Kayak Tour Reviews

Ed Deal with Nature Adventure Outfitters recently led a very entertaining four hour Kayak tour of the very vast and impressive Sparkleberry Swamp. This was my fourth or fifth trip there, and despite being an experienced paddler and a bit of an adventurous risk taker, the swamp is so vast that an experienced guide is a necessity. Ed's been paddling there for 25 years, and knows every nook and cranny. Ed was great with our group of 8 paddlers, each with varied degrees of interest in flora and fauna. He never tried to dominate the group with lectures on birds, plants, swamp history or lore.

Went there with my softball team after practice one day and it was just what we needed! Guides were awesome and we got to play fun games!! Bonus- we saw a dolphin!

We had an amazing time on the water. It was very informative. Our guide was great. This was our first time on a kayak and we loved it. Thank you Nature Adventures ! We will see you again soon.

We took the Nature Adventures Shem Creek kayak tour for Mother's Day and had an excellent experience. Great location in Shem Creek and lots of options for tours and rentals. Charlie was our tour guide and he was truly outstanding. He took us out towards the Charleston harbor then into the salt marsh area, and really knew where the best kayaking areas were. Very knowledgeable about the area and the history of Charleston. We highly recommend Nature Adventures and our tour guide Charlie!

Great experience with our guide, Matt. He was extremely knowledgeable and made sure we knew how to use the kayaks for the tour. The conditions were excellent and the bay was calm. We will definitely do this again if we get the chance.

A great way to spend an evening. So relaxing and the veiw of Shem creek and Crab island were awesome. Bryson Butler was our tour guide, very nice and knowledgeable, genuinely friendly. i am very familiar with kayaking however my husband was not. Once in the water he was doing just fine and enjoying as much as i do. It is so peaceful and the best way to see wildlife. There are many dolphins in the area, one of which had a baby with it. I recommend the 430 tour for very nice sunset pictures. They do provide wet bags to keep your items from getting wet. I do advise to bring extra clothes for after and to dress for the water. Wear sunglasses also.I also often bring a towel or small pillow to sit on .We were lucky to be the only two going out that evening and so we and plenty of room to move around and not bump each other. We look forward to coming back again.

Awesome! Ethan was our tour guide and great. So knowledgeable about the wildlife and ecology of the region. Friendly and patient. We got to see out into the harbor as well. 10/10 one of our favorite things we did in Charleston!

I had no idea we would be paddling out to Crab Bank rookery in Charleston harbor. I felt like I was in a PBS nature show with literally hundreds of birds flying and landing around us. It was amazing. Who knew that baby pelicans were so adorable? On the way back to Shem Creek, we paddled alongside dolphins as they snacked next to a shrimp boat. Our guide was excellent, knowledgeable and patient. Can't wait to go back!

Nicole was terrific and the tour was actually very informative if you are into nature. There is one suggestion that I would make is that maybe put some bars on the sides of the pilings when you launch your kayak to give the kayakers a sense of stability as the leave the launch. I was a little embarrassed when I left the boat launch because I almost tipped. LOL ! The only reason I'm giving this a 4 and not a 5 is so that it is seen by the company.

Great 2-hour self-guided tour of Shem Creek! Our last-minute decision to spend the afternoon kayaking was well-worth it. Great info from Joel sealed the deal. Beautiful scenery and so-very relaxing. The bonus was the happy hour pricing. Highly recommend!

Something different from plantations, museums and food. A chance to see wildlife, including dolphins up close. Helpful, easy to use website. Great staff and a wonderful guided paddle from Cindy. Out of Shem Creek and into the harbor. Just 20 minutes from downtown Charleston. Anyone can get in a kayak. Do it.

Great kayak tour with Blain.

Ben took us out on a sunset kayak tour of Shem Creek, and it was a fantastic experience. His knowledge of the ecology and sense of humor made it educational and fun, and he provided guidance with kayaking skills and the opportunity to explore interesting spots. He made sure that the second half of the tour was more of a float and I particularly enjoyed the period of quiet when the group simply floated a distance and not one person was talking - just taking in the experience and enjoying the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the nature around us. Highly recommend.

Kathy was the absolute guide. She was very understanding and accommodating with my son that has challenges due to his autism and anxiety. The tour was wonderful and interesting to see all of the wildlife and history. We would definitely do it again.

I did the Quimby Creek Kayaking trip with Eli. She is an awesome guide and it was a fun time!

Ben was a great tour guide for our 2-hour kayak trip. We had a great, relaxing time kayaking along Shem Creek and learning everything from ecology and biology to history and interesting anecdotes about the area.

We enjoyed a fantastic guided tour with kids and adults new to the experience. We discovered new ways to bond as a family during the difficult COVID times by getting outdoors and enjoying nature! We can’t wait to come back!

Thanks Matt for a great kayak tour....Very knowledgeable & friendly! The weather could not have been better! The Nautilus Home Management team had a blast!

What a great way to see Shem Creek and Mt Pleasant from the water! Christian was a great tour guide filled with knowledge and stories to share with us. The dolphin swimming past us on the way back in was an awesome touch!

What a wonderful tour! Such beautiful weather and amazing wildlife. Very knowledgeable tour guide Steve. We will be back!

We did the Wambaw Creek 3 hour tour. Our guide seemed uninterested in our group, and tired of guiding generally. T tour was way too long, especially for kids. Be careful when you book online, as you pay in full, and then the guide insisted on a second payment at the end of the trip. I don't think they will charge our credit cards again, but now I have to check. The tour itself was not very interesting and we did not see much in the way of wildlife or birds. We were hoping to see birds and nests as advertised, but it was just 3 hours of paddling up the swamp with the scenery never changing. Might be good for 1 hour, but certainly not for 3. Our group was thoroughly unimpressed.

We had an incredible time on Shem Creek in a tandem kayak. Our tour guide, Ethan, was fun, pleasant, and knowledgeable. The water was calm, the weather was perfect, and we even saw a few dolphins right at the end of our day out on the water. Highly recommend!

Kayaking for two hours was fun, and I learned a lot!

What an amazing experience. My family of 6 just finished the 2 hour kayaking trip with Matt as our guide. What a great experience. Multiple touch points, communicating things to help us be prepared leading up to our experience. Phone call, check ins the morning of the trip because of potential weather issues and also some accidents that had caused the traffic to get snarled up to make sure that we left in time to travel through the traffic and show up at the right time for the trip. Quick easy check in process and a short safety briefing, and then we're out on the water and it was fantastic. We saw probably twenty different species of birds and multiple dolphins swimming around where we are. Even a walk out on an island to find shark's teeth and other prehistoric fossils and coral. What an amazing trip. Definitely recommend it for anybody wanting to get out and do something while they're in charleston, south carolina!