Black River Outdoors
Black River Outdoors
5
Nature & Wildlife Tours • Kayaking & Canoeing
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7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Full view
About
Have you discovered the wild side of the Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand area of the South Carolina Coast? Experience the excitement of a Guided Kayak Eco Tour on beautiful South Carolina waterways with Black River Outdoors. We have tours in Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Georgetown, and Pawleys Island. It's just a short drive from Garden City, Litchfield, Surf City, and North Myrtle Beach. Breathtaking views, close encounters with South Carolina native wildlife, and bird watching are just some of the highlights of our tours. Black River Outdoors Center offers Guided Kayak Fishing Trips too! Your South Carolina vacation is not complete without a Black River Outdoors Guided Kayak Eco Tour! Discover the wild side of South Carolina's Hammock Coast and contact us to plan your tour today!
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Travelers' Choice
2022
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Black River Outdoors
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(230 reviews)
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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5.0
1,059 reviews
Excellent
964
Very good
69
Average
16
Poor
9
Terrible
1
jjensen1127
1 contribution
Aug 2021
We were visiting from AZ and it was our first time fishing from a Kayak. Steve was our guide and he was awesome. Steve was a complete professional, very patient, and fully emphasized our safety and getting us into the right spots to fish. Steve was a complete pro regarding his fishing knowledge and where to go. Our trip turned out very successful with numerous fish caught. Highly recommend using Steve as the guide and Black River Outdoors to Kayak fish....Joe and Kristen
Written August 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
rmarkland
Murrells Inlet, SC1 contribution
Jul 2022 • Family
Black River Outdoor did an excellent job. Friendly, organized and Informative. Our two-hour kayak trip was very enjoyable and informative. Lots of fun. Black River is on point in terms of scheduling the trip, having things ready, being on time and helpful for new kayakers. We loved the trip.
Written July 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Jessica M
Hillsboro, MO85 contributions
Jun 2021 • Family
My husband and 3 daughters did the Cypress Swamp Tour yesterday and it was fabulous. My girls are 14, 12, and 10 and we are all experienced at kayaking. That being said, the 2 hour trip required a lot of paddling into headwinds and my 10 year did get tired. Expecting this I used my dry bag strap as a tow rope and towed her kid sized kayak along behind me for about 40 minutes.
Our guide Michael was excellent. We saw turtles, alligators, a snake and 3 young ospreys which kept us entertained. It was hot, I recommend wearing a hat, sunshirt and bringing sunscreen to reapply to your legs. The price was totally worth it. We are from Missouri and loved getting to experience a different ecosystem than we are used to. Great learning experience and eco- tourism.
Our guide Michael was excellent. We saw turtles, alligators, a snake and 3 young ospreys which kept us entertained. It was hot, I recommend wearing a hat, sunshirt and bringing sunscreen to reapply to your legs. The price was totally worth it. We are from Missouri and loved getting to experience a different ecosystem than we are used to. Great learning experience and eco- tourism.
Written June 25, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
GypsyPearl
Gambrills, MD68 contributions
May 2021
First time ever on a kayak to fish and was scared to death!
However, my guide, Stephen, made this the most enjoyable, exciting and amazing half day on the beautiful waters around Pawleys Creek.
Knowing that I'm not very familiar with kayaks, Stephen was very patient yet instructive and within minutes of him getting me on the water, all fear was gone. I've fished before, but never from a kayak. Why did I wait so long!!
It was a beautiful Sunday morning and there was so much to see. However, once I caught my first flounder (thanks to Stephen noticing that my rod was half bent over while I was oblivious!) the sightseeing took second seat to great fishing. We kayaked to many places, even stopping along the creek side to fish. Best of all - I didn't have to bait any hooks! Stephen did all that with live minnows he brought. Learned how to take the hook out of a crazy flounder's mouth as well!
The best part was that I caught more fish (almost a dozen) than my husband on his earlier trip.....though his were kinda bigger.
