Charleston Harbor Tours

The tour was nice, but not necessarily mind blowing. It was nice to hear about the history of Charleston and the harbor, but easily could’ve been looked up online. My family and I boarded the Carolina Belle and although it was hot, enjoyed ourselves. The outdoor seats were a little hot to sit on, but eventually cooled down as the tour went on. The only reason I don’t rate the tour a five star rating is because it kind of felt like every other tourist attraction — nothing set it aside from any other Charleston Harbor Tour.

My travel companion and I bought combination tour tickets — a land and sea package of sorts. We were to spend the afternoon aboard the Carolina Belle and would brave the streets of Downtown Charleston at dusk for a ghost walk with a knowledgeable and believing local.
It was a warm and sunny Saturday in late spring, but once we were out on the open water, the wind chill became a factor in our discomfort while seated near the bow. We did, however, really appreciate historical information presented during the tour of the waterways; I can honestly say that I walked away with a better understanding of the history of Charleston, at least high-​level. There’s a bar onboard, so get your sea legs and a buzz.
As a fan of nonsensical television, I personally enjoyed the captain’s references to Bravo’s Southern Charm and Thomas Ravenel as we approached the historic Ravenel Bridge.
That evening, we met a group of other unsuspecting tourists on Anson Street for a guided walking tour of some infamously creepy spots. I suppose that was cool; I found the story of Lavinia Fisher and her husband particularly fascinating.
Is a tour worth it? Yes. Give yourself a break from eating, drinking and sunning.

OMG! This was so fabulously fun. This was something my husband did for me in exchange for a tour to Fort Sumter. So ladies, work this into a trade with your husband and do the Sumter thing first so he’s happy and feeling totally manly. And so, you go over here and get yourself set up for a carriage tour of Charleston and know these folks are people who care for their critters. You can talk to the critters after your tour and you will find that all s well. This may sound strange, but I did spend some time with our horse «DeBlasio» and he was very content with his gig.

Wonderful experience aboard the Carolina Belle!
Beautiful harbor tour!
We loved it! Great photo opportunities!
This is a great tour for people who want some history on our beautiful city of Charleston.
We will bring our family here for this incredible tour!
Beautiful clean boat.
Alcoholic beverages served at snack bar. Yum!

While visiting Charleston, we took this harbor tour as a part of a combination land and sea tour. We started with the boat tour first, followed by the land tour, which will be reviewed separately on that listing. This tour occurred on February 29, 2016.
Once we got to the location to get on the boat, the first issue to be concerned with would be parking. There isn’t a lot of parking available there. We got lucky as someone was leaving, so we were able to park after going around the lot a few times. We were there a bit early, as the boat hadn’t even returned yet from the tour prior to ours. We looked around at the dock and just took in the sights.
Once the boat came back to shore, the ones currently on board were allowed to debark. After a few minutes, one of the workers came by and asked to take photos. We were the only ones there at the time, so we did. After a few minutes, others started coming up behind us waiting to get on as well. After a little while longer, we were greeted by the captain and then were allowed on board the boat. After boarding, I went to the front of the boat to get some of the best seats for the tour. It wasn’t a busy day overall there, so the boat wasn’t even close to capacity for this voyage.
Once everyone was on, the captain came over the speakers and gave a brief overview of what we would be seeing. During this 90 minute voyage, we were able to see many historical places along the way. We went by Battery Park, Fort Sumter and other points of interest. We did not stop anywhere during the boat tour. In order to go to Fort Sumter, you have to board a different boat for that. The weather this day was cool, but clear and sunny. It made for great views while sailing the harbor. During the tour, we also had some dolphins following us. I was able to get a picture of one that came up at just the right time (posted it with this review). The boat also has a snack/​drink bar as well. I got a free snack just for checking in on Unilocal,so that’s always nice. I didn’t even know it was available until after checking in. At one point, we went under the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (US 17). The captain stopped the boat and put on the horns. That was quite loud, but fun. You could hear one heck of an echo that went throughout the harbor. At least the cars, walkers, and runners up above didn’t get scared off the bridge.
Overall, this was a nice tour of the harbor in Charleston. There’s a lot of history in the area, and this was a good way to get an overview of it. If you’re in the area, this is a nice water based tour to take. Just make sure to get another boat that is contracted by the government if you want to stop at Fort Sumter.

