Charleston Harbor Speed Boat Adventure Tour

Badge of ExcellenceCharleston, USA

Special Offer

From $81.93

$102.42 Save $20.49

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

2 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Explore our promoted experiences

Likely to Sell Out

Charleston, South Carolina

Private Luxury Sailing Charters, BYOB & Dolphins

302

from $525.00

Per group

Charleston, South Carolina

Get Out of Town! Visit 12 Lowcountry Stops with the Complete Charleston Tour!

from $149.00

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston Farm-to-Table Food Tour and Chef's Challenge

from $109.00

Viator earns higher commissions on experiences featured here

Overview

Get behind the wheel of an F13 speedboat for a guided tour of Charleston Harbor. Learn the basics of operating the speedboat from your guide, and then follow the guide boat past the Battery, under the Ravenel Bridge, to the USS Yorktown, and more, stopping for photo ops and to optionally change drivers.

Drive your own F13 speedboat for an immersive tour experience. Stop for photo ops at points of interest.
Follow your guide to top Charleston Harbor attractions such as the USS Yorktown
Safety briefing and boating lesson included
Small-group tour limited to eight people or fewer

What's Included

Fully Guided and Narrated tour
US Coast Guard-approved life jacket
Safety orientation
Your own F13 mini speedboat
All taxes, fees and handling charges

Hotel pickup and drop off
Gratuities
Food and drinks

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Ripley Light Marina
56 Ashley Point Dr, Charleston, SC 29407, USA
56 Ashley Point Drive Ripley Light Marina As you turn into the marina, keep driving until you see a large, oval, maroon sign on the left that says “California Dreaming”. Please stay at picnic table and the guide will come get you.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (Pass By)

South Carolina Aquarium (Pass By)

Joe Riley Waterfront Park (Pass By)

Battery & White Point Gardens (Pass By)

USS Yorktown CV-10 (Pass By)

Patriots Point Links on Charleston Harbor (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for people with neck or back problems or a recent surgery to participate. Pregnant women should not participate.
Bring a swimsuit in the summer and a jacket in the winter, sandals or flip-flops, towel, sun block, sunglasses
The per boat weight limit of 450 lbs (227kgs)
No experience or boating license required. You must be 21 years or older to drive the boat. Minimum age is 5 years old.
The boats do have a storage compartment so bags can get wet

Voucher info: You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.
A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Zikia_S

We had an excellent tour guide, who gave clear and concise direction before the tour. Driving the speed boat was FUN! I would recommend this experience to anyone who loves to try fun, exciting, new things.

Reviews

5.0

228 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 228 reviews

Breathtaking

Cindy_B, Apr 2024

Our guide was wonderful. Very knowledgeable and walked us thru how to drive the speedboat step by step, multiple times. I highly recommend this experience. Definitely worth your money. Absolutely loved it.

Great day on the water with my sweet wife!

CRAIG_J, Sep 2023

Beautiful day on the water and just fun doing something different in Charleston. Well bringing our kids and their families on the speedboats when they visit in November. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the outdoors and being on the water.

Horrible Instructor

Reisa_W, Aug 2022

The experience itself was a great one. The family that was in my group was super nice. The only reason I am giving this 1 star is because our instructor however, was not so nice. He was not patient and yelled at us. He had no understanding that this was our first time and needed to get the hang of it. He gave a lot of information in the short tutorial that we were expected to remember and excel as professional drivers. That somewhat soured the experience. This tour isn't cheap. I didn't spend that money to be yelled at. The group that came back before we went out looked annoyed and when I went out I understood why.

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Thank you very much for coming on the tour and leaving a review. We are glad you felt that the tour was a great experience. However we are sorry that you felt slighted by your tour guide. Boating requires concentration and attention. Several times on your tour, customers made decisions that your tour guide deemed unwise and that directly contradicted the instructions you were given before and throughout the tour. For example, you were told again and again not be anywhere near the shore, yet several times the boats were being driven right next to the land. The water gets very shallow near the land. Also, after many warnings, the boats on your tour repeatedly ran too close to other boats in our tour and other boats on the water. The gentle reminders were not working. You say your tour guide was horrible. But let me ask you, if your tour guide saw you do something that wasn’t safe and he did not say anything, wouldn’t that be horrible? It the directions were too confusing, you had plenty of time to ask questions. Just know that we do not set out to yell at people. If we ruffle a few feathers to keep everyone safe, sometimes that is the only way. Ultimately, you had less than a perfect experience and for that we apologize.

