Barrier Island Ecotours

Courtney was our guide on our 1^st trip to Capers Island. We had a fantastic time! We took our 2 daughters along for the trip and they had a blast as well. We learned new things, got to see a couple of dolphins and collect some shells. Our youngest daughter had a great time pulling up crab traps. We will certainly be doing this again! If you are visiting in the spring the boat ride out can be a bit windy. Jeans and a jacket are suggested, I even found myself wishing I’d brought my earmuffs. But the beach on the island warned us up and the ride back was nearly as windy. Thanks for a wonderful morning!

Great experience this week on a crabbing trip with Barrier Island Eco Tours. Went on a crabbing trip with my 4 year old daughter and extended family. The crew was great — funny, knowledgable, and oozing experience. They made sure everyone had a great experience and cooked up a crab tasting meal at the end.

Great trip, Courtney and Casey showed amazing southern hospitality. Capers Island never disappoints, and the crab feast was fantastic. Highly recommend.

Jessen was an amazing guide and captain during our sunset tour. The ride is educational and beautiful. The stop at Capers Island is worth the boat ride and I would definitely recommend this company to my friends, family and tourists.

Our family had an amazing time on this excursion. We took off for the isolated barrier island around 9a. Bring some extra jackets it gets a bit chilly at least this time of year.
We saw Dolphins on the way to and back.
Island was really cool.
Lots of fun educational info on the way. Live crabs from the traps to learn about and hold, fresh oysters to try if were inclined.
Everyone loved it
This is a must do to see the other part of the Charleston low country.

One of the best tours I’ve experienced. The guides were knowledgable. They were kid friendly. They, of course, never guarantee that one will see wildlife. These folks, though, went to various places to ensure we saw Dolphins. If you get the chance, you must visit the boneyard beach at Capers Island.

This tour was excellent and affordable! We were here on a family vacation and stumbled upon this tour. I would recommend it to everyone. This 2.5 hour sunset cruise to Capers island was so much fun. We saw dolphins and even a shark! The naturalist on board went above and beyond. My 9 year old got to help pull in a crab trap and then help release the crab back into the water. It made his whole vacation. It was definitely worth the money. This is a fun thing to do as an adult or child.

We booked a four-​hour tour with Barrier Island Eco Tours for a company outing, and we were beyond pleasantly surprised with our experience. I would highly recommend this company for any tour, for all ages, and get ready for a great time!
We learned about the flora and fauna in the area, had enough time to explore Capers and have a great time, and had a blast! The Lowcountry Boil, cooked right on the beach for us, was exceptional, and they were very conscious of the shellfish allergies among our group, separating out some of the goodies before they threw the shrimp in. I was just beyond impressed with their professionalism, their commitment to making sure that we had a great time, providing us with coolers and ice and supplies, and just being really good at their jobs.
If you’re new to the area, or just interested in having a great experience out of the Isle of Palms marina, you have to check it out! A+, you guys. Thanks again for a great time!
–Omatic Software

This tour is money well spent.
With Kelsey in the captains chair and Robbie as our resident naturalist on board, the whole tour was simply wonderful. Their knowledge complimented the gorgeous sights and sounds.
The pace of the tour was perfect, on numerous occasions Kelsey pointed out pods of dolphins and loggerhead turtles. Robbie pulled up crab traps and gently handled the wildlife while educating us about their habitat, gender, and life. He pulled up a huge male stone crab and told us how they are sustainable because of their renewable claws (it made me want to try stone crab claws for dinner). We got to Capers Island which is a gorgeous untouched island where nature and wildlife are able to live and ‘take its course.’ Breathtaking.
I will be recommending this tour company to my friends and family who come to Charleston because of the friendly and courteous staff, gorgeous sites and experiences, and clean steady boats. I am already planning to come back for their sunset cruise.

This was a terrible experience start to finish. We arrived on time and the boat was not ready. Robert, the captain of the boat, did not have his phone so we were not able to get in touch with him. So, after waiting over an hour the boat finally arrived, and it was not the boat that we had reserved. When we finally got on the boat we were surprised to see his dog, because we had already asked that there not be a dog. We asked that the dog not stay on the boat with us because of allergies and Robert yelled at us to go back to Ohio and other insults and kicked us off the boat.
We were a family of 15 excited about a going on a boat tour and instead we baked in the hot sun for over an hour and were insulted and kicked off the boat when Robert finally arrived.

We bought a Living Social coupon for the sunset dolphin cruise from IoP to Capers Island. The cruise turned out to be just what we were looking for!
Our family of 2 adults and a two year old enjoyed a laid back boat ride across the Intracoastal Waterway, and we got to see several dolphins playing in the wake of the boat. The naturalist on board shared interesting information about the local sea life, and the kids all loved the live blue crab she had ready for them to touch. However, she didn’t overwhelm us with data and talk the whole time — I thought she was just the right balance.
We saw a beautiful sunset, enjoyed conversation with our fellow boat mates, took pictures on Capers, enjoyed a few beers we had brought with us (Barrier Island welcomes this!), and had a very relaxing experience. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting the Charleston area.

