Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

[lekmedm]

Hi all. Is there anyone here who docks at any of the marinas in the area around Raritan Bay in NJ? Which one? Any recommendations or warnings...?

I have been down in Brick, but I'm looking to move up the coast so my drive to the boat will be shorter.




EDIT: Arrrgh.... this post didn't go into the section I wanted! Mods, please move.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

I might suggest if you can get a bit farther south in Sandy Hook bay it will give you more protected waters for boating, and also bring you closer to the NavesinK & Shrewsbury Rivers (which are beautiful). There are Leonardo state marina & Atlantic Highlands marina, though there is a lot of RT36 traffic in the summer to deal with to get to those. Keport & Morgan Creek both have a good number of marinas to choose from and are right on the bay. As I remember there are also a couple of 'creeks' in the union Beach area with marinas. - Sorry that I can't make any specific recomendations (to many years since moving away)

 

[lekmedm]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

Thanks for writing, Ned. I was looking at the marinas along Morgan Creek. They have the best location for me. They are about a 45 minute drive for me to get there as opposed to the current 1.5 hour drive I have to Brick. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on which marinas along Raritan Bay were good and which were bad.

I've actually been using the satelite maps on Google to scan the coast to track down the marinas along the bay. Thanks to Google, I feel like a spy!

 

[NYGiants]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

you have morgan marina
on the cheesquake creek
pedersons marina andanother marina in keyport.
and atlantic highlands has a marina. and great kills staten island
they all are good marinas
i boat out of keyport

 

[lekmedm]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

you have morgan marina
on the cheesquake creek
pedersons marina andanother marina in keyport.
and atlantic highlands has a marina. and great kills staten island
they all are good marinas
i boat out of keyport

Which marina in Keyport do you use? I see Brown's Point and Wagner's Twin Towers. How do you like it? How long have you been there?

 

[NYGiants]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

i actually belong to the yacht club so i wouldnt know.
im a sailor not a powerboater

 

[Subliminal]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

The only times I've ever been out on the Raritan Bay, we left out of South River.

It's a fun ride up a disgusting river. ;-)

 

[pine island fred]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

Use to be very familiar with the area but its been a long time ago. Am sure it has not changed much. First off have to question why you would even consider the area? Waters from UNION BEACH to S. AMBOY, called the N.J. riviera, are still unsuitable for swimming. Same waters around PERTH AMBOY and STATEN ISLAND.
Kept a larger boat up MATAWAN creek, for awhile and had problems clearing the old welded shut draw bridge. Further down stream in KEYPORT was what was then VIKING marina. Seemed like a nice place at the time. Couple of marinas in MORGAN CREEK close to S AMBOY but if you go to far up stream you have to put up with the RR draw bridge. Only thing further up the RARITAN that I was very familiar with would be the SOUTH RIVER marina that as someone else posted is a pit of a ride out to open water.
If you really have to go to that area, by all means try to locate around SANDY HOOK. As mentioned though, the RT. 36 traffic can be a turn off and ruin your day. I personally think you will stay in the area for 1 season. Believe you will also have a problem just getting to the area as there or no real direct roads in that direction except maby 33 from HEIGHTS TOWN thru FREEHOLD. Do the extra time driving and locate somewhere in BARNAGATE BAY. Just my opinion though, you have to make the best of whats in the area.
Spent most of my life in the JAMESBURG-OLD BRIDGE area and dont miss it at all. Not to rub your nose, have 4 lifts ( 2 covered) and 2 sets of davits empty. Can boat year round out of my back yard. Trips on RT. 1 and 130 every day are finally paying off. regards FRED

 

[lekmedm]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

It's funny, but I never really wanted to get into boating. After a Fourth of July trip to Newport, RI in 2007, my wife went crazy for boats. While I explained that boating is expensive and requires a bit of work to maintain your boat, she forged on to find us something inexpensive. So, the next step was to find a place to park our 26 footer since I wasn't going to trailer it. We ended up in a marina just noth of Barnegat Bay. It's a lovely area, but I had lots of repairs to do on the boat, and the drive was way too long. For all the nagging I heard about getting a boat, my wife stopped wanting to go down there complaining about the drive. Well, the boat now runs great, but the distance to the marina hasn't changed. That's why I'm looking for something closer. We are not looking for Carribean-like waters to go swimming (...not that it wouldn't be nice ). We are new boaters and would like to just explore the bays and coast and learn about boating. I was just wondering if any of the marinas in the Raritan Bay are are known for anything like exceptional people and service, or theft and stank.

 

[Subliminal]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

I don't know if you're into river cruising, but there are lots of marinas on the deleware around bordentown. It's a long cruise, but you can go all the way thru Philly and come out in Cape May. ;-)

 

[NYGiants]

Re: Marinas - Raritan Bay, NJ

i live right near bordentown and the only marina around is curtains
the rest are private yacht clubs