Friendly captain and crew; they were timely and relaxed; we even got to see some dolphins!…read more Well worth it! I wish the signs to find the spots were more prevalent so visitors can find them easily

This was a great impromptu edition to our family time in Charleston! The staff were polite and…read morecourteous. We found the ride to picturesque and relaxing. A definite must do when visiting Charleston!

Thornton was a terrific captain and guide through the rivers behind Hunting Island in search of…read moredolphins and other wildlife. He found pods of dolphins for us to observe, a few birds (it was high tide). A very capable pilot, Thornton was at his best as a wildlife interpreter of the tidal wetland ecology and its conservation. A fabulous tour!

We had such a beautiful day on the water today!! We did a special trip focusing on fossils on the…read moreisland. My first hunt ... found creature bones, shark teeth, turtle shells... all very very old. It was delightful on such a gorgeous day!! The two guides, Jackie and paleontologist Mike were wonderful guides.

It was a lot of fun on the boat ride, with park rangers providing information and Q&A. The time on…read morethe island was perfect. I went first to be part of raising the flag.

Took the tour and besides the heat the tour was great. The ranger on the boat gave a great story on…read morethe way over to Ft Sumter. The ferry boat was a nice ride. Ft Sumter was very cool and there was plenty to see while you were docked for an hour. I would definitely recommend taking the tour.

Ten out of ten experience with Emma and Caroline here! It was SO simple and quick to book a paddle…read moreboard excursion the day before, and everything went to smoothly. These girls also definitely know what they're doing! The paddle boards are clean and in good shape and you get such a good amount of time out on the water for a good price. Couldn't recommend this place more!

This company runs ferry services with tours of Bull's Island and St. Phillips Island, which I've…read morereviewed separately. Those are great. The company also run various canoe and kayak tours, which have been a bit of a nightmare for me. The Lowcountry wetlands are fantastic and demand to be experienced close up, and many of the tour options sound great. They run quite infrequently, and even when offered, have been unreliable in my experience. To some extent, this can be attributed to weather and varying demand, which is a hassle but is part of the business. Wisely, they don't actually charge you money until you are actually at your tour doing stuff. However, I haven't forgiven them for the one time I made an online reservation at the last minute only to drive to a site at 6 AM and find the tour was canceled, with no one around to answer the phone and an active listing still on their website. They were apologetic, but didn't really do much for me. When tours are unavailable, I keep getting calls asking me to reschedule for another day, which strikes me as tone-deaf. There may be a market of people who hang around waiting for a midweek spot to open up, but I would think that many of us are tourists who aren't there for very long (I'm rarely in Charleston for more than 48 hours, and it takes a lot for me to get there at all), and even the locals I assume must have jobs. If I scheduled for X day, I probably want to do something on X day. What's also irritating is that their website, while flashy, doesn't have a calendar. You have to search through a dozen infrequently offered niche tours to see if you can find something that's available when you're available rather than just seeing what is launching on the day that you're around and free. They really don't seem to get my needs in that regard. When I finally, after frankly a year of trying, found a kayak tour that actually fit my schedule, it was beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, and some hard work. Wildlife abounds, and my trip through the Kiawah River area yielded sightings - albeit sometimes fleeting ones - of everything from a roseate spoonbill to a dolphin trapping fish against an oyster bar. The people running the tours and the equipment are good enough, and while these things aren't cheap I still leave a tip. The scenery delivers, but this tour company hasn't always met my expectations. I'm just not aware of anyone else that gives you the same chance to see this particular environment.

We wanted to experience a harbor cruise while in Charleston. I checked Yelp and found Charleston…read moreHarbor Tours which had good reviews. So I booked our tickets online. I was pleasantly surprised to find free street parking. We boarded the boat and headed out in the harbor. It was a beautiful night on the water and bonus, we got to see the sun set. They played a little music but mostly the captain gave us history of the harbor. We saw some old military ships and a couple of forts and went under the suspension bridge. They sell snacks, alcohol, soda and ice cream. I ordered a Pepsi and a chocolate chip ice cream cookie. And bonus, there is a bathroom on board. The staff was friendly. I would take another cruise with Charleston Harbor Tours.

The sunset cruise was beautiful and the staff were all very nice and helpful. I do feel like the…read morecruise was overbooked, and it was hard to move around or even find a bit of railing to lean against and not be in someone's way. This is a management problem, not a crew problem, unless the crew owns the boat. It was also hard to hear the narration once the crowd of people started talking. What I could hear was well-presented and interesting.

I really enjoyed this tour. It was easy to book online and find the meeting spot at the visitor's…read morecenter. The guide was kind, knowledgeable and funny. I love that he used pictures and signs to demonstrate some of the people and information that he was talking about. The bus was clean and comfortable. I learned a lot on this tour and would recommend.

This tour wasn't what I thought it would be. I thought we would be going around to various Gullah…read moresites, getting off periodically, and snapping photos. But guide Alphonso Brown had other plans. And that's okay. The two hour tour is totally on the bus. There is no getting off and you're driving around town. It's not all Gullah based. You learn more about Black/African American history overall. But Alphonso is the real gem/lesson here. Alphonso speaks Gullah and he will teach you some too. And even when he is speaking "normally," or in "English," he still has a dialect that is musical and enthralling. For all those complaining about having to work so hard to follow him--get over it! It's LITERALLY the BEST part of this tour! You toddle around town in an air conditioned bus, listening to history, fun stories, and seeing a ton of Charleston architecture (including numbers Philip Simmons gates). Alphonso will tell you where to go, where not to go, what to do, what not to do. He does not mince words. I asked about renowned hero Robert Smalls and he told me Robert Smalls was no hero! He also said George Washington had children (and I've been taught the opposite of that my whole life, so I'm off go down rabbit holes). I loved listening to Mr. Brown's lyrical dialect. Learning about his culture. Learning about Charleston. It was like having a chauffeur take you around to parts of town you wouldn't have thought about visiting. He was fun, energetic. And yes, I bought his book at the gift shop (all bus tours leave from the visitors center), and I had him sign it! This is a unique experience you won't get anywhere else. Thank you to the amazing Alphonso Brown.

