South Carolina’s coast offers truly spectacular opportunities to dive into nature. The varied ecosystems offer pristine beaches, marshes, tidal pools, maritime forests, and barrier islands. Each system provides habitat for wildlife as well as beautiful waterways to explore. Here are a few ways to get out on the water during your beach vacation.
Tidal Trails on Kiawah Island offers powerboat, kayak, and paddleboard tours of the area’s saltwater creeks and inlets. These guided nature tours offer an opportunity to get closer to dolphins, observe abundant birdlife and see sites only accessible by boat. These excursions give Kiawah Island guests a completely different view of the coast.
Nature Adventures in nearby Mount Pleasant focuses on creating experiences and memories to last a lifetime, including a guided tour to explore the beautiful scenery of Historic Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant. They also provide day and overnight expeditions to the Heritage Preserve, Capers Island, Penny Creek, a blackwater swamp in the ACE Basin, and other waterways in the Lowcountry.
Barrier Island Eco Tours lets you create your excursion. Choose a three-and-a-half-hour blue crabbing trip where you’ll catch crabs with a hand line and net - the old-fashioned way. Along the way, a naturalist will teach participants about the history of the blue crab and stone crab, as well as other wildlife on Capers Island. It’s a fun trip for the entire family that ends with a crab boil (crabs that are brought, not the crabs that are caught). You can’t beat fresh steamed crab on a barrier island beach.
Speed things up with the Jet Ski Safari Adventure Tour offered by Tidal Wave Water Sports on Isle of Palms. These tours offer a guided trip to the barrier islands for participants 16 and over. Explore 30 miles of pristine waterways during the one-and-a-half-hour-long excursion. Enjoy shelling and seeing wildlife during a stop on Capers Island, one of the largest uninhabited islands on the East Coast.
Watch Atlantic Ocean bottle-nosed dolphins play in the waves aboard a Dolphin Encounter cruise with St. Johns Kayaks. Step onboard a pontoon boat for a relaxing cruise through the creeks and rivers surrounding the barrier islands. The company also offers shelling and crabbing tours that will create lifelong memories for your family. Be a part of a Lowcountry tradition with one of these unique opportunities. St. Johns Kayaks is located on Andell Bluff Plantation, near the entrances to Kiawah and Seabrook Islands.
For those staying on Seabrook Island, hit the high seas with Captain Jack’s Sailing and Dolphin Watching trips. The 33-foot Palmetto Tide sailboat leaves from Bohicket Marina on Johns Island with morning and early afternoon departures for prime dolphin viewing. Captain Jack knows where to find the large, permanent population of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, and educates his charter guests on all things dolphin-related.
Now get out there and go exploring!