Kayak Tour Reviews

We had a fabulous time kayaking on Shem Creek! This was one of our favorite excursions in Charleston! Ethan was our guide and he was very knowledgeable, calm and patient! Highly recommend the tour!

Our guide Matt provided a fantastic tour with his scientific & historical perspectives. He provided precautious instruction with the tide & weather issues. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Had a great time today with our group. Matt and Jay were great guides. Very knowledgeable. Very helpful and very informative.

Great time and great guide. Highly recommend!

My husband, mother in law, and I took a 2hr single kayak tour yesterday with Nicole at Shem Creek. It was a perfect evening! So relaxed and fun! My husband and I will soon be owners of kayaks all thanks to this experience. Worth the time and money to book a tour!

We went on the Kayak Nature tour with our guide Ethan, and when I tell you I wish I could give him 10 stars. Amazing knowledge, great personality. Dolphins right up to the kayak! Also made some great recommendations of things to do while we were here! (Great call on the distillery) this is a must if you enjoy the outdoors.

Fantastic experience. My kids and I booked an afternoon kayak rental - I'd heard that mid-afternoon was a good chance to see dolphins as they await the arrival of shrimp boats . . . the staff told us what to look for (mainly pelicans in big numbers) and sure enough, 3 minutes after setting off we spotted a shrimp boat off-loading and ventured over - were almost immediately surrounded by dolphins!!! - Pretty crazy, pretty cool for sure - just sat there in the kayaks and enjoyed the experience. After about 10-15 minutes we heard thunder and a guided tour of kayakers came by and told us we'd better head back before the torrential rains and lightning hit . . . we did, and the company returned us 75% of our our fee, which I thought was pretty cool! Overall, great people, great company it seems - we'd used them once before as well and will again.

Views were great and it was a lot of fun! Guides were super interactive and made the trip awesome. (and we saw dolphins)

Signed up for a 2 hour paddle a few weeks ago and the conditions were fairly windy with an outgoing tide when we arrived. Talked it over with our tour guide, Charlie, and decided to give it a try going upstream versus down towards the bay which would require fighting both the wind and the tide coming back. Charlie and the staff are very safety oriented and detailed on preparation, even with experienced paddlers like us. Charlie is very knowledgeable of the area, its history and the various animals we may see. Shem Creek is tidal and we were hoping for dolphins in addition to the birds and others. A few minutes upstream we saw 2 or more dolphins splashing around and spent time watching them have fun. Charlie identified them as Tamanend's dolphins, a sub species of the Bottle Nose that spend their time in the near waters and estuaries along the east coast. Shem Creek and the area around it is quite beautiful and, despite the winds, a pleasant paddle. Further upstream we went up a shallow creek along rows of great homes and even more wildlife such as Great Blue Herons, Roseate Spoonbill, Oyster Catcher, Ibis, and Egrets. We then paddled downstream and decided to call it a day down by the entry point. Although the paddle was a little shorter than we planned, we really enjoyed it … and it goes to show that a great guide with knowledge of the environment can provide a good time even on a sub par weather day! Hopefully some day we can come back and paddle out to the bay!

We took the Wambaw swamp 2 hour kayaking tour with Will as our guide and had a phenomenal time! The swamp is one of the coolest things I've ever seen! The cypress trees, some as old as 1600-1800 years, were so cool. We saw about 10 alligators, so be prepared! It was awesome. Also saw turtles, goldfinches, and egrets. Will was super knowledgeable and a great guide. Lots of bugs, including ticks, so maybe use some spray, and take a hat! I had never kayaked before but took right to this.

Excellent experience. Ethan was very knowledgeable and did an awesome job

The 2-hour kayak tour with Shem Creek Nature Adventures was absolutely amazing! We were thrilled to see dolphins up close, which has been on my Charleston bucket list! The staff was friendly and knowledgeable, and the kayaks were in excellent condition. The tour was well-paced with plenty of relaxing breaks, making the two hours feel easy and enjoyable. We had Ethan as a tour guide and he made the tour so educational and humorous! Highly recommend this tour for a perfect blend of adventure and relaxation. Five stars!

