Island Ferry Adventures

We had a great time, even though we did get soaked on the ride over to the island. We got there on the island about 10:30pm and found out, that had we been there earlier we would have gotten some better shells. But we still got some really awesome shells! Also we got to see the wild horses which was way cool!

We used Island Ferry Adventures to get us to Shackleford Island and we were NOT disappointed!
Like Chad E. mentioned, you can really be taking a risk when you pay for these ferry adventures in a lot of areas. Who knows if you are going to be on the 6pm news for being one of 35 passengers who were thrown off of a ferry, blah blah blah. Trusting out Unilocal pals, we decided this was a go!
We were told by the lady we paid to grab some waters and snacks as there would be nothing on the island. Thankfully, we took that advice because it is truly an uninhabited island– except by the horses.
The ferry ride over was a fun 20 minutes. Our Captain had the coastal accent many Harker’s Islanders have so it was nice to hear him tell us about the area and the horses. Once we were on land, we climbed off of the boat and were able to wander around the 9 mile island for 2 hours. Luckily, we had pants on due to the colder weather because hiking across this island looking for horses can run you into many sand spurs that are not welcoming. After about 45 minutes, we climbed to a 30 foot sand dune and from the top were able to spot some horses. We ventured their way, but not too close, took in the scenery and then went to the water. If weather permitted, we could have sunbathed on the beach, but due to it being December, we just strolled along. We were able to spot a school of dolphins very close to shore and collect some seashells prior to our ride back.
For $ 15/​person, this was a great venture. I would definitely do this again and am looking forward to using their ferry to visit Cape Lookout in the near future.

So we waited to review until we had at least two trips with this tour group.
Our first trip was the standard dolphin, Beaufort waterfront and island tour. (can’t remember the name)
We wondered if the kids would enjoy this for the price we were about to pay for the ten of us. Gladly it became one of the highlights of the entire vacation. Particularly our boys love the fast boat ride and salt spray (of course) the history was fascinating and informative (something to use when bringing others to this fabulous town). The captain was wonderful! Funny, safety minded, courteous and graciously helpful.
Our recent trip we chose to do the brand new tour Surf and Sand. Ugh!!! The best!
Yes $ 20 for adults and $ 12 for kids was seemingly alot but the adventure to the shackleford banks and being able to walk around, explore and swim (deeply wade as our kids called it) was amazing!
The waves were a bit high and it gave us a roarin good time boating back to the inlet. For some families it may be a good amount of money. However the stories, excitement and «adventure» has been worth it for us now every year.
We will try them all someday!

The tour was a nice overview of the area. We chose that because it was a pretty hot day, and didn’t want to wait around for the ferry with three kids. With that said, seeing the horses was the highlight for the kids.

We did a tour and it was really nice to get an overview on the area. I have family in the area so I will definitely be back to Shackleford Banks. So serene & beautiful.

It was just ok. We went on the shelling adventure ride. I was told on the phone we would have 20 – 30 min to walk around the island, great! So when we go to get off the boat, the captain says to be back in 15 min… disappointing.
I would also NOT recommend taking any nice cameras or equipment on this trip, it will get wet along with yourself. I don’t mind a slight spritz while on a boat, but I wish I would have brought a change of clothes for dinner afterward.
I also thought it would cover more of the history and information of the local wildlife (horses on the island and dolphins). Nope, he just went over the history of all the local houses, business and yachts. If the tour was described as «history of Beaufort» sure that would be appropriate, not «shelling adventure» including wildlife info.
So if you DON’T mind getting wet, want to take pictures or learn more about wildlife this is the tour for you. I was expecting more and sadly disappointed.

With a name like «Island Ferry Adventures», you are not quite sure what you are going to get. The news regularly has stories of ferries that are ill-​maintained (if at all), overloaded, poorly captained, and end up taking a number of lives when they capsize in the middle of some barely pronounceable body of water. Not the case here.
Instead, the «island» comes from the fact that there are islands off of the coast of North Carolina. The «ferry» from the fact that they provide a simple ferry service to said islands. And «adventure»? That part is up to you, but generally it is more about what you do once you get off the boat and less about what you do while on board, but that ride can itself be a good ride too — just not from the driver or the fact that there has been no maintenance performed anytime recently.
Much like a commercial airliner, the trip starts off with a safety speech, explaining the exits (which really amounts to jumping over the side), explanation of where to find life preservers (incidentally under the seats, just like on a plane) and then you are off on an exhilarating ride across the waves. The ride can be rough, but it is well worth it, whether you are on a trip to the island, or just a sightseeing tour and back again.