If you've never fished from a kayak or just want to get out on the water and do something different, this will make your day, week, month, year. If all of their guides are as great as Stephen, you'll have some serious fun on the water.
However, my guide, Stephen, made this the most enjoyable, exciting and amazing half day on the beautiful waters around Pawleys Creek.
Knowing that I'm not very familiar with kayaks, Stephen was very patient yet instructive and within minutes of him getting me on the water, all fear was gone. I've fished before, but never from a kayak. Why did I wait so long!!
It was a beautiful Sunday morning and there was so much to see. However, once I caught my first flounder (thanks to Stephen noticing that my rod was half bent over while I was oblivious!) the sightseeing took second seat to great fishing. We kayaked to many places, even stopping along the creek side to fish. Best of all - I didn't have to bait any hooks! Stephen did all that with live minnows he brought. Learned how to take the hook out of a crazy flounder's mouth as well!
The best part was that I caught more fish (almost a dozen) than my husband on his earlier trip.....though his were kinda bigger.
If you've never fished from a kayak or just want to get out on the water and do something different, this will make your day, week, month, year. If all of their guides are as great as Stephen, you'll have some serious fun on the water.
Written June 4, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Traci2330
Aurora, IL1 contribution
Jun 2022 • Family
I made a reservation for a family of four who have never been kayaking. My husband and youngest daughter only lasted about five minutes before they asked to turn around. The guide was very understanding that kayaking is not for everyone and took them back. Myself and older daughter continued with the tour. The guide was patient with our lack of paddle knowledge. I didn't see much wildlife, but I didn't care. I wanted to try kayaking and I was able to do that with black river outdoors.
Written June 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Matt_W_Wise
Conway, SC1 contribution
May 2022
I booked this excursion last minute, and actually made a mistake when entering my email address. Mike contacted me immediately (unsolicited) to resolve the issue. Our guide, Luke, was incredibly personable, friendly, and knowledgeable. He demonstrated great paddling technique, pointed out things of interest along the way, and provided a lot of information about the flora and the fauna in and along the Waccamaw. The interactions with the staff, and the excursion itself was amazing. I highly recommend them for novice as well as experienced kayakers!
Written May 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
NCLabyrinthLady
Asheville, NC15 contributions
Nov 2021
I'd booked two, 2 hour kayak tours with this company - the only one offering kayak trips over the Thanksgiving holiday. The first trip, through the salt marsh, was a beautiful sunny day but over 30 people showed up and they only had 2 guides for all of us! Yikes. It was a bit chaotic - two of the kayakers got cut on the oyster bed shells because they either stepped out of their kayak or fell over into the water. The two guides, Mike and Luke, were not fazed at all and took care of both of them, but still.
The day after Thanksgiving I went on a tour with BRO up the Waccamaw River through the Cypress swamp, very pretty and peaceful with only 7 of us paddling. Luke was the leader and he said in the summertime the river is full of gators and big mosquitoes. Ugh. Glad I went when I did but only saw a few hold-over herons and egrets, nothing else. Luke gave good info about the environment and, as usual, I learned a thing or two. Glad to have crossed this kayaking destination off my list. Thank you BRO for the adventure!
The day after Thanksgiving I went on a tour with BRO up the Waccamaw River through the Cypress swamp, very pretty and peaceful with only 7 of us paddling. Luke was the leader and he said in the summertime the river is full of gators and big mosquitoes. Ugh. Glad I went when I did but only saw a few hold-over herons and egrets, nothing else. Luke gave good info about the environment and, as usual, I learned a thing or two. Glad to have crossed this kayaking destination off my list. Thank you BRO for the adventure!
Written November 27, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Michael K
1 contribution
May 2021
My first time kayak fishing was with Black Rivers Outdoors in 2016 with Mike as my guide. It was so unbelievably fun that when I got home I bought a fishing kayak and have been fishing from it ever since. Mike was the perfect guide. I thought I knew how to fish like a pro and even though I really didn't, Mike made it feel like it did.
