What a great time we had! Bird Island tour was so much fun! We saw 20 or more species of wildlife first hand. Cari was an awesome guide. She went at a pace suitable for our 7 year old and our 70 year olds! We all learned a lot and had a great time. read more

Summertide Adventure Tours - We had such a great time! Thanks Cari! - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

Great evening on the ICW and adjacent marches in ocean isle beach . Cari and Greg were very professional and accommodating. Great safe and fun adventure for family and solo travellers ! read more

Summertide Adventure Tours - Taking a break on the Sandbar . Poppie and mirah enjoyed paddling . No complaints!! - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

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I have been kayaking exactly one time before. It was a terrible, horrible, miserable, awful, horrendous experience where I spent an absurd amount of time in the water because 1) I was on a fast moving river that was running high; 2) I didn't know what I was doing; and 3) neither did my guide. So when my wife suggested that we should try kayaking here, I was...hesitant.... Carrie is AMAZING! She has great equipment, a magnificent knowledge of the areas where she is leading tours, she is passionate about the critters and things seen, and she is VERY safety conscious. We did the 4 hour tour to Bird Island, and even though things looked good when we left, when we got to our first stop conditions rapidly changed for the worse. She was in contact with people all over the area and checking her weather radar constantly, and she made absolutely sure conditions had settled down considerably before taking us back out again. I would highly recommend this experience to anyone--neophyte or old pro. read more

Simply THE BEST kayak & fishing tour Co in coastal Carolina, North or South. Cari is the BOMB. Rip will put you on the fish. Sam holds down the fort like a Goddess. The Greg's, well they are an acquired taste but know customer service like no other guides in the estuary. Go to Bird Island, pick up some crabs and enjoy a wonderful day on the water. Oh yeah, don't forget to ask whatever happened to that cool marine biologist they used to have on staff. read more

Summertide Adventure Tours - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

Thank you Carrie and Greg for a kick ass trip today. My family loved the inlets and I loved I got to put in some paddling time on the East Coast. It was a perfect day filled with laughter, wildlife and new friends. We will definitely return!!! read more

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I went on two kayak tours with my grandchildren.Both tours were a lot of fun. The tour guides were fantastic. The first tour was to Crab Island and Bird Island. The guides were very knowledgeable, and could answer all our questions about the wild life on the islands. The second tour was to the back side of Sunset Beach to view the sunset. Because of the cloudy weather, the sunset was not to be, but kayaking through the estuaries was an eye opener. So much wild life thriving in the ICW. My grandchildren and I really enjoyed both trips. A great way to have a fun time with family. read more

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We drove down to Sunset beach for the day from Wake Forest and went on the Bird Island tour with Cari. We absolutely had a blast! Cari made a point to take us to some really cool places and pointed out a lot of local wildlife. She uses kayaks that are made in NC and they are top notch. So much fun! If you like to outdoors take the opportunity to go on one of their great tours. We will definitely go back! read more

Summertide Adventure Tours - Out on the intercoastal. - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

My husband was supposed to arrange our reservation a week before we called on Friday - luckily they still had spots available for Saturday evening! Cari (Cary? Kari?) and Dane were great guides - sure I was near the end, but they were really flexible on how behind I was. My husband is a strong kayaker, so he was closer to the front. However, we got to go along a intercoastal stream, a creek, and swim by a sandbar! read more

13 of our group enjoying a family reunion, of sorts, at Sunset Beach signed up for the twilight tour. We were varying ages and abilities, with the youngest at 14, the oldest in his late 60s. Some of us are very fit, some of us not so much. We even had one with autism. Cari and Rip made every aspect of the trip extremely pleasant and easy to manage. The tour of the waterway at sunset was lovely. There was quite a wind, but they reassured us and got us easily and safely across the waterway with no fuss, muss, or drama. They brought us in just a smidge early as a storm was blowing in. We were all safe and sound at home when the skies opened and the thunder crashed. These guys are pros. All safety instruction is seen to, and they do a fabulous job of keeping everyone participating, together, and having fun. They get my highest recommendation for sure!! Thanks, Cari and Rip, for a wonderful time and great family memories! read more

Kerry and Greg took us on the Bird Island tour. My husband, two boys and I were partnered with another group of 12. What a wonderful morning on the water! Kerry was an excellent guide, and I especially loved our stop at "Crab Island" to catch crabs and learn more about them! My youngest (10) was reluctant to go on this tour and ended up having a blast! read more

Summertide Adventure Tours - Pictures from our Bird Island experience! - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

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Such a great time during the sunset kayaking trip. Rip and Greg were great hosts and kept the kids entertained with fun facts and cool clam digging tricks. They had such a great time and the view during sunset is absolutely breathtaking on the way back. Perfect way to end the night. read more

Just came back from an awesome Tubbs inlet tour with Cari, Greg and a lovely group of people. The guides were informative, knowledgeable and funny. We paddled 2/3 of the way and then took a much needed break to swim around and look for shells, crabs and wildlife. I felt like I got in a good workout without getting overly worn out. I'd absolutely do a trip with Summertide again. read more