I went on the 90 minute harbor tour. We had a very good narrator who is a retired police officer…read moreand life long resident of the area. He dropped lots of interesting information on us. I enjoyed the tour. I left out of Patriot's Point, right across from the USS Yorktown. We stopped at Charleston to pick up folks there and did a wide loop around. We passed Charleston, Fort Sumter, part of Sullivan's Island, then along Mount Pleasant.

Visit this dinner cruise line for a 7/5 birthday celebration. We had a crowd of 35. The service was…read moreamazing. The service was absolutely amazing with Q and Malik being our waiters. Unfortunately, the downside is the boat was rather seasoned the AC downstairs in the dining room area, only two out of the four units were working. It was extremely hot two people got overheated one almost passed out. The food was good. The drinks were good. Wish maybe they had a live band or a DJ that piped in music would probably try to go on a a newer younger boat next time.

The IOP marina is and has been a staple of the island forever…read more Need to drop a boat? IOP Marina Need a quick bite? IOP Marina Need some gas before running out? IOP Marina. Need a dock to watch the sunset? You got it, IOP Marina. Tommy and the gang have been keeping it real on the island for as long as any islander can remember. Thank you guys, and keep it up!

When you must insist on some discount when they do not have power…read more.... Poorly managed marina. Arrived as a transient for two days over Christmas. to no electricity - ok we have a generator so that's fine but that also means no perimeter security gates, no Wifi, no lights on piers. Not clean. Animal waste on grass (blame the dog owners but can't site maintenance also help?) hubby says mens bathhouse smells of dead animal and is so filthy he can't use. Layout of marina provides no sight lines from dock office to transient slips, thus no security. Nickel and dime you to on everything- washer, dryer, parking, meters are on the water so soon they will charge for that as well etc. Loud ongoing construction. Slips on the ICW so a passing fishing skiffs and the local ferry rocks and rolls you- all day, all night. Worst marina along entire Intracoastal Waterway. IMHO

As we pulled into the parking lot of the Fort Sumpter Ferry, we were happily greeted by a wonderful…read morelady who gave us directions where to park. At this point, we knew this was going to be an amazing experience! There was plenty of parking and parking for people with disabilities. After parking. We were shuttled to the front gate. We purchased our tickets. They do offer discounts, so be sure to find out what applies to you and your group. We boarded the ferry. There were accommodations for people with disabilities. The ferry ride was fun. The tour guides who were 3 Rangers were very knowledgeable. We observed several dolphins frolicking in the water. Once we arrived at Fort Sumter, it was amazing. The Fort is in great shape and so much to see. They give you one hour before you will need to get back to the ferry. There is a souvenir shop for you to visit. Oh yes, there are accommodations for people with disabilities at the Fort. There is limited seating available at the Fort. Our ferry ride was just as fun heading back. Once off the ferry, there was the shuttle to take is to our vehicle. While in the area. Fort Sumter Ferry is a must visit! You definitely earned your 5-star review!

Great affordable tour. With a relaxing ferry trip to & fro…read more.. There is no parking for large RV's. I am not towing a car so it made it difficult for me...

When deciding on what night to enjoy a boat rides opted for Weds as the extra ticket cost seemed…read morejustified to cover the cost of a few adult beverages. Sadly, they were unprepared and my friend and I could only enjoy 1 beverage because they ran out within 35 minutes of pulling away from the dock and 15 of this minutes were spent under cover due to heavy rain. Perhaps in the future you allocate 3 tickets per person and you bring in enough seltzer and beer to accommodate for that. Not like it cannot be used the next night

We took a Sunset Cruise on a Friday evening and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. I…read morethought it would be a ferry type of boat but instead it was a catamaran with some chairs on the floor. Judging from the group of Ke$has sitting on one side of the boat and the obscene amount of selfies they have taken before the boat has even launched and the very loud group of men at the back of the boat who all have the same buzzcut, Sperrys, khaki shorts, and pastel polos, I was afraid this would become a booze cruise that I probably should've experienced 15 years ago. Instead, here we were, a group of late 30-somethings looking to have a relaxing sunset cruise. Well, as we headed out to the harbor, the speakers were playing reggae and the drinks were flowing (there's a bar on the boat). Well, this 2-hour-ish cruise ended up being perfect! Yes, the college kids on vacation were loud. However, they were very respectful and weren't too rowdy. With this cruise you definitely see the sunset, Fort Sumter, and the entire harbor. Eventually, the boat started playing country music (which isn't my favorite). However, being in the South and being on a boat in the middle of the Charleston Harbor; I couldn't think of a better soundtrack actually. However, this cruise was the only time in the South where I've ever felt like "the other". One of the Ke$has kept on referring to my friend and I as the Asians. I know she meant no harm but gosh does being called the Asians really make you feel like sticking out like a sore thumb. Rather than being "those people over there" or simply "that guy and girl over there"......we were the Asians on the boat. Nevermind the fact that both my friend and I probably had about 10 years on them on being American. Well, anyway, not really related to the boat so I don't dock (ha!) them any points for that encounter. I guess that actually just adds to the "Southern Experience". Still, I recommend it! Red's also has great food so there's that.