While we enjoyed the tour itself, the logistics of the boarding and ticketing was pretty awful. The tour before us disembarked, yet no one from the boat came to tell us if we should come down the pier or not. A few people decided to walk down slowly, and most followed suit, and we waited patiently for almost 15 minutes. However, while we were waiting for the crew to finish up, a group of around 30 people all walked up together and crowded the entrance and forced their way on the boat first, taking the first 2 and a half rows of seats on the upper deck. There was no crew member with them to board them first — really just walked up and when the crew began boarding, bulldogged their way on first. We all got on regardless, but without any organization on the part of the crew, it was frustrating to wait patiently only to be made to wait longer because of this group. The tour itself was ok, fairly informative but with some down time that made it feel very drawn out. Some more anecdotes would have been helpful during those long stretches without views, but you can only tell the same stories so many times.

While vacationing in Charleston, we booked a Charleston Harbor tour. We stayed on the upper level of the boat, which was cool. I think it’s a bit deceptive to say that you’ll see 75+ landmarks. Quite often, the guide would say things like, «Look way beyond those trees to the right. See the tip of that lighthouse?» Puh-​lease – that doesn’t count! We did have a couple of dolphins hanging around the boat, but I wasn’t able to get a glimpse. Overall, it was a descent experience. I did get good photos of the sights we got close enough to.

Living nightmare. As soon as we pulled away from the dock, the captain announce that we were going across to the other side to pick up about 100 Boy Scouts. This was 90 minutes of sheer hell. They should tell you if you sign up to take a relaxing boat tour, that there’s going to be 100 screaming children on the boat with you. Thanks for the migraine Harbor Tours.

This tour was just okay. I felt like more information could have been communicated about the city. We even paused with no narration for a large portion of the trip back to town. I felt like this could be a good opportunity to talk about some other aspects of Charleston.
If I could do it over, I would probably recommend just taking the ferry out to Fort Sumter as it takes almost the same exact route and then you get to spend some time at the fort.

Really nice 90 minute cruise around Charleston Harbor. Very nice clean quiet boat with nice crew. Loved stories told by «Johnny in the wheelhiuse». Nice calm voice. Pointed out sights as well as the abundant dolphin sightings. Water was very calm. Nice music mix too.

I was very happy with this tour. My parents were visiting from Vermont, and this was a great way for them to see Charleston from the harbor. The weather cleared enough so that we didn’t get rained on, and towards the end, we had a nice rainbow come down for some great photography moments. The captain was great on the mic and gave us just enough history without going overboard (pun intended). There was plenty of room on the boat to move around for the kids and various photo — ops. Snacks were available for a small fee. Overall a good trip and I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good Charleston Harbor Tour.

We booked this as part of a combo ticket, along with the carriage ride in town. I thought it was a good pairing, as the carriage tour gave a good overview of the city; the harbor tour focused more on the water-​based history of Charleston. They make a slow circuit of the harbor to the east of the city. You can see the battery pretty well early on. They point out the islands, including Fort Sumter. You get a decent view of the Yorktown followed by a great view of the main bridge. We even got to see a large cargo ship being loaded with BMWs for export. The tour lasts around 80 minutes and was relaxing. You can camp out on the lower deck (still with good views out the large windows) and make occasional trips to the upper deck for brief photo shoots in the heat.

As a local who has lots of friends visiting from out of town, I can tell you that most folks want to do a harbor tour. I’ve settled on Charleston Harbor Tours because they are affordable and the guide does a nice job of giving Charleston history. I wish the top deck was a bit roomier. There is lots of room in the lower deck, but most folks want to ride outside, and there simply isn’t enough room for everyone to be there. I recommend Charleston Harbor Tours to anyone who wants to learn about the Harbor and the history of the city’s settlement. My one complaint is the same I have with most tourist places — - don’t take my picture in anticipation of me buying them. I don’t want them, and I don’t want the leftovers just hanging out there.