Fast forward to May 2021: We were visiting Myrtle Beach again and I immediately booked 2 trips with Black River Outdoors. Would have been every day I was there but my wife had other plans. :-(
The first trip was with Stephen as my guide. Since my first kayak fishing trip with Mike 5 years ago, I've gone on at least 15 guided kayak fishing trips in NC, SC and FL. Nobody was even close to Mike's knowledge, patience and downright niceness.
Stephen was every bit as good!
I'd fished the same waters by myself in the years since 2016 and only caught a few fish. Stephen's knowledge of that entire creek was unbelievable. He knows the depth, sand bars and inlets of that entire miles long creek at any tide. No fish finder sonar necessary! He continuously put me on fish throughout the morning. Caught my Personal Best flounder twice!
Stephen was extremely happy to pass on his hard won experience and tips with me for future trips in my kayak. He is a wealth of knowledge but at the same time he was fun to just fish with.
This was one of those trips that you think is too cheap to be fun but at the end of the 4 hours you wish you could just keep fishing and paddling for another 4 hours.
I nearly forgot to mention their customer service. I'm getting older and my memory is not the greatest. I had booked a second kayak fishing trip with Black River outdoors for a couple days later.....or so I thought. I showed up early that morning at the launch only to realize way to late that I had actually booked the next day. Since we had to travel home the next day, that was not an option. I was well within the 24 hour period to cancel with a full refund so when I called to say I would not be able to make my scheduled trip 17 hours from now, I knew I would not get a refund but was hoping for some kind of voucher for a trip in the coming years. Without hesitation, Sheena the Black Rivers Outdoors owner, gave me a full refund and made me feel much better about my stupid mistake. I was shocked at her kindness.
I am already looking forward to my next trip to Myrtle beach while the Redfish are running and hopefully will get my scheduling correct! Great company with awesome people!!!!
Fast forward to May 2021: We were visiting Myrtle Beach again and I immediately booked 2 trips with Black River Outdoors. Would have been every day I was there but my wife had other plans. :-(
The first trip was with Stephen as my guide. Since my first kayak fishing trip with Mike 5 years ago, I've gone on at least 15 guided kayak fishing trips in NC, SC and FL. Nobody was even close to Mike's knowledge, patience and downright niceness.
Stephen was every bit as good!
I'd fished the same waters by myself in the years since 2016 and only caught a few fish. Stephen's knowledge of that entire creek was unbelievable. He knows the depth, sand bars and inlets of that entire miles long creek at any tide. No fish finder sonar necessary! He continuously put me on fish throughout the morning. Caught my Personal Best flounder twice!
Stephen was extremely happy to pass on his hard won experience and tips with me for future trips in my kayak. He is a wealth of knowledge but at the same time he was fun to just fish with.
This was one of those trips that you think is too cheap to be fun but at the end of the 4 hours you wish you could just keep fishing and paddling for another 4 hours.
I nearly forgot to mention their customer service. I'm getting older and my memory is not the greatest. I had booked a second kayak fishing trip with Black River outdoors for a couple days later.....or so I thought. I showed up early that morning at the launch only to realize way to late that I had actually booked the next day. Since we had to travel home the next day, that was not an option. I was well within the 24 hour period to cancel with a full refund so when I called to say I would not be able to make my scheduled trip 17 hours from now, I knew I would not get a refund but was hoping for some kind of voucher for a trip in the coming years. Without hesitation, Sheena the Black Rivers Outdoors owner, gave me a full refund and made me feel much better about my stupid mistake. I was shocked at her kindness.
I am already looking forward to my next trip to Myrtle beach while the Redfish are running and hopefully will get my scheduling correct! Great company with awesome people!!!!
