Charleston, SC boating

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TQ

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My wife and I are thinking about moving to the Charleston, SC area. I was wondering if anyone could give some advice on what boating is like there. I know much of the area is very tidal, but are there areas where you can tube or go anchor for the day? Also, are there many restaurants you can get to by boat? I am coming for the Chesapeake Bay, so I am assuming it is a very different scene.
 

robert graham

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

Folks tube and water ski up the Ashley River in the general area of the Middleton, Magnolia and Drayton Plantations which are about 12 miles up from Charleston Harbor, also tubing and skiing over on the Wando River, about 3 miles from the harbor, not much fun boating other than sightseeing up the Cooper river due to heavy industrialization, navy base and military weapons area, several nice restaurants on Shem Creek and one on the Wando, couple of large marinas to get gas and food in harbor, plenty of nice boat ramps everywhere. Everybody loves Charleston, but gets pretty darn hot in July/August! Good Luck!
 

Jamie79

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

I live in Columbia and visit Charleston every chance i get its beautiful, excellent restaurants and of course good ol southern hospitality. as for restaurants as stated above shem creek has some excellent local restaurants accessible by boat, Hymans is downtown and amazing if you don't go on a busy night ie holidays. as far as boating i have no experience other than a trip around ft Moultrie on a commercial sailboat, the schooner pride. The battery is a nice view on land and would expect it to be the same if not better from the water. There is a lot to see there and do Patrionts point is nice as well as Charlestowne landing. I dream of boating there in the future when i buy a boat but that is 5 plus yrs from now. enjoy it and welcome to SC

Jamie
 

tnduc

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

I went to college in Charleston, by far my favorite city I have lived in. One of the restaurants we always went to is the Charleston Crab Shack, which you can boat to. Anyone know if Josie Joe's is still there?? We used to eat there all the time (20 years ago), remember of seeing pics of Don Johnson visiting the restaurant in his Scarab.
 

StitchSC

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

In a bit of a rush right now so this will be short....

+1 on what everyone else said!!!

My wife and I anchor all the time for the day, or for the weekend, the places to cruise around are almost limitless with the ICW....you can go camping on Capers Island, which is only accessible by boat..google it.

There are about a million spots to go fishing, last year the fireworks were shot off the aircraft carrier which was a sight from the water. We moved here specifically to get closer to the water, love it and have never looked back!

Here is a link to some charts to give you an idea..

http://sailvector.com/215/Charleston-Harbor
 

TQ

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

It better be with Old Bay and Rock salt......if not I am going to have to stock up.

Can you catch blue crabs there?

By the way, thanks for the tips. I'm sure I will have more questions once it gets closer.
 

Jamie79

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

Should be with old bay i do know its available at most of our grocery stores.
 

Paul05

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

Charleston, SC is the best place to boating, sport fishing, fly fishing, biking etc? The most important are the hotels, which has got lot of fame for the accommodation they provide and delicious foods. Of course, when looking into Charleston hotels, you just can't disregard about food and one immense thing regarding the food is that it's very assorted.
 

eli_lilly

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

Charleston, SC is the best place to boating, sport fishing, fly fishing, biking etc? The most important are the hotels, which has got lot of fame for the accommodation they provide and delicious foods. Of course, when looking into Charleston hotels, you just can't disregard about food and one immense thing regarding the food is that it's very assorted.

Spam...
 

mrflinner

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

I moved back to Charleston (Summerville, actually, but close enough) due to the water options here. In addition to what has been listed, you can pull up on Morris Island for a great day of being on the beach and boat. be careful of when the younger crowd shows up, however. gets a little out of hand. The back side of folly beach is awesome but have a good sonar/gps because of the flats. California Dreaming is a nice pull up restaurant on the Ashley (little pricey but pretty good) with a beautiful view of the harbor. Wife and i put in at high tide way down in summerville and took a nice ride up the Ashley past the plantations, ate dinner on the patio, watched the weekly fireworks at the local AAA baseball park which is on the water, and cruised back home. it was incredible. The restaurants on Shem Creek are probably the best with Reds being the wildest one. Capers and Bull Island are great for families and camping and the fishing is great everywhere. A short drive up the interstate takes you to two of the biggest reservoirs in th state with AWESOME striper fishing but only diner type pull ups. You can catch bull spot tails from just about any of the rivers. Hope you come...it's a beautiful city with wonderful people. Oh, and you can catch blue crab everywhere you drop a chicken neck on a string...
 
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rwidman

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

How do they prepare the crabs in Charleston?

They don't. Unlike around the Chesapeake Bay, there are no "crab houses", even the ones named "Crab House" or "Crab Shack". :(

You can buy them at seafood stores (not restaurants) steamed and spice or live and stram them yourself.

And to answer the next question, yes you can catch blue crabs. My wife and I caught a bunch yesterday from or marina dock and steamed them last night. She is picking them as I write. :D
 

rwidman

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

My wife and I are thinking about moving to the Charleston, SC area. I was wondering if anyone could give some advice on what boating is like there. I know much of the area is very tidal, but are there areas where you can tube or go anchor for the day? Also, are there many restaurants you can get to by boat? I am coming for the Chesapeake Bay, so I am assuming it is a very different scene.

You will be following in my footsteps. I moved here from MD about five years ago. Two years ago we bought a bigger boat. ;)

It's all tidal. About a six foot tidal range and significant tidal current. Yes, you can tube, and yes you can anchor for a day (or two). You can boat pretty much all year long.

You've gotten some good responses so I won't repeat them. Any other questions, I'll try to answer.
 

cwittc

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

RW- are you still monitoring this board? I sent you an pm here, but no response.

CW
 

captainzac

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Re: Charleston, SC boating

Don't forget that you have

Georgetown
Myrtle Beach
Hilton Head
Beaufort (Seafood fest.)
Edisto

All with in a nice cruise
 

jbcurt00

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Diver please take a look at the top of the foeum page Helpful tips.

After 90days w no posts, topics are inactive and best not to be posted to

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