Overview
Newferry is not somewhere you turn up to and wander around. It is a working launch point on the Lower Bann - a double-platform floating pontoon, a slipway, a canoe step and a car park - and it operates a key-holder policy, so access is by phone rather than fixed opening hours. Ring 028 7941 8399 before you go. The address is 1 Newferry Road, Antrim, BT41 3TX. What brings most visitors here is the boat.
Abhainn Cruises
The marina is the home port for Abhainn Cruises, which runs private charter tours rather than scheduled sailings, so you book the boat for your own group. Their trips fall into a few types: a coastal Sea Safari, cruises out onto Lough Neagh, runs up and down the River Bann, and Game of Thrones location tours. The Lough Neagh outings can take in Church Island, the Toome Canal and the old Lock Keeper’s Cottage and café, while the Sea Safari is the one to pick if you want wildlife - the operator photographs puffins, seals and dolphins on the coastal legs. Life jackets are supplied. Because everything is by charter, book ahead through Abhainn Cruises rather than expecting to walk on.
The river and its history
The Bann here is quiet, slow water, good for kayaks and canoes as much as powered craft, and the towpaths along the bank give easy, level walking with the river on one side and farmland on the other. It is also an unusually old place to be standing. Newferry is one of Ireland’s important Mesolithic sites: flint tools left by the earliest hunter-gatherers have been recovered from the deep river deposits here, some of the oldest human traces on the island. Much later, during the Second World War, the countryside around Newferry was used for a large military rehearsal, Exercise Judy.
Practical
There is free parking on site and the access road allows straightforward drop-offs. Beyond that, keep your expectations right: there is no visitor centre, shop or café at the marina itself, and the pontoon and slipway are locked between users. Check the forecast and the river level before you set out - the Lower Bann can rise quickly after heavy rain - and arrange access, or your tour, in advance.