Dolphin & Nature Cruise

I cannot see how or why anyone would give this tour any higher than two stars. For us, it started out extremely well. We were introduced to the ship’s captain, a second elderly man (I’m assuming the first mate), and a tour guide from the Coastal Museum. Dave, the guide from the museum, was extremely knowledgeable about dolphins, and provided us with a great deal of information about them. This, however, was only for the first ten minutes of the tour.
After those first ten minutes, Dave ceased speaking, the ship ceased following dolphins, and we ceased to learn anything useful.
Instead, the ship’s captain and another older guy took over, and told us everything we didn’t need to know. They pointed out a house Oprah almost bought. They also pointed out a house that Ron Howard did buy (for his son). They discussed history of several boats in the creek. And they pointed out a house that an owner tried to sell for $ 17 million, but was eventually foreclosed on for $ 5.2 million.
No more dolphins. No more nature. In fact, the only nature discussed at all was an osprey that had a nest and the oysters that were up by the shore. We ultimately learned more on our own when we came across an alligator in the wild at Sea Pines and googled it.
I would highly recommend avoiding this tour if you want to learn anything or see anything useful about nature. Instead, take the museum’s scientist/​research dolphin tour. It’s pricier, but I imagine you wind up learning a hell of a lot more.
For the owners of this scam, I recommend they change the title of the tour to «Dolphin, Real Estate, & Ship Tour.»

The staff was friendly, sunset was beautiful and the rest was all a treat to see :) so glad we ventured out and well worth every penny!

We really enjoyed our cruise. The crew is friendly, informative and easy going. Their interaction with passengers is just right, not too in your face, just enough to make you feel you matter to them. Yes, we saw Dolphins, but the also talked about the area, interesting homes, boats, etc. it would have been a good cruise without the dolphin!

This tour, I felt, was a border line sham. Maybe we just went on the wrong day at the wrong time– but I would not recommend it to those who have been on any other nature boat.
First off, just finding the dock let alone boat was a friggen adventure. We had to go through the poor zip lining trail to even make it close to where the dock is. After parking, there is barely any signage or personnel guiding you to where you need to be. Shady.
We found our way to the dock behind the bushes, after ease dropping on another couples conversation. On the dock, we just followed them in hopes they were going to the same Dolphin tour.
Once on the boat we were greeted by 2 older gentleman, one of which could not keep his hands off any child on the boat (rubbing their heads, giving high 5s, touching shoulders).
Anyway, I’m getting bored just reliving my experience on this tour. The ‘captain’ of the ship has no knowledge of wild life or dolphins whatsoever. Every single dolphin spotted by from a guest on the boat.
We saw about 5 on this particular afternoon but we barely went a few miles off the dock.
$ 20 for a 1.5 boat ride isn’t awful, but don’t claim to be a dolphin tour of the only information you can shout over the loudspeaker is the house Oprah turned down for 5 million dollars. I

This was my first time taking this particular dolphin cruise and I was very underwhelmed by it. For starters, finding the boat was a task in and of itself. The path leading up to the boat wasn’t marked clearly so it took us a little bit of walking around until we found it. Once on the boat, the captain went around collecting everyone’s money and was relatively nice. The crew had a variety of snacks and drinks, both alcoholic and non alcoholic, for purchase which was a nice feature to the tour.
As we left the dock, the crew hyped up the tour big time talking about how we came at just the right time to see a bunch of dolphins and other wildlife. During the hour and a half tour, we maybe saw five dolphins total from afar at the very beginning and very end of the tour. There was about a 45 minute gap during the tour in which we didn’t see anything and we were just sitting there. The crew wasn’t really that engaging for a majority of the tour and it got pretty boring at times.
The highlight of this experience came when we got back to the dock when the tour was over. Everyone filed off of the boat as the crew encouraged us to leave a tip. As we made our way down the dock, there was a dolphin relatively close to where we were standing. This provided the perfect opportunity to get the only decent picture of a dolphin I have from this experience.
All in all, if you’re looking for a cheap dolphin tour, then this is your best bet. However if your willing to spend a little more to get up close and personal with the wildlife, then I would very much recommend going on one of the other dolphin tours nearby.

Great dolphin tour! We took the one and a half hour tour and saw tons of Dolphins! The caption was funny, entertaining and super nice! The «mate» was also very nice and helpful! It was a bigger boat which was nice for us and our three year old, it allowed him to move around some and see things. I would highly recommend this tour. We stayed with the Dolphins so we didn’t really go very far from the dock but again, with the three year old, it worked out nicely! They even let the kids in the boat «steer» for a little while and parents could get a photo. Very highly recommended! It was a great boat ride and some amazing dolphin sightings.

This was our second time taking a dolphin cruise. Previously we had gone on a smaller boat, which was great for viewing but a little on the choppy side. So we opted for Sonny C. Charters and their Island Queen boat. Its not as big as some of the large ships that travel the river, but large enough to give a relatively stable ride. Buying the tickets online was a breeze, and the staff on the boat was very friendly and accommodating. They let you bring drinks on board, and also offer both water and beer to buy, plus various snacks. That said, its not that easy to find– once you park, its a decent walk down to the shore, across a marsh and over to the dock.
The cruise itself was great. We saw our first dolphins before the boat had even started. Those three followed us for a good while, and and one point came right next to the boat (letting me get one my best photos). We proceeded to see several more– by the time the cruise was done, we had seen over a dozen, plus lots of birds and other wildlife. The captain had lots of great stories about the local area, and took us past several abandoned ships as well. We even saw two more right at the dock when we were leaving. It was great afternoon trip!

We really enjoyed our Dolphin tour this evening. We saw a dolphin before we even left the dock!
Saw several Dolphins and the captain came up very close for pics.
It was an hour and a half boat ride… nothing too fast. Super relaxing for adults, kids were a little board after the Dolphins were gone… the rest of the tour consisted of checking out houses on the water and boats, etc.
Super sweet captain and we were happy to be the only family on the 6pm tour… so a private tour without the cost.
Spelling of cost, it was the cheapest one j found on the island at $ 9 for kids, $ 17 for adults. They did charge an extra $ 10 for «service charge» though… wha?
Finding our way was a bit confusing… we had to walk through a muddy wooded area and decipher signs to figure out where we were supposed to go. You walk a long pier and check in on a boat at the end of the dock.
I could see us doing this again when our kids are older. It was a fun experience and we got some great pics in the evening sun.

Capt was nice but ticket sales staff was rude. Cost them 3 ticket sales.
PS makr sure u know what boat they’re using
Small dory vs. Large pax vessel.

Saw lots of dolphins & the guide was a hoot. Price was a lot cheaper than some other places.