This company is amazing!! I was very unskilled and they treated me with utmost respect! I did not make it far but my daughter and her boyfriend continued. They received an amazing tour and saw wonderful wildlife while the staff assisted me by making it all worth it. I HIGHLY recommend this adventure!!! I will be back and do it right! Thank you for a memory the 3 of us will carry with laughs, love and more!

Joshua was knowledgeable and very humorous guide, love the experience so did the kids would definitely do it again.

We had an amazing time on Shem Creek! Our tour guide, Charlie, was fantastic! He had a wonderful sense of humor, a great disposition, and really made the day special. He also shared so much interesting information about the area, which made the trip even more enjoyable. It was such a fun day with friends!

My husband and I have been to Shem multiple times (I even lived in Charleston years ago and this was a first-time experience!), but wanted to try something new. We decided to sign up for a 2-hour Kayak tour for our wedding anniversary yesterday. We imagined a small group of others in this tour as well, but it ended up being just us! At first we were nervous how it would go, but after meeting Charlie, we were excited to have a 1:1 tour essentially! We all clicked immediately; Charlie was friendly, humorous, and knowledgeable about the area regarding history and nature. We’d HIGHLY recommend him as your tour guide!! We went to a nearby island to dock briefly to look for historic shark teeth and all found some! We could have stayed there all day! We finished our leg of the tour down a winding marsh near the dock at Shem, kayaked past a dolphin by the restaurants, and smoothly docked with his help. He took all of the thinking and worrying out of the experience for us and made it a memorable morning for us. We recommend the morning tour due to heat (yes even in November!), less winds, and still getting to have the entire day open ahead. We really cannot recommend Nature Adventures and Charlie any more; we will definitely be back to rent kayaks again through this company. It was a smooth experience with signing up, having a reminder text with info to help, arriving early and getting organized, the crew helping us get into the water, and closing out the morning. Thank you crew and Charlie for all of your help! 10/10 experience. We WILL be back! Cheers!

The staff were very welcoming. Ethan is the bomb.com. So helpful and informative.

Ben was a great guide. Knew everything about the environment, birds, eco-system, and a few extras! Highly recommend the sunrise tour. It was so quiet and peaceful!

We took the kayak tour of Wambaw Blackwater Creek in the Francis Marion National Forest with our two kids ages 10 and 13. It was a beautiful paddle up stream for an hour and 1/2 and then an even more relaxing paddle/ float downriver for another hour and 1/2. Our guide Jay was a good combination of interesting facts and guide as well as just letting us paddle and enjoy the scenery. We saw a couple small alligators, an owl and lots of birds. We had previously done a kayak trip with Nature Adventures on Shem Creek 2 years ago and enjoyed that as well. We saw lots of dolphins and birds on that trip. Two very different paddles, each equally enjoying. Good for beginners or experienced paddles.

The tour was great. I introduced my granddaughter to kayaking the first time. She loved it. Our guide Brian was great and laid back and made our trip awesome. Thanks. I’ll recommend y’all for sure! .

Enjoyed the kayak excursion. Staff were friendly, accommodating and helpful. Great service!!

Staff are very friendly and welcoming. The tour guide Steven was excellent!

We did a 3 hour kayak tour with Will and it was perfect. Will was very kind and super informative. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with him and the beautiful environment. We did this with a 7 year old without any difficulty. The folks in the office were also friendly and helpful. This is a great outfit.

Thomas was an amazing guide! What a way to experience Charleston on the water, seeing nature with beautiful views and a fun and informative tour guide. I was a little nervous about kayaking, but Thomas was super welcoming and made me feel at ease. I ended up feeling really at home on the water by the end. we saw dolphins, tons of beautiful birds and wildlife, and I couldn’t stop smiling the whole tour! it was the perfect mix of active and informative and peaceful and fun.