This might’ve been the best tour I’ve ever been on. I came to charleston a few days ago for a couple days by myself and figured I’d try to see some of the wildlife and scenery. I signed up for the tour while I was still on the train, and soon after got a call from capt. Robert.
He asked me how I was getting to the boat and when I told him a cab, he offered to pick me up from downtown charleston, which in the end saved me around 60 dollars. Talk about southern hospitality. He’s quite the character and not to be missed
The tour itself was nice and small because it was a weekday in the winter — I imagine it gets pretty busy in the summertime.
Robert was so knowledgable about the wildlife, but also, he’s born and raised in the area and had so many great anecdotes for us about life in and around charleston. Who know an empty beer can in a crab trap means someone stole your catch!
We saw a ton of wildlife — dolphins, pelicans, herons, crab, oysters — you name it. The island was gorgeous even on a rainy day. It’s totally worth the trek out. The whole trip was very relaxed — we got to see a ton a learned quite a bit about the islands and wildlife surrounding the holy city.
Afterward he took me back to my hostel in the city and told me I have a place to stay whenever I come into the city.
Overall really a great experience — a must for anyone coming to visit charleston.

This is one of the best boat cruise tours in the Charleston area (located at the Isle of Palms Marina). It’s actually probably THE best because it takes you to a little known uninhabited island that many tourists are unaware of (Capers Island), and you get to see some of our unspoiled, preserved lowcountry charm up close and personal. You can bring a cooler on the boat, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. They have fishing and crabbing trips, overnight camping trips, sunset cruises, dolphin watching, and a visit to boneyard beach. Take a trip over to the island. Spend some time walking around and exploring. Enjoy taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of the water. And get a great narration from a local tour captain that you won’t soon forget.
The boat is shaded, so unlike many other outfits out there for Charleston cruises, you get reprieve from our heat and sun. Their fleets can hold from 6 to 49 ppl, so if you have a reunion, wedding, family get together, or just want to head out with a few friends, they can accommodate!

I’ve been on their eco tour to capers island close to 10 for business and when family is in town. Capt Robert and Sarah are both extremely knowledgeable and passionate providing their info in an entertaining way. After exploring capers for 2+ hours you will want to spend more time on this great spot of heaven.

My husband and I were visiting friends in Charleston, and they recommended the dolphin watching tour (they had been on it before AND there was a Groupon for $ 16). I was concerned because I get seasick and do not usually go on these things, but as my friends promised, it was a smooth ride and I did not have any problem whatsoever. We went on the 5 pm tour and brought our drinks and snacks in a cooler. Turns out we could have brought our dog too (with prior OK from the guide and company). Next time.
Sarah was our naturalist guide, and was great with adults and kids alike. The kids onboard really got to participate in their own learning about the crabs and other animals while we were headed from the marina to Capers Island. Our favorite part was the trip to Capers Island. It was so great to walk around and take photos. You can pick up shells («treasures») there as well. Apparently there are usually many more dolphins than we saw (high tide, but it’s when we had time to go) but our dolphins showed up as we were leaving Capers Island and the sun was setting beautifully; I really don’t think it could have been nicer.
We will definitely go with Barrier Eco Tours again when we are back in Charleston (as soon as possible!!).

Had an awesome tour today with Brett leading the guide and educational program and Jessen manning the helm. Dolphins, egrets and other wildlife. Brett was great with the kids and made everyone feel welcome. Had a relaxing stroll on Capers Island and the water was warm. A perfect day for a reunion with family members from Phoenix, Memphis and Santiago, Chile. Well done and thanks.

This was a fine trip for our family. Our 3 year old daughter was tired of crabbing so she and my wife explored the island until it was time to eat. All of our guides were friendly and informative. Perhaps the best part was cracking open a beer that i had brought and enjoying the most fresh blue crab you can eat! This was my daughters first time eating crab and she could not get enough.

A must for kids and families visiting the IOP. My review will focus on the crabbing and the eco tour.
Very informative and friendly guides. Ready to answer any questions you may have re the islands. Would demo on how to catch crabs with a trap. The final destination would be Capers island for both tours. Its nice to look at all the drift woods when the tide is low. Although there aren’t as much sea shells to be found during my trip. The blue crab tour was fun. The catching was challenging given a line and sinker with a chicken neck as bait and a net to scoop up the crab.
Later on we were given a feast of steamed blue crabs. WOW!!!
Highly recommended.

Amazing! Jeesen and Robert were great! They are so knowledgeable about the area and the ecology. The trip to Capers Island is wonderful in itself. The trip is about 3.5 hours. Be sure to take your camera. The wildlife seen was some of the best in the area. You can bring snacks, drinks and even adult beverages if you’d like. We have been on most of the outdoor tours in Charleston and this had to be my favorite. Rain or shine this is a *must do* for locals or tourists!

This was our second trip with Barrier Island Eco Tours. It was enjoyable again, but next time we will not go if it is going to be high tide on Capers Island. At high tide you really can’t see much of the «boneyard», the dead trees that looked so cool last year, and there is not much beach to walk along. However there were tons of shells. Two children found huge, really huge, whelk (conch-​like) shells. Seriously these were about 8 inches long. They ask you to take only 3 shells per person, though, so you can’t use this as a shell-​collecting cruise.
We saw dolphins again this year (briefly) and we also saw a deer on an «island» in the marsh. That was cool.
Capers Island appears to have been discovered by local boaters because there were about 4 private boats there when we left. It doesn’t seem as much like an adventure when there are a lot of other people around, and power lines. There were people talking on their cell phones on the beach on this island. SIgh.
The tour guides and owners are wonderful. Our guide was named, if I have this right, Jessen. I had 3 teen girls with me and I think having a cute young (college age?) guy doing the tour was a big plus for them.