About Flipper Finders Boat & Kayak Tours
Flipper Finders Boat & Kayak Tours operates from Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant, one of Charleston's most vibrant waterfront areas and a known hotspot for resident bottlenose dolphins. The company has been running small-group dolphin watching boat tours and guided kayak excursions since 2009, building a reputation as one of the most reliable and educational wildlife tour operators in the Charleston area.
Their signature offering is the dolphin and nature boat tour — a 90-minute cruise through the tidal creeks and harbours around Shem Creek, Sullivan's Island, and the Intracoastal Waterway, where pod sightings are virtually guaranteed. Kayak tours follow a similar route at a slower pace, paddling through the pluff-mud marshes and tidal channels where dolphins regularly feed. They also run sunset kayak tours, a combined kayak-and-boat package, and seasonal shrimping demonstrations aboard a working trawler. All tours are narrated by marine-biology-educated guides who explain dolphin behaviour, Lowcountry ecology, and tidal marsh systems.
Flipper Finders stands out for their consistently high dolphin-sighting success rate — the Shem Creek launch point puts them directly in the middle of resident pod territory, and the captains' years of experience mean they know exactly where and when to find the animals. The boats are clean and comfortable, the kayaks are stable sit-on-tops suitable for beginners, and the guides are genuinely passionate about marine wildlife. For visitors who want a guaranteed dolphin encounter within minutes of downtown Charleston, Flipper Finders is the top-rated choice on Shem Creek.