It was fine. Don’t know what I was hoping for but it was kind of long and hot and boring. Basically board the boat, listen over speakers to captain giving a LOT of history, and melt in the sun if you are up top. There’s really no good shade. But if you go down below you are behind glass and don’t get the full effect of being in a boat which is the purpose. Was fun to see all of the other small boats zip by and Fort Sumpter. Don’t think I would do again. Wasn’t awful but left much to be desired. Think next time I might find s smaller company where you can see the person talking and have a more personal experience. Also look for a boat with a cover over the top — it was seriously scorching in the 95 degree sun.

Great tour of the harbor. The captain and staff were entertaining and informative, and they serve cocktails :)

The tour itself was informative and good, but felt it was overpriced for the legnth of the tour. You travel around the Harbor and some key areas you see are Fort Sumter (there is another tour if you want to visit this Fort), Fort Moultrie (there’s another tour to visit here as well) and Cooper River Bridge. Word to the wise — either print off your ticket or absolutely 100% know how to access your ticket from you phone. Had not printed off my ticket beforehand, and asked the girl that was checking us in if she could at least look up by name and first response was no. Pulled up confirmation email and still was not able to open link, and only then she looked up by name. Also, plan on getting there early if you want to sit up on top of boat — there is not much seating on top for as many people they allow on the tour (even though there is seating below). They do have a limited café as well to get drinks (beer is served as well) an snacks.

My father and I were playing tourists for the day, and figured we’d start with a harbor tour. We had just missed the last boat for a different company, and luckily stumbled upon this one just in time.
There were seats up on top, and seats downstairs below, looking out into the harbor. We wanted to sit up on top, but by the time we got our tickets, there were no more seats available. Sitting downstairs was alright– the windows, understandably so, were so dirty it was kind of frustrating to try to look through.
The tour was 90 minutes long, and made one big loop around the harbor. The guide pointed out buildings and provided us with interesting stories over a PA system, but there were several times where he had to stop and think or stop and correct himself. Did he really know what he was even talking about? Initially the tour was kind of interesting, but it started to drag on for a little too long, and we were so far from everything, there wasn’t a whole lot to see.
We hardly had any interaction with the staff, but what little interaction we did have with them was friendly and pleasant.
All in all I don’t think I would do this tour again. It was a pleasant experience, but there are cheaper and more interesting ways to get a good introduction to the harbor and the Charleston area.

My wife and I recently relocated from Seattle, WA to Charleston, SC.
We had booked this tour as a part of the combo package provided through Palmetto Carriage Tours — which I highly recommend as it made for a great all-​day adventure in the city.
I am used to harbor cruises, and this was a great one by my standards. The boat was clean and had plenty of outdoor, top-​deck seating in addition to shaded/​cooled lowed-​deck seating. We lined up about 15 min before our 3:30pm cruise to be sure we could sit together. The folks who boarded towards the tail end did have to split groups or chose to stand. Our party of 3 was able to get three chairs right up next to the railing in order to have a front row seat!
The tour takes a full 90 minutes and does a single loop of the harbor giving you a chance to see the docks, downtown, battery park, Ashley River, the barrier islands, some forts, Sullivan’s Island, Mount Pleasant, Patriots Point, and the Ravenal Bridge.
The staff was very friendly and the guide kept the stories interesting. We even had a chance to see Dolphins along the way! The bar provides drinks and food at a reasonable price and accepts cash/​cards.
Great way to spend an afternoon!
Matthew T

Saturday we did the Happy Hour Tour. It was awesome!!!
The staff is super friendly. The captain was knowledgeable and funny! The drinks were good!
The tour time was perfect because the heat of the day was wearing off. The captain provide great commentary, history, and interesting facts about the Charleston Harbor and the city in general.
I would highly suggest this tour to anyone!

I think we paid like $ 23/​person. The tour was supposed to be 1.5 hr, it did not feel that long. Tour guide was talking from the overhead the whole time, slightly too much. Snacks on board you must paid for, not free. Only 1 bathroom. Asked for tips at the end. It might just rain if you sit on the top deck. I guess this was OK, you get to go out to the water or whatever, and you may see some dolphin, but it was not very memorable.
If you have motion sickness, I recommend taking your medicine ahead of time.