The neutron ambient dose equivalent measured at 0^o, 30^o, 90^o and 120^o with respect to the incident beam for 116 MeV ¹²C projectiles incident on a thick carbon target are reported here. The measurements were carried out with a conventional moderated BF₃ proportional counter based rem-meter and a spectrometry based neutron probe (N-probe) dose meter that measures the fluence and folds it with the appropriate fluence to dose conversion coefficients to give the ambient dose equivalent. The ambient dose equivalents are also estimated using the neutron spectra calculated by the PACE2 statistical nuclear reaction model code and folding it with the fluence to ambient dose equivalent conversion coefficients. The dose results are also obtained using an empirical technique reported in the literature. The doses measured by the rem-meter and N-probe, and that estimated from the PACE2 results agreed within 10% of each other while the results from the empirical relation under-predicted the dose rates in the forward direction and over predicted in the backward direction. The angular distribution of the dose from the empirical relation also did not agree with the results from the other techniques. The measured and the PACE2 calculated neutron spectra are not similar in the fluence, shape, peak energy or the slope. The integral doses are still comparable because of the compensation by the higher fluence in the PACE2 results and a corresponding higher fluence to ambient dose equivalent conversion coefficients at those energies.