Great, fun a adventure’

Vernon_K, Sep 2021

Graham kept us safe & made it fun! He was very knowledgeable & had a good sense of what we were looking for in this experience Would definitely recommend to others looking for a good view of the bay & somewhat adventurous

The whole experience ...

Steven_C, Aug 2021

The whole experience Saw either a dolphin fin or a shark The boats were great The guide was perfect Everthing was good

Speed boat Heaven!

Cynthia_M, Aug 2021

Celebrating our 30th Wedding Anniversary! We were exciting waiting for this tour. Woke up to thunder and rain and was convinced that it wouldn’t happened, but decided to go to the docks anyway. Thank Heavens we did! What an amazing experience! Our tour guide made sure we were safe at all times. Even though we had to make a detour because of the not so calm waters, we were later able to circle around and see all of the sites! We definitely want to do this again and would recommend this to everyone!❤️

Not worth the money

Corey_W, Aug 2021

The speedboat tour was not what i expected. We did not tour the harbor like mentioned on the website. We did not go under the bridge, pass the aircraft carriers. All of the attraction we were suppose to tour we did not do. For the cost of a short tour was not worth $280 more like $100. I could have spent that money on something more fun like a paddle boat. I would not recommend anyone to take this terrible speedboat tour.

Awesome experience

Shavon_H, Aug 2021

The view of the water was amazing. Tour guide was excellent and gave clear instructions and made us feel safe despite it being our first time.

Speedboat

mae_s, Jul 2021

We enjoyed the speedboat adv with Graham he was very attentive with weather. It was something different for our anniversary.

Such a great time!

Stephanie_H, Jun 2021

We were in town for a wedding and wanted to do something fun the morning of and so happy we chose this! It’s a great time for all skill levels, including someone who has never driven a boat before.

Fun ride!

B_L, Jun 2021

Enjoyed being out on our own boat. Safety was a priority. Fun sight seeing adventure around the harbor.

Fun on the water!

John_G, May 2021

So fun, it was a great family experience! We saw a dolphin up close. Gram was awesome! We would definitely do it again!!!

Sooo fun!!

AnneMarie_S, May 2021

We had a great time on the water!! Beautiful area ! Felt very safe. Graham the tour guide was awesome!!! Thanks Graham 👍🚤☀️

Fun, Safe, Unique Way to see Charleston

Wanda_S, May 2021

Captain Graham was amazing! We had THE best time!! Boats were great, got on plane perfectly and really enjoyed his insight and detail into the special sights! Absolutely recommend and we will be back! Thank you so much for a fun, safe, unique way to experience the sights of Charleston!

Cancelled

Jodi_P, Mar 2021

We had to cancel. Weather was too cold. Did not anticipate inclimate weather. There’s nothing else to say.

AWESOME OUTING

Machelle_W, Feb 2021

Guide was well knowledged, engaging, and gave a thorough safety briefing. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and saw schools if Dolphins on our return. We'll be back!

Joy on the Water!

T_K, Jan 2021

The Guide was very fun and professional. He mapped out the tour but also provided flexibility in the experience according to the weather and participants. The Speed Boat tour included up close, sight seeing opportunities and autonomy that you would not typically find on tours. The speedboat was awesome and we got every opportunity to experience different speeds on the water. It was excitement, fun, and laughter the whole time and there were some beautiful sea birds along our path as well!

Highlight of vacation

Gena_L, Oct 2020

Exceptional experience!! My husband and I had a blast!! Graham was awesome! He ensured we all understood what to do to keep us safe!! This is by the best way to see Charleston!! Will do this again just because...

The NEED for SPEED

cynthia_m, Aug 2020

Spectacular experience for our grandson And his Papa. “The need for speed” was there. Beautiful memories.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

Zikia_S, Aug 2020