Dolphin, Sunset and Daufuskie Cruises From Harbour Town

Dock

149 Lighthouse Road, under the Harbour Town lighthouse

Trips

Dolphin, sunset, dinner, sailing, Daufuskie and Savannah

Shortest trip

About 90 minutes, from $39.95

Phone

843-363-9026

Vagabond Cruise is the boat operator at the foot of the lighthouse in Harbour Town. It runs most of what leaves the Harbour Town Yacht Basin under sail or power for sightseeing: narrated dolphin trips, sunset and dinner cruises, the ferry to Daufuskie Island, a day trip to Savannah, and sails on a retired America’s Cup yacht. The company says it has been working this harbour since 1968.

Its ticket office and dock are at 149 Lighthouse Road, inside Sea Pines, the same pier the pirate ship and the watersports boats use.

Dolphin Cruises

The Ocean Dolphin Cruise is the standard one: about an hour and a half on Calibogue Sound aboard The Vagabond, narrated by the captain, from $39.95. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins live in the sound year-round and the operator advertises sightings as guaranteed. Pelicans, herons and the odd osprey come with the territory.

There are variations on it. The Sunset Dolphin Cruise is the same trip timed for the light, from $49.95. Donuts and Dolphins is a morning run on the Spirit of Harbour Town, which has a heated cabin and a donut bar, from $49.95. In summer there is a Friday cruise named for Gregg Russell, the singer who has played under the Liberty Oak for decades, and a Tuesday-night fireworks cruise that costs more and runs longer.

Dinner, Sunset and Sailing Trips

The Sunset Dinner Cruise is two hours on the Spirit of Harbour Town with a meal aboard, from $89.95, and there is a Sunday brunch version and a Friday happy-hour run. The sailing trips are on Stars & Stripes, a 65-foot America’s Cup boat with a 92-foot mast, which goes out in the afternoon, at sunset and by moonlight. That is a real sail, not a motor cruise with a sail up, and it is the one to pick if the boat matters more than the buffet.

Daufuskie Island and Savannah

Daufuskie has no bridge, so a boat is the only way there. The morning ferry leaves at 9 a.m. and is back at 1 p.m., which gives about three hours ashore, and it runs year-round from $39.95. From April to September there is an afternoon crossing, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with about four and a half hours on the island, from $44.95. Golf carts can be rented when you land; the island is too spread out to walk in an afternoon. Sailing days vary by season, so check the operator’s calendar before you plan around one.

The Savannah trip is about four hours, from $84.95, and lands you on River Street rather than in a car park an hour inland. It is the longest thing the company runs from this dock.

The Boats

• The Vagabond — 82 feet, the narrated dolphin and nature boat, and the Daufuskie ferry.

• Spirit of Harbour Town — 74 feet, heated and air-conditioned, for the dinner cruises, the Savannah day trip and private charters.

• Stars & Stripes — a 65-foot America’s Cup racing yacht with a 92-foot mast, for the sails.

• Mystique — a 42-foot mahogany-and-teak replica of a 1930s harbour launch, for private charters from February to November.

• Tammy Jane — a 45-foot working shrimp boat, for the shrimping trips.

• Solaris — a 32-foot Chris Craft launch, chartered privately; it has its own page at Solaris Boat Charters.

Shrimp Trawling on the Tammy Jane

The shrimp trawling expedition goes out on the Tammy Jane, a 45-foot working shrimp boat, for about two hours from Harbour Town, from $49.95 a person. Guests join the crew, learn about the salt marsh and sort through the catch to see what the net brought up. Vagabond describes it as fun for all ages. There is a sunset version of the trip, and the boat can be booked privately for groups of up to 29. Pick a date in the booking calendar above to see which trips are running.

The crabbing expedition is closed until 2027.

Getting to the Dock

Harbour Town is at the south end of Sea Pines, behind a gate. Unless you own property there, are a resort guest or have a Sea Pines rental booking, the gate fee is $10 per day for a standard vehicle; the guest pass office page has the rest of the rules. Park in the Harbour Town lot and walk down past the lighthouse to the water. The pier and the Harbour Town restaurants are both a minute from the ticket office, which is useful when a cruise gets you back at an awkward hour.