Rover Tours, Georgetown

The Jolly Rover does not operate in Georgetown. It is now located in Buffalo, N.Y. and named The Spirit of Buffalo. The Carolina Rover is operating April - October in Georgetown. We are offering Shelling and Lighthouse cruises to North Island. Ticket sales have relocated to 715 A Front Street inside Winyah Bay Mercantile.

This is a $5.00 cruise at best. The shelling is a joke. The boat stops 1000+ feet from the shelling area and you are expected to navigate through brush,cactus,and large, dead fallen trees on the beach to get to "the best" shelling area. Once there you have approx. 15 min to find shells and then it is a race back to the boat. The boat passes by the lighthouse at cruise speed without stopping. I do not shell and was looking forward to the lighthouse tour. I was very disapointed as there was no tour!!! My wife and step daughter who are avid shellers were very disappointed by the lack of time allowed on the island due to the time needed to crawl through all of the barriers to get to the shelling area. The sight of the Harvest Moon is the only accurate information in the brochure being you can see 1-5 feet of smoke stack from 500+ feet away. I recommend you confirm by phone what is included in this cruise before you waste your time and money. If you decide to go, come with an empty bladder as the ships toilet is a step above using a 1 gallon bucket and bring an extra $0.02 for the tip they are expecting for riping you off. The boat ride is safe and enjoyable for young children, but as for shelling on the island, it is not advisable as there are dangers and it is hard for younger children to keep up with the obstacles as mentioned above.

I was also on the boat when it almost capsized in July 2007. This was the most frightening experience of my life. I think the entire operation is unprofessional and unsafe, especially for small children. The people on the ship that wrote the review "boat almost capsized" are actually not lawyers (or ambulance chasers), but a university professor and an engineer. No lawsuits were ever filed. The only reason to write reviews on this is to warn others of the dangers of riding on a sailboat with small children without life jackets.

We paid cash because they wouldn't accept anything else, they had to turn around and come back. Said they'd refund our money -- woman took off with the money so they said they'd send us a check -- surprise -- no check. I would never do business with them again. Have filed a complaint with the BBB and Chamber of Commerce there.

I am a South Carolina native 46 years old. I grew up in Georgetown County. I was also aboard the Jolly Rover the day it was caught in a thunderstorm in July of 2007. I happen to know the crew of this vessel personally. The current Captain has worked on this vessel in this Bay for the last eight years. 6-8 hours a day and sometimes at night, 6 days a week. Good weather and bad. We did notice the storm clouds off in the distance on the return leg of the trip. The tour is basically one hour out and one hour back. As we locals are aware, most storms that approach Georgetown from that direction just follow the Bay out to sea. The Captain and crew were in constant contact by cell phone with the ticket booth getting weather updates. They have a weather radar there. The wind moved quickly across the Bay and rocked the vessel over to starboard. The Captain ordered the passengers below as he turned the ship into the wind. This lady was moving from the aft of the ship to the hatch amidships instead of moving down the rear hatch as the other passengers had already done when the ship was heeled to port. Contrary to her recollection of events, when she slid down, it was a member of the crew that grabbed her arm, not her husband, he was below. There are four witnesses to this. This same crew member grabbed her small child that also fell down with his other hand and held them both for the few seconds that the vessel was heeled over. She, nor her child, was never in any danger of going overboard. She was scared as anyone in that situation would be, but it was not nearly as bad as she tells the tail. Once the sails were down and the vessel was dead into the wind, The Jolly Rover rode out the storm like a cruise ship. No passengers or crew were hurt. The Coast guard was never called. Everyone walked off the ship under their own power. The Coast Guard has already reviewed this incident and found no fault with the ship or the crew. This "concerned" woman never even thanked the crew member that helped her & her child. I even saw this same crew member go over to her just before we docked to ask if she and her child were OK. She just nodded her head. There were over thirty passengers onboard that day. Only a handful complained. They happened to be two lawyers from California and their families. Go figure. The rest of the passengers hugged the necks of the crew and thanked them. The Jolly Rover has been sailing the waters of Georgetown for twenty years. Two of her sister ships cruise the open ocean along the coast of Florida daily. Over forty passengers ride this vessel safely, three times a day, six days a week. Multiply that times twenty years and there have been many more satisfied customers than this small group of ambulance chasers. This is a safe ship with a competent Captain and crew. My family and my Grandchildren have all been out on this trip many times over the years. Don't let this hysterical woman's opinion prevent you and your family from taking part in a great adventure onboard a real Pirate ship. I highly recommend it as a must do while in the Georgetown area.

