Bailey D.
Yelp
A COA kayaking tour is a MUST the next time you're staying in the Charleston area. We had an incredible experience from start to finish, and saw several dolphins during our tour!! There's nothing quite like being that close to wildlife ... and it's an experience we won't soon forget.
These tours fill up quickly, especially on the weekends. We somehow managed to snag four reservations the day before for a Tuesday morning tour at 9 a.m. Although COA offers tours later on in the day, we think earlier is better, especially during the summer heat and humidity. The prices aren't bad either, in comparison to similar kayaking experiences around Charleston.
While the COA folks will be the first to say that there's no guarantee that you'll see dolphins, we saw several during our tour! We ended up sitting in the middle of the channel for awhile as the dolphins fed on shrimp around us. We saw two separate mothers and babies -- and one even came right up to our kayaks!
Our guide, Megan, was incredibly informative and helpful throughout our tour. Our group was a mix of beginners and more experienced kayakers, but Megan was encouraging and supportive from start to finish. She also eased our fears of alligators and sharks, saying gators don't typically venture out where we were on Folly Beach, and the sharks that do swim in those waters are smaller sharks who are more interested in eating crabs than eating you.
COA offers both tandem and single kayaks -- and although we'd never used sea kayaks before, the pedals that control the rudder were easy enough to get the hang of once we got onto the water.
It's safe to say this will become a tradition every time we visit Charleston, because even the possibility of seeing a dolphin in its natural habitat is exciting. COA is running an awesome operation for tourists and locals alike, and we can't wait to tour with them again soon!