Written June 4, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Terri G
Rockwall, TX38 contributions
May 2021
I paid for the salt marsh tour for 2 adults three weeks before we arrived. The day before our scheduled date/time, I got a text asking if I could switch to Saturday rather than Friday. I already had activity plans on Saturday, so we could not change. Then the reply text was "we will see what we can do". Later: got message we could still come on Friday. In hind sight, we should have cancelled when we had the opportunity.
2 hour Salt Marsh tour - nothing extraordinary about it except the fact that the tour group had a hard paddle against the current the whole 2 hours. Hasting (an English professor doing kayak tours on the side) kept us hard paddling the 1st hour with a promise that it would be a breeze the 2nd hour. It wasn't. More of the same. Besides being a hard 2-hour paddle against the current, the marsh was a dud when it came to seeing nature. Don't expect to see many birds. I think we saw 3. We didn't see any turtles. No fish. Hasting did point out the PVC pipes sticking up out of the water is where old oyster shells are dumped so new oysters can grow. Could we see that sight below the water? No. Be advised that when you arrive at the marsh, there is no building (for a chance to use a rest room). Also be prepared to get really muddy shoes (even water shoes) that will make a mess on the floor of your vehicle. You walk in mud to get into the kayak and same getting out. I have been on better kayak tours in Louisiana in the bayou/swamp.
2 hour Salt Marsh tour - nothing extraordinary about it except the fact that the tour group had a hard paddle against the current the whole 2 hours. Hasting (an English professor doing kayak tours on the side) kept us hard paddling the 1st hour with a promise that it would be a breeze the 2nd hour. It wasn't. More of the same. Besides being a hard 2-hour paddle against the current, the marsh was a dud when it came to seeing nature. Don't expect to see many birds. I think we saw 3. We didn't see any turtles. No fish. Hasting did point out the PVC pipes sticking up out of the water is where old oyster shells are dumped so new oysters can grow. Could we see that sight below the water? No. Be advised that when you arrive at the marsh, there is no building (for a chance to use a rest room). Also be prepared to get really muddy shoes (even water shoes) that will make a mess on the floor of your vehicle. You walk in mud to get into the kayak and same getting out. I have been on better kayak tours in Louisiana in the bayou/swamp.
Written June 3, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
browntf
Pawleys Island, SC1 contribution
Aug 2021
We did the 6:30am marsh tour. The guide (Jack) was great; he was on time, waiting for us with the kayaks ready to go, courteous, and knowledgeable. The birds were very active and it was cool to see the sunrise as we started out.
Written August 15, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
libby2647111
indiana23 contributions
Hello, have you ever had a snake or alligator be aggressive on one of these tours?
Richard L
Pawleys Island, SC4 contributions
In 11 years of kayaking with snakes and alligators, we have had no issues. Snakes and Alligators are not aggressive animals (despite some of the stories you may hear). What some people claim is aggression is actually an animal being defensive because of human threats toward them. The best way to get bitten by a snake is to try to kill it. It will protect itself.
How long a drive is it from the Myrtle Beach Airport to the Cypress Swamp launch?
Richard L
Pawleys Island, SC4 contributions
About 35 minutes.
CheersKim
Cleveland, OH196 contributions
What should you bring with you for a 2hr or 4hr trip?
How should you dress?
Can more than one person ride in a kayak (I have a special needs child)?
Richard L
Pawleys Island, SC4 contributions
We have a detailed Frequently Asked Questions section on our website that goes into more details than I could list here.Go to our website, click on the "Menu" button at the top right corner and select FAQ.
We have had many special needs children on our tours. They have always had a great time. If there is anything specific about your child that you think we should be aware of, feel free to email us.
savannahmac28
Hartsville, SC1 contribution
Are there any coupons or promo codes available? Thanks:) looking forward to our trip!
Richard L
Pawleys Island, SC4 contributions
We try to keep our prices reasonable, and don't do coupons.