Charleston Harbor Tour & Dolphin Watch Cruise
Charleston, USA
- 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Learn more about the city of Charleston and its landmark harbor as you cruise through the waters with this sightseeing cruise. Set off on a comfortable pleasure craft and skirt the coastline to take in the skyline and top historic sites like Fort Sumter, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, The Battery, the Ravenel Bridge, and Castle Pinckney. Gain a better understanding of the city’s colorful past with live narration during the cruise.
- Views of Charleston’s skyline and historic landmarks from the water
- A large, stable boat with restrooms on board for a comfortable cruise
- Live narration on board for historic facts and fascinating anecdotes
- Choose between two departure points in downtown Charleston
What's Included
- 1.5-Hour Sightseeing Cruise of Charleston Harbor
- Live Narration by Licensed City of Charleston Tour Guides
- Hear enthralling tales of Charleston's colorful past
- Learn scintillating facts about the city's most interesting former residents
- Select between two convenient departure locations: Patriot's Point or Aquarium Wharf
- Pass by Fort Sumter, USS Yorktown, High Battery, Ravenel Bridge, Castle Pinckney, and more
- Possibility of seeing dolphins from the boat
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, USA
Please check ticket type for meeting point.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Fort Sumter National Monument (Pass By)
Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (Pass By)
Battery & White Point Gardens (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Accesibility: Charleston Harbor Tour is not handicap accessible as we have steps that must be climbed in order to board.
- Free Child Ticket Policy: Children must be accompanied by a paying adult. Maximum two free children per paying adult. Individual and family bookings only. The child still holds a manifest seat and counts toward USCG persons-on-board.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 100 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Cruise was beautiful. We saw lots of dolphins and learned a lot of history. The tour guide was excellent!! I highly recommend this cruise.
Reviews
4.2
based on 217 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The boat tour was nice, but no where on their web site does it say NOT handicapped accessible. My 86 year old mom had all she could do climbing up the stairs to the boat.
The link to meeting point leads you to the wrong place. There’s no boats when you get there. I clicked the link for all the maps: Apple, google and Waze.
We loved this tour. Ours was the 3p which was perfect right before dinner. Our guide was very knowledgeable and shared so much historical info but also made it entertaining. Got to see lots of Charleston (the battery, pineapple fountain, Fort Sumpter, Ravenel Bridge, Mt Pleasant) from the water while learning all about their history. As a bonus we saw several dolphins as well.
Easy to book, directions and the process was super clear and easy to navigate. Would definitely recommend!
Excellent tour guide-maximum well told history and local color/minimum corny jokes. Well coordinated boat ride.
Very informative and on time. All employees were very helpful and informative. Boat was clean and maintained.
Cool refreshing breeze off the water knowledgable narration,overall a nice getaway,recommend it,you should love it....
The narrator was excellent, interesting and knowledgeable. My only suggestion would be to take the tour where you got off at Fort Sumter to explore. This was a pass by tour. The outdoor deck of the boat where the tour guide sat and narrated was covered and cool and breezy even though it was a very hot day. You could go below deck which had AC if you wanted to cool down. There was no access to the top deck.
Fabulous time ! Our on boat speaker was so knowledgeable and funny. I believe his name was denny… I hope that’s right !!! Just an enjoyable learning and fun time .
Very enjoyable and informative. We learned a lot about South Carolina’s history and enjoyed seeing a few dolphins as well as watching the Pelicans fly and dive into the water.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for your positive feedback, Kristi!
awesome cruise and awesome guide. Learned a lot and enjoyed the weather. Saw all the cool sights around Charleston
The customer service is nonexistent. My group ha an issue with tickets and when we called the agent gave us no assistance at all.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, Angela. We would love the opportunity to discuss further and determine whether it was our team or Viator you spoke with regarding your reservation. We can be reached at (843) 722-2628.
Great experience learning the history of Charleston and nice scenic views. The narrator was very knowledgeable.
We had a very pleasant boat ride. Our narrator was very historically informative. We really enjoyed it.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thank you for your wonderful review, April!
The boat ride was pleasant and the crew were nice but the recorded tour audio presentation was outdated. The captain had to interrupt it at least 3 times to correct misinformation. How much trouble would it be to re-record the presentation with current factual information?
So glad we were approached on the street. We had looked at some tours but hadnt committed. Christina was super sweet and funny and knowledgeable. Henry was great too
The directions were wrong on the website & didn’t get to board the boat. I understand it was through a 3 party but they should provide accurate directions! I gave away $80!
It's my husband's birthday. We never made it to the Charleston Harbor. The GPS took us to a different location. I tapped on the directions. It first took us us downtown Charleston and then took us to Fort Johnson. I'm not sure why that happened.
It was cancelled on us last minute and we had to make our own plans We were disappointed but made our own fun
If going to Charleston you need to see the sights from the water. This is the perfect way to do so. The guide was very informative and the sights were amazing. We even got to see a dolphin!!
Really nice tour- even in less than optimal weather conditions. The narration was really interesting and the decj hands were REALLY helpful under rough sea conditions. It was a fantastic experinec!!!
They canceled our boat tour
I received no email or phone call
We showed up at the dock to find out it had been canceled
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thank you for your feedback. We’re truly sorry for the inconvenience you experienced. Please contact us directly at (843) 722-2628.
The cruise, details provided and the narrator were great. The narrator was personable and it was evident that he loved what he was doing. However, with that being said, I am unable to give 5 stars. Specific details about the location of the boat and the parking or lack there of should have been provided. This information would certainly have been helpful for persons not familiar with the area. Because there was more than one boat and neither seemed to have the name of the cruise we had booked it was very confusing and there was no one readily available to help.
We enjoyed this Charleston Harbor cruise. The crew was professional and friendly. Unfortunately, the microphone the tour guide was using malfunctioned for a lot of the cruise. We felt like we missed information on Fort Sumter and the Civil War. Those were the things we were most interested in so we were disappointed.
Great way to spend a hot day- water and a breeze! Our host and guide was very knowledgeable and made the outing very entertaining.
To buy a rain poncho if it is raining. But it was a great trip, and the gentleman that narrated the trip was awesome.
Very interesting and relaxing. Knowledgeable guide with entertaining stories. Different way to see Charleston.
Very nice and informative cruise. The narrator was terrific. Lot’s of civil war facts about the Charleston harbor and surrounding islands and previous Forts.
Enjoyed the harbor cruise. Constant information from the guide. Couldn’t always hear what he was saying. Great afternoon.
What a great little cruise this was! Our tour guide, Benny, was so nice and full of interesting facts and history of Charleston and other historical points along the way. The dolphins we saw along were "good luck" according to him! Very nice to have this perspective of the area everything from the water.
Member Pricing
From
$39.37
per personWas $41.45(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Charleston Harbor Tour & Dolphin Watch Cruise
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