Best first paddle
Morning dolphin & marsh tour
2 hours
Two unhurried hours on a rising tide. We slip into the smaller creeks as the rising water opens them up, and we watch the wider bends for a dolphin’s fin.
Demo price$68per paddler
Beaufort · Port Royal · Lady’s Island
Paddle with the dolphins.
Two-hour guided kayak tours through the Beaufort marsh, timed to the tide, for beginners, families and photographers.
- Certified guidesGuides certified in coastal kayaking, first aid and CPR, who grew up reading this water.
- All gear includedKayak, paddle, PFD, and a dry bag. You bring water and a hat.
- Small groupsSix paddlers or fewer, so the marsh stays quiet enough to hear.
Tours
Five ways onto the creek
Guided trips are two hours. Groups stay at six paddlers or fewer. Every price on this page is a demo price.
Later light, easy pace
Sunset paddle
2 hours
The same two hours, later, when the spartina goes gold and the creek goes quiet. Egrets often come in to roost on this paddle.
Demo price$78per paddler
Kids 6 and older, tandem kayaks
Family tour
2 hours
A child rides with an adult in a tandem sit-on-top. We stay on the wider creek and keep the pace gentle enough for a first time.
Demo price$58 adult / $42 child (6–12)
Small group, slower pace
Private photo tour
2 hours
We move slower, hold for wood storks and oyster banks, and leave time for a camera. Four paddlers at most.
Demo price$195for the group, up to 4
Experienced paddlers
Kayak rental
Half day
For people who already know a tidal creek. You get a chart talk before you leave. This is not a guided tour. If the ebb is new to you, take the morning tour instead.
Demo price$45per kayak
Tours & rates
What’s included, and what you bring
We meet at a sandy landing on a Lady’s Island tidal creek. There is no dock. You step into shin-deep water and go.
Included
- Sit-on-top touring kayak, tandem on the family tour
- Double-bladed paddle
- A PFD, worn the whole time
- A small dry bag for a phone and keys
What to bring
- Water for two hours
- A sun shirt, a hat, and sunscreen already on
- Shoes you can get muddy and rinse
- A towel and a change of clothes for the car
- Any medicine you need while you are outside
Morning dolphin & marsh tour
2 hours
$68
per paddler
Demo price
Sunset paddle
2 hours
$78
per paddler
Demo price
Family tour
2 hours
$58 adult / $42 child (6–12)
Demo price
Private photo tour
2 hours
$195
for the group, up to 4
Demo price
Kayak rental
Half day
$45
per kayak
Demo price
Tide-based schedule
Demo tide schedule
High tide floats you into the small creeks. Low tide shows the oyster beds. Here the water rises and falls 7 to 9 feet, twice a day. We time tours to a rising or early high tide so a first paddle is not dragging across a flat.
High tide
The water comes up into the spartina, deep enough to float a kayak into the narrow creeks. This is when we go.
Low tide
The banks go dark with pluff mud and the oyster reefs sit clear of the water. It is a fine thing to see, and a poor time to start.
| Day | Morning tour | Sunset paddle |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 6:50 a.m. | 5:45 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 7:40 a.m. | 5:45 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 8:30 a.m. | 5:45 p.m. |
| Thursday | 9:20 a.m. | Morning only |
| Friday | 10:10 a.m. | Morning only |
| Saturday | 11:00 a.m. | 5:40 p.m. |
| Sunday | 11:50 a.m. | 5:40 p.m. |
A sample week, not a live tide table. The tide runs about 50 minutes later each day, so morning departures follow it. The sunset paddle follows the sun, and we skip it on evenings when the creek is too low at dusk.
What you’ll see
A short list, and a good one
Ospreys often fish the wider water. These five are the ones we plan the paddle around. We keep our distance and let the creek do the introducing.
Bottlenose dolphins
You will usually see a slate-gray back and a dorsal fin, then a second, then they are gone. We do not chase them. We stop paddling and let them decide.
Great egrets
Tall white birds with a yellow bill and black legs, often standing perfectly still in the shallows. Give them the bank. They were here first.
Wood storks
Big white waders with black flight feathers and a dark, bare head. They feed by feel in the low-tide shallows, bill half open, walking slow.
Fiddler crabs
On the mud banks when the tide is out. The males wave one oversized claw. From the kayak they look like the mud itself is moving.
Oyster reefs
Gray clusters of eastern oysters along the creek edge. At low tide they sit clear of the water. We give them a wide berth. The shells are sharp.
Book a tour
Tell us the day. We’ll match it to the tide.
This form only shows a confirmation. It does not charge a card, and it does not hold a seat. On a real week we would call (843) 555-0137 to confirm.
Or call (843) 555-0137
About your guide
Lena March
Lena was born on Lady’s Island. She learned these creeks in a small jon boat with her uncle, checking crab pots on Battery Creek before school. She came to the kayak later, when she wanted to be quiet enough to hear a wood stork’s wing.
She guides small groups only, and she still times a day by the flood, not by the clock. If the wind lays the spartina flat and the creek is too rough for a beginner, she cancels and tells you why. She would rather you come back on a kind tide.
We don’t chase dolphins. We stop paddling, and sometimes they come look at the kayaks.
FAQ
Questions we hear on the landing
I’ve never kayaked. Is this for me?
Most of our paddlers are new. These are sit-on-tops: you sit above the water, not down in a closed cockpit. We start in water you can stand in, and you wear a PFD the whole time. If you can sit comfortably for two hours and pull a paddle, you can do the morning tour. Children six and older come on the family tour, in a tandem with an adult.
What about weather and lightning?
If we hear thunder or see lightning while we are out, we head straight for the landing. No waiting it out under an oak. We wait 30 minutes after the last thunder before anyone goes back on the water.
Will we get muddy?
Yes, a little. The landing is sand and pluff mud. It smells like a salt marsh, salty with a touch of sulfur. That is the mud working, not something wrong. Wear shoes you can rinse, and leave a towel in the car.
How do cancellations work?
Demo policy: cancel by 6 p.m. the evening before at no charge. If we cancel for weather or lightning, you pick another day or get a full refund. This demo form takes no payment and holds no seat.