Help with Hilton Head Activities

[MarkW]

My wife and I will be spending a few days in Hilton Head in mid-October. We would like to take some sort of dolphin/nature cruise. If anyone has any recommendations, please let us know. Also, what other activities (tours, cruises, nature walks, plantation tours, etc.) have people enjoyed in the area?
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Candace]

There is a dolphin cruise offered through the resort with a discount for members which I enjoyed while there in the past. Also, when there a couple of months ago, we drove over to Beaufort for the day and took the city tour and visited some attractions open to the public there. It's a beautiful little antebellum town full of history. Savannah also has some good day tours, and of course it's much larger than Beaufort.

 

[canda]

Southern Living Mag has an "Idea House" open in Sav. until Sep. 29. You can get info for it at the web site. Costal Living has a house in Beaufort that is open until Jan. These are very nice "dream" homes that are built and fully decorated and open for viewing. There is a $5 per person charge for charity. We always like going to these if there is one nearby.

 

[tiffany123]

The dolphin cruise offered by Disney at Hilton Head is wonderful and well worth the money. The boats hold only 6 people and the guide takes you up close and personal to the dolphins. We saw pods (I think dolphins swim in pods?) of 20-30 at a time and many were very near the boat. We had taken the dolphin tour out of Harbortown during a previous trip----that boat holds a hundred or more, doesn't get close to the dolphins and is very impersonal. The DVC price for the Hilton Head dolphin cruise was either $25 or $30 pp----I don't remember which and was the best money we spent at HH. You can sign up for it once you arrive at HH----through the recreation department.

 

[scootersmom]

I'll second tiffany123's post on the Disney dolphin cruise.

We've done both the larger boat and Disney's, and Disney's smaller boat is by far superior. Our driver (pilot?) even let our DS9 steer the boat for a few minutes and it was the highlight of his day.

 

[cgcw]

I have another suggestion on the dolphin cruise. We also like the closeness of the smaller boats like Disney has. However, we were extremely disappointed with our Disney arranged dolphin tour. Just by accident we were able to find the two men who ran the dolphin tours for Disney in 2000 when we were first there.

Our captain was Scott and he was absolutely fantastic!! Scott is one of the owners of Low Country Touring (Darrin is the other owner). They are located right at the Shelter Cove Marina (where Disney is located). Their phone number is 843-683-0187.

We've always had great luck with Scott. He's taken us out on 2 different beach combing and one dolphin tour over the last 2 summers. He seeks the dolphins out and seems to know when they are going to appear before they do. Our DS7 would have touched a dolphin had his arm been a bit longer this past July. Scott also let both of our kids "drive" the boat -- even our 2 year old.

I would venture to say you wouldn't be disappointed with a dolphin tour arranged through Low Country Touring.

Have fun whatever you decide to do!!

 

[Dean]

cgcw, I want to make sure I'm not reading too much into your post. I'm assuming you took the dolphin tour through DVC and didn't care for it. You said you were disappointed then didn't give any details so I wanted to be sure. Second, from your note I'm assuming DVC has changed who they use. If that's the case, any recommendations would need to have compared to when the change occured to be valid. Only tours taken after the change of vendors would truly apply and it sounds like it was in the last year or so. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[LindaDVC]

We have done the small boats, The welcome- sailing vessell, and the larger Holiday boat. Our son got to take the wheel on all 3 and that is always a highlight.

We have enjoyed all the trips-- different experiences!
However the small boat definitely lets you see the dolphins the best!

One trip we parked behind a shrimp boat and boy were the dolphins enjoying snacks that were around that boat. They weren't feeding the dolphins which is illegal but the dolphins were finding shrimp that was around the boat etc!

Wish we were there right now!

On our last trip lots of dolphin were in Shelter cove and as I sipped my coffee on our deck we watched them splash in the water. That is Disney magic !

Linda

 

[cgcw]

Dean,
We took the dolphin cruise in July, 2001, arranged through Disney. At the time, the captains were Scott and Darrin who worked for Disney. We had great experiences with them on both the dolphin tour and beach combing. We saw more dolphins than we could ever count on both.
In July, 2002, we took the dolphin tour arranged through Disney. Our captain took us out into the creek never leaving site of the Disney property. We watched the same 3 dolphins for the entire time we were out. It was very disappointing.
That same trip, we happened to see Scott and Darrin cruising through the Shelter Cove Marina and flagged them down. Come to find out, they started their own business. We mentioned how disappointed we were with the dolphin cruise we took through Disney and Scott said "let me take you beach combing". He did (also negotiated his price for us) and again we had a wonderful time. This trip he not only provided us the opprotunity to see the dolphins but when he took us to Dufuskie Island beach combing, he walked along the beach with us. He pointed out many things we would have overlooked -- sand dollars burying themselves in the sand, star fish which needed rescuing, where the see life was hiding, best spots to find the sand dollars which were no longer alive.
Based on our experience, we will not arrange one of the Disney tours again. I don't know if it difference is the level of experience or just our luck, but we've had first hand experience with both and know which we had better luck with.
Cindy

 

[sparkysfriends]

Cindy-

Do you know how to contact Scott? We have done the Disney dolphin cruise 3 times now and loved each one, but we went with Scott on each of these trips. It is always the highlight of our vacation. The last time we went was Feb. '02. We are going again in Feb. '03 and were planning on doing the Disney dolphin cruise again, but I'd much rather go with Scott. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks-
Alyson

 

[cgcw]

Alyson,

Scott's company is Low Country Touring. Phone number is 843-683-0187. I feel pretty confident that you will have another great experience. Scott puts alot of heart into his work, doesn't he? It was nice to learn a bit about the area and lowland nature while touring.
HHI in February. Is it a bit chilly out on the water? One of these days we're going to try that!
Looking forward to a trip report when you get back. We love HH. Have fun!
Cindy

 

[sparkysfriends]

Thanks Cindy. HH in Feb. is not hot, but it is certainly warmer than in NJ. We've experienced weather in the high 70's to low 80's as well as wether in the 60's. It does get chilly at night. My 10 year old always manages to go swimming. I actually swam for the last 2 years, but only on the warmest of days. When you are out on the water you do need a jacket.
IMHO the only time to do HH is off season. During the summer it is SOOO hot that it can be unbearable and the traffic is horrendous. Not as many activities are going on on the island off season, but there's still pleanty to do, not to mention relaxing. Our winter HH trip is always the most relaxing and peaceful vacation we take all year. Can't wait to go. Of course I also wouldn't miss my Nov. WDW trip!

 

[new_yawka]

We went on April 30, 2002 with the "Dolphin Discovery" cruise offered by Disney. It was fabulous. We went far out from Shelter cove and saw upwards of 50 dolphins (including one which did a 10 foot jump out of the water in front of us). However, I believe that Scott was our guide on this trip. It was definitely in on of the 6 seater boats which are close to the water and give a great view.

I am curious what Disney is offering now, but anyone who gets a chance to take a Dolphin cruise in a small boat...do it. There is NO comparison to the big yachts that go out in search of dolphins. The small boats may be a little more expensive, but they are totally worth it!

 

[LindaDVC]

We have found more traffic off season as people shop, eat , etc

During the summer traffic is lighter as people relax on the beaches and poolside!

Linda

 

[new_yawka]

We booked this for our last day, when we were there in May. Sadly, high winds caused cancellation of the trip . It looked like great fun and I hope to do it the next time we are there.