deep water west and northwest of unlighted daybeacon #227
Minimum Depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 45 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Poor; open to northeastern, southwestern and strong western winds
Rating:
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Comments from Cruisers (1)
The natural beauty of the anchorage was off the charts. See attached pictures. Also, we had a nice ocean breeze blowing over Sapelo Island all night so we never saw a bug! There are times of the year that No-See-Ums or biting flies would have been a problem, but not last weekend. Sometimes tropical storms a few hundred miles away are a good thing.
James H Newsome