The Dolphin Tour (you should know I was tempted to title this “the dolphin’s tale” but I deemed it too silly)

Everyone agrees about dolphins – right?

They’re kind of magical and other worldly.

I don’t know exactly why.

No trip to the coast ever feels truly complete to me if that trip doesn’t involve at least one dolphin sighting.

And when you see that one sleek dolphin rising and falling right in the gigantic ocean, you feel a little amazed.

And when you see – like fifty of them – you feel like a lottery winner.

On our recent raccoon-filled camping adventure to Edisto Island our family and our friends loaded a boat on a super windy afternoon and tried to follow the rivers and the inlets to catch some dolphin sightings.

We booked an ACE Basin River Tour through Edisto Watersports.  I called about three boat rental businesses after a Google search.  The lady on the phone at Edisto Watersports was the friendliest and the easiest to work with, accommodating our large group of twelve and our short notice – I called about four days before we arrived.  (And, just so you know, they were kind enough to give us a discounted rental rate for writing an honest review here on the blog.)

The day was actually breezy and pretty chilly and I think all the grown ups on board were a little afraid we wouldn’t find any dolphins out frolicking.

The kiddos were thrilled to be on a boat no matter what though.

Right away we spotted dolphins though.  As in, immediately!

Three year old Cathryn’s response was the most enthusiastic!  (Maybe she was just saying what we were all feeling.)  She was jumping up and down, arms outstretched, wide wide grin and shouts of “Dolphins!  Dolphins!”

You guys, everywhere we looked practically – right, left, starboard, port – dolphin spottings!

Mothers and babies.  Sleek.  Shiny.  Beautiful dolphins.  There was a feeding frenzy on one side – lots of splashing and flipping and churning of water.  Far more dolphins than I anticipated seeing.

They really are tremendously beautiful creatures and every single spotting was like a present all unwrapped just for our families.

Our guide was Captain Jim.  He was a fantastic guide – a long time boat captain.  He answered all of our questions with knowledge and a good old grin.  But he also let us enjoy our boat ride experience without intruding in the least – a really tricky balance.

(We learned about the islands we passed – and about one super creepy island nicknamed Monkey Island where the CDC has piles and piles of monkeys living.  It’s bizarre for certain.)

We spent about two hours on the boat and that was really exactly the right amount of time.  Because we could – we brought along snacks.  Adult beverages are allowed but we didn’t happen to have any fixings for Amaretto Sours at our campsite so we did without.  (Those are just about the only “adult” beverages that I think are tasty.)

If we make it back to Edisto island – and after that crazy hike I’m not sure we will – I would definitely use Edisto Watersports for another dolphin tour.

We shared the cost between two families but I still wouldn’t call the trip low cost – but for a vacation experience that you plan to budget out anyway, I think it is absolutely worth the cost.  (And, lets be honest, with a family our size the cost of this boat ride would be less than two meals at a restaurant at the coast.)