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Edited....***Although the original experience was very disappointing, the guide contacted us after the tour and apologized for the subpar experience. We were offered either a gift certificate for future use or use of rental kayaks one of our remaining days this trip. This was greatly appreciated. ***Original review: We selected this tour because of the amazing reviews about the interactive guides and peaceful and beautiful tour. The booking process was smooth and they were very accommodating when we had to reschedule due to an illness. I was told it would be a 3 hour tour. The tour was 90 min start to finish including boarding and landing and instructions. We saw very little on the tour but understand the guides can't control nature, but they can still talk about it. The short distance and lack of information from the guides was very disappointing and not consistent with other reviews. We've done kayak tours at more than six other places around the world and this was by far the most disappointing. The tour was not helped by six very rowdy and inappropriate participants but the guides made little effort to right the behavior and take control of the trip. We'd have had a better experience and saved a lot of money by just renting kayaks on our own. Kayaking is usually the highlight of our vacations and this was beyond disappointing. $400 for 1.5 hours of kayaking - ridiculous! read more

Great trip! Cari was very knowledgeable and helpful. She had ready answers for all of our questions about the area and was genuinely interested in our family. We weren't fortunate enough to find the great shells described in the Bird Island tour, but we saw fiddler crabs galore and all sorts of interesting creatures. The jetties were beautiful, and we even saw a shipwreck! Definitely an interesting tour---and quite an upper-body workout! I'm not a very experienced kayaker, but I felt comfortable and capable on this tour. read more

Kayaks, Sun, Nature and the best Guides ever!! We took our second annual trip to Calabash/Sunset Beach, NC this August. The slow pace and beauty of the area is a perfect getaway if you want to just relax. My husband and I took up kayaking two years ago and love working on our skills in the area's beautiful waterways. One morning, 8/29 we met Summertide's owner, Cari and her assistant, Greg as they were setting up for another tour out to Bird Island. They were so nice and welcoming that we decided to join them. Throughout the entire tour, they educated guests on kayaking technique, interesting facts on the local watermen we passed, nature and more. We got to Bird Island and fell in love. We ate our packed lunches and got a tour from Cari and Greg that gave us more insight on the history of the Island and how it is now a state protected wildlife sanctuary. We walked the beaches looking for shells and hoped to be like the prior week's tour that found whole sand dollars. We made the journey down the beach to the Kindred Spirit Mailbox erected some 30 plus year ago and left a note like others that have come before. It was a beautiful day, but very windy. Tide was high heading out to the Island and then we had to work against the wind and current going out for low tide on our way back to our launch site. Despite the element challenges, our group did great because of the guidance and oversight from Cari and Greg because they told us how to paddle and navigate Oyster beds and more. One older man was having difficulty on the return trip, so Greg towed him all the way back. They truly demonstrated how much they love what they do and their compassion in how they care for others. I point this out because we've been on other kayak tours with different companies that had very nice instructors, but were passive guides that didn't really assume an active teacher role. This is fine for kayakers with some experience. However, the non-experienced guests on those tours struggled a lot with technique and even some aquatic fears. These guests could have used better guidance to improve their paddling and overall experience. That's why we highly recommend Summertide. I felt like we gained so much through that one tour because they are patient, caring teachers that love what they do and want everyone to have an amazing time. If you're heading down to the area, make sure you book a tour with Summertide. One experienced kayaker came along with our tour to learn the waterways, so he could use his kayak in the area the rest of the week. Again, no matter your skill level, you will enjoy your time and come away learning from the local owners that live, work and love paddling in the area year-round. (PS - Be sure to go to visit your outdoor sports store or www.travelonbags.com to get a waterproof lanyard for your phone and/or a wetbag). read more

We've taken four or five kayak trips with Cari, Greg, and Rip over the years. Whether it was with the full family or just some couples, we've always enjoyed getting out on the ICW and traveling through the marsh on one of Summertide's trips. We've enjoyed the trip to Bird Island and another one through the marshes between Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle Beach as well. Group size has been as many as 12 or as few as 4 when we've gone out. We also purchased our personal kayaks through the company last year and enjoyed the service that Rip provided for that as well. This is a great activity to add to a vacation stay in the area. read more

Cari and John were the perfect guides for a July 4th kayaking tour with the family through Tubbs Inlet. Light and fun, we all had a great time! Thanks guys! read more

My party of five took the Twilight Tour trip this past week and had an amazing time. Cari was great. She is so knowledgeable about the wildlife, eco-system and every inch of the water. All of us were first time kayakers and had no trouble at all due to her instructions and advice. We've been coming to Sunset Beach for 20 years and always wanted to do something like this and finally did and none of us know why we waited so long. We can't wait to do it again and plan to make this an annual tradition. If you're thinking about any of the trips, stop thinking and just book! read more

On an early-spring golf trip to the Sunset Beach area, we were looking for something to do on our "day off" and I came across Summertide's name and website. Booked the Bird Island tour for 8 of us, all women in our fifties and sixties, and we had a blast. Cari and Greg made sure every kayak was properly adjusted, and everyone knew the basics (we had very little to no kayaking experience). I worried a little about the length of this particular tour, but it was broken up with a couple of stops on different islands, so it really was not that taxing. Add to all that a perfect day - sunny but not too warm, and it was an experience that we would all definitely repeat. I highly recommend Summertide Adventure Tours. read more

Fun for "kids" of all ages! We took the Bird Island tour with some time to walk to the Kindred Spirit mailbox. Rip made sure that we were going at a time when the tide was right and the paddling would not be too taxing! Cari was the perfect guide. There was a family that used a tandem kayak for father and daughter and the rest of us were singles. It was a great experience and the peacefulness of kayaking on the water through the marsh grasses was wonderful...no snakes or alligators to worry about but we did see some beautiful sea life and birds. Can't wait to come down for the Sunset tour! Thanks for the great service! read more