Charleston Harbor Boat Tours

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Welcome to Sandlapper Tours, voted #1 Charleston Harbor Tour company in Charleston, SC!

We operate out of the Charleston Maritime Center located near the S.C. Aquarium.

We are a locally owned and operated company offering History, Nature, Sunset, and Ghost Tours of the Charleston Harbor.

Upcoming Special Boat Tours

• July 4th
• Madeira Wine Sunset Cruise

The Palmetto

Board the “Palmetto”, our 45ft. motorized USCG certified catamaran and set out on the adventure of your choosing! Our maximum capacity is 49 people, making it possible for our guests to enjoy a small group setting as well as to interact with our guides. We also offer private charters for up to 49 guests. Experience Charleston harbor’s rich heritage, maritime history and tideland treasures like never before!

Charleston Dinner Cruise

We offer a Charleston Dinner Cruise with an assortment of options available to entertain your guests and their specific interests. Imagine your group enjoying a dining experience including Frogmore Stew, an Oyster Roast, or a Lowcountry Crab Boil on the beautiful beach of a Barrier Island. Sandlapper Tours specializes in private boat charters and would love to entertain your guests with this unique and authentic Charleston harbor dinner cruise.

Charleston Nature Tours

Our Charleston Nature Tours  and Charleston Historic Tours are proud to have a local naturalist, as well as a local historian aboard our tours who will interpret the sites your guests will see during the cruise. The Palmetto, a versatile catamaran, allows our Captain to smoothly handle the harbor’s waters. You guests can now experience Charleston, its harbor, and Lowcountry living like never before.

Where we’re located

All boat tours and charters depart from the Charleston Maritime Center, located at 10 Wharfside Street, not far from the S.C. Aquarium. Snacks, soft drinks, water, beer and wine are available for purchase. A restroom is available on the boat.  Free parking and restrooms are also available at the Charleston Maritime Center.

Book Your Charleston Boat Tour

Space is limited – Book online today! Get ready for fun, history, and sights like you’ve never seen before. Join us to tour the Charleston Harbor

Cruise the Charleston Harbor

The Charleston Harbor has long been the focal point of the city’s life and history. Come out for one of our boat tours, learn about Charleston and its surroundings and see the city from a different angle. The view is especially lovely during a Sunset Cruise, as the sun goes down behind the city, putting its famous church steeples in silhouette.

Charleston History

Charleston was originally located a few miles northwest, and was established in 1670 by English colonists from Bermuda. By the late 1600s, the town had grown with settlers from England and Virginia, was moved to the present location and had become a lively shipping port. From then until the Civil War, uncounted tons of rice, cotton, hides, lumber and ships stores left the wharves. Today, Charleston ranks among the top ten U.S. ports in the value of goods shipped.

Yet, Charleston is also known for its gracious beauty and Southern lifestyle, as evidenced by the lovely antebellum homes along Battery Row that you’ll learn about on our History tour. Also along the Battery is White Point Gardens, where many a pirate met the noose. Rumor has it that some of them still haunt the park…learn more during our Ghost Tour!

Charleston Harbor Sights

There are many natural areas around the harbor. The Ashley and Cooper Rivers merge right off the Peninsula and find their way out to sea through the harbor’s mouth. Near that mouth are barrier islands, marshlands and waterways just waiting to be explored. One of our favorites is Morris Island, only accessible by boat, with 840 uninhabited and untouched acres. We like it so much we take our Nature Tours out there for a visit, where you may see great blue herons and snowy egrets, learn about crabs and hopefully catch a glimpse of dolphins at play.

During the Civil War, Morris Island was a strategic point of defense for the Confederate Army. It saw heavy fighting when the Union Army attempted to take the city of Charleston, and the unsuccessful assault by the African-American regiment the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry resulted in casualties of more than half of their men. This event inspired the award winning film Glory.

Also on our Harbor Boat Tour is the magnificent Ravenel Bridge, which is even more majestic when seen from the water. The towering cable-stayed suspension bridge over the Cooper River has two diamond-shaped towers that are over 500 feet high. The bridge is able to withstand shipping accidents, natural disasters and wind gusts in excess of 300 mph — stronger than 1989’s Hurricane Hugo, the worst storm in Charleston’s history.

Other Charleston Harbor sights include Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney, all of which played important roles in the city’s history. We can’t tell you about all of them here — you’ll have join us to see them for yourself!

Join us for Charleston Harbor boat tour – Book online now!