Five Star review, originally posted here on June 7, 2014.
Our kayaking trip with Charleston Kayak Company was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. I mean that sincerely, with no sarcasm. We had an AMAZING time. We did this on our first day of our Charleston vacation, and honestly, I wanted to just rebook the same tour again and again for every day of our trip and forget the rest of the sightseeing (we didn’t wind up doing that, but if we had, it would have been worth it). If you are considering a tour with these guys, stop considering and just contact them right now. Do it.
We did a private full day trip out to Morris Island, just two of us and our guide, Luke. Luke was fantastic. He was really good at working with us to make sure we had just the right trip, and he was flexible enough to suggest various options depending on how we were doing and what the weather conditions, etc would be like. He answered all our questions, seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and even brought lunch for us. But the most super awesome thing was that he was extremely knowledgeable about all the wildlife and the ecosystem around us. This wasn’t just a scenic boat ride- I learned something new every couple minutes. And all of it was fascinating.
I’m a big lover of the outdoors, and I know everywhere you go promises you may see some wildlife, and then perhaps you see a dolphin fin or something in the distance or a bird in the sky or something and it’s like “Oh, that was neat.” Well trust me when I tell you that you are seriously guaranteed to see about 1 gajillion dolphins up close and personal on this trip. Yes, 1 gajillion. They feed in the marshes, and they will pop up all around your boat. It was absolutely incredible. I don’t even like dolphins, really, but I was squeeeeing like a little kid during the whole trip. You’ll also see a gajillion birds, also up close and personal, and your guide will be able to explain every single one. And this part may not sound as exciting, but seeing the oyster beds was surprisingly cool. We paddled out during low tide when there were just oysters everywhere, and came back during high tide when all that was underwater. Just seeing how drastic the change can be from low tide to high tide was jawdropping (I can’t really explain it in person- you just have to see it).
If you have time for the trip out to Morris Island, I definitely recommend it. It’s only accessible by boat, which means you basically get a giant private beach (almost) all to yourself. We saw maybe 6 people the whole time we were out there. There’s a stranded lighthouse out that that once upon a time was connected to land, plus there was some Civil War fighting on that island (it’s the ending scene from the movie Glory), so you may be able to find some artifacts.
I would book this trip again in a heartbeat. You should, too. And ask for Luke, because he’s awesome.
Helga without the H 