Charleston Harbor Tours

Both tours were enjoyable & educational. We took the carriage tour in the morning, and our guide was great. She was very knowledgable. The harbor tour that afternoon was refreshing and interesting.

I'm a native South Carolinian with roots in Charleston that go back to the mid 1800s. It takes something very impressive to gain my attention when it comes to Charleston and tourist attractions. The Carolina Belle is a delightfully comfortable opportunity to enjoy a leisure boat tour of the harbor, while listening to a well informed captain share lore and true stories about the notable areas along the shoreline. The entire staff is respectful and more than willing to help in anyway. There are no hidden, surprise expenses. The time on the water is well worth every moment. If you visit Charleston, you MUST take 90 minutes of your time to cruise on the Carolina Belle. Fantastic!

Myself, wife, and 1 year old daughter did the harbor tour as well as carriage ride and would truly recommend. We arrived in Charleston around 11am (in the free parking lot which we stayed all day and walked the rest of the day as everything is within a short walk) and were greeted by a friendly young girl who checked us in. We then went on about an 1.5 hour boat ride around the harbor where the captain was very informative and explained all a lot of historical facts about the harbor and the city of Charleston. The boat was great, not many people aboard as it was the week before labor day and most children had gone back to school. We sat up top, plenty of room and down below inside it was air conditioned. They also had bathrooms and a snack bar aboard. Would highly recommend. We then went to for lunch at a little country restaurant called Jestine's Place and was pretty good. Both my wife and I got the fried chicken, each got two sides, and the corn fritters for around $25 with tip. We then walked to the carriage company which is within walking distance of the harbor and scheduled our departure. The carriages actually have about 16 people aboard. The tour guide was a native of Charleston and gave a very informative tour of the city which also lasted about an hour an a half. The main reason why I wanted to write the review is to give a warning about packaged tours. This tour was great, it was $32.99pp to do both of the activities which I thought was very reasonable considering I paid about $40 to go on a 15 min carriage ride in NYC a couple years ago. The thing to watch, especially if you have children is to be aware of the packaged tours (specifically the motorcoach tour from myrtle beach to charleston). They wanted to charge us $120pp including my daughter for what would have been almost $400 for us to do the same exact thing. The only thing we did not do, was Boone Hall Plantation that was included in that tour. I am a CPA so if you did the math as I went onto all of the different tour companies websites (boat, carriage, boone hall) the total came out to about $45pp, so they wanted to charge us not only for our 1 year old daughter but $75pp for the 2 hr bus ride. If you are unsure about to take the bus or drive, I strongly suggest you drive. You take Route 17 all the way from Myrtle Beach to Charleston and there is virtually no traffic not to mention the free parking as well.

My gf and I were vacationing at Folly Beach and decided to try this tour while we were there. Boat ride was great and saw alot of interesting things. Food was good and music was good too. Only had one episode that i wasnt fond of and that was after dark when we ran into a nest of viscious muskeeters and everyone was attacked. Other than that it was pleasant. Saw Dolphins swimming next to boat on the way out. Loved that. Couldnt hear much history though. A little dissappointing there. All in all it was a pleasant ride. Great way to relax after dark and see the harbor lights.

The harbor was beautiful at sunset. The music was fabulous and fun. Food was fantastic. All around the cruise was a blast!

The music was fantastic, the food delicious, the ride smooth and the staff was a lot of fun. Sherrie & Richard Parker

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the day spent in Charleston. We started with the carriage ride, walked through the slave market, had a nice lunch, then took the harbor boat tour. It was a genuinely great day. The carrriage guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was delightful. The harbour cruise was very relaxing and enjoyable. I would highly recommend buying the combo package offered for the carriage ride and harbour cruise. It makes for a very enjoyable day.

My husband and I were celebrating our anniversary and we wanted to do something special. We were in Myrtle Beach so a 2 hour drive to spend a day in Charleston sounded good. We really enjoyed the 2 tours. We were able to see alot of Charleston and feel the history in a relaxing way. We did the Harbor Tour first and then the Carriage tour last. This was great because we were right at Market Street so we could take in the local craftsmen at the open market when we finished the tour. Our tour guides were great. They new how to keep all of us interested in what they wanted to share about the history of Charleston.

Had a wonderful experience. It was our first time in Charleston. We learned so much by taking the combo tour. It was well worth it!

After reading the Charleston Harbor Cruise description, we were expecting to see some of the city historical buildings from the water. Instead we saw only a few buildings hidden by trees, and the boat was very far from the city... Another description of the cruise included dolphins jumping out of the water... We did not see any dolphins. The desccription online was a gross misrepresentation.. We really saw nothing of Charleston. The Plantation tour was a little better however not enough flexibility as far as the viewing of the inside of the plantation.

We found the cruise informative and fun and a good way to get the history and overview of the town and also to get bearings and interrelationship of the various islands, peninsula's and historic forts. We found it to be a good value.

I must admit that especially my husband expected the "BBQ buffet" to be mediocre but it was excellent. The music was great and the band played basically the whole 2 hours. The "Holy City" is beautiful from the water at night and we would certainly do this again.

The captain adamantly refused to let my 83 yr.old mother board the boat as a heavy rain began 2 MINUTES before our 11:30 am boarding time. Other passengers observed this as well and expressed their surprise.

The harbor tour crew was very friendly and the plantation was beautiful.

the captain provided a good running commentary on the sites and their historical context