Report from Cox Lake Anchorage on the Upper Waccamaw River, off the AICW
Departing the Waterway at statute mile 375, four miles south of the Socastee Bridge, this “off-road” venture on the lovely, upper section of the Waccamaw River to the city of Conway, SC has pleased many cruisers and has proven to be a worthy side trip. And now Captain Thomason adds knowledge of a quiet, safe anchorage between Conway and the Waterway. This is very good news indeed, as, prior to this posting, we knew of no other place to spend the evening once the confines of the AICW were left behind, than to continue upstream to the city Marina at Conway. Now, there is a FREE alternative!
Unfortunately, this upper section of the Waccamaw is not covered on any NOAA chart, so we must relay on Captain Thomason’s description below to find this anchor down spot. However, using the magic of “Google Earth,” we have isolated a satellite image of this body of water, which you will see on the upper, right corner of this posting!
Has anyone else anchored on Cox Lake??? If so, we want to hear from you. Please share your experiences by making use of the “Comment” function at the end of this posting. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Dear Claiborne,
Cox Lake is a body of water north east of R marker 16 (approximate location N33 47 683, W 079 03 102). Depart the marked route just south of R 16, proceed through the obvious opening to the lake. Depths going in are in the 7-9 ft range. We like to anchor directly across from the opening at the mouth of a wide cove, past a large dock to starboard in 12 to 14 ft of water or deeper in to the cove for shallower depths (10 ft or less). The deepest into the cove we have anchored is N33 47 856, W 079 03 102. Cox Lake is known to locals who sometimes anchor here to party but that’s only happened once for us (and they left at night). Other than the one dock, the shores are natural cypress. At one point there were a couple of very small homemade “houseboats” on the north side of the lake but they have been gone the last two times we anchored. The anchorage is not affected by wakes from boats on the river. A nice spot to pass a quiet night. Hope this helps!
Cox Lake is approximately two and a half miles from Conway City Marina.
Jean Thomason
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