We went with a family member who wanted to go shelling. My husband and I went along for the trip to be good sports. I'm so glad we did! This is great for adults or families. The tour was fascinating and we learned so much about the environmental challenges of the area, the history and development of the area as well as fantastic tales of ghosts and lost war ships. Ross was our tour guide and trip coordinator. He was extremely knowledgeable about the marine life and passionate about preservation of the natural beauty of the area. I have since become more active with protecting the species (Save the Loggerhead Turtle)! As a South Carolina resident it took going on this trip to really appreciate some of the natural beauty here. I was concerned about seasickness but it wasn't a problem and I never needed the dramamine I insisted we buy on the way. The beach we visited for the shelling was deserted and beautiful. Take your camera and take advantage of the pristine view. The lighthouse is viewable from the ocean. I read complaints that it didn't stop at the island, which is true, but keep in mind that you can't enter the lighthouse (owned by the Coast Guard or DNR) and you can't get a good picture of the lighthouse from the island (too close). The best photographs are actually from the water! There were complaints about the selection of shells from other tour goers. If you are an avid shell collector and trying to expand your collection you may want to coordinate with them the best time to go for a better selection (low tide a day or two after a storm). Light refreshments are available on the boat but you are also permitted to bring a small cooler. We brought drinks and snacks of our own. The restrooms were typical of pontoon boats and they instruct you to use the facilities before launch. The restroom should only be used if you can't wait. A great time and we hope to do another tour of their's the next time we visit!

* "Best shell collecting on the Carolina Coast" - Hahahahaha, it is to laugh. We, and most of the rest of our party, found nothing but oyster shells, broken things, and TRASH. We landed at or near high tide, the worst possible time for shell-collecting. It is amazingly unscrupulous to take people on something that you're billing as "best shell collecting on the Carolina coast" at a time when you know they're going to find absolutely nothing. To add insult to injury, on the trip back to port, the guide passed around a brochure called "Seashells of the Southeast Atlantic Coast," aka "Everything You Didn't Find on This Trip." There was also a show-and-tell, where he brought out a cart of really cool stuff they'd found on previous trips. Yay, thanks. Including a stinky, unpreserved, dead baby sea turtle. "See, this is where the seagull poked a hole in its shell to kill and eat it..." Uh dude? There are small kids on this tour. They're probably gonna have nightmares now. Me, I just thought it was in really poor taste. Plus it smelled bad. * "Only tour to the lighthouse" - Note we did not go TO the lighthouse, we sailed past it and didn't even stop. We didn't land within three hundred yards of the lighthouse, and were certainly NOT "shelling under the shadow of the Georgetown lighthouse" as the text of the ad and the picture would lead you to believe. * "Sight the Civil War wreck of the Union flagship Harvest Moon." OK, if by "sight" you mean have a blob several hundred yards away that could have been a rock or piece of debris pointed out and described as such, then I suppose we did do this. We saw about a foot of smokestack from such a vast distance that it could have been anything; if we hadn't been told what it was, we never would have known. This website has a much better picture of what's visible of the smokestack at high tide; from where we were, all we saw was a black thing that may as well have been driftwood. * "Informative commentary by on-board naturalist" - Our "on-board naturalist" didn't appear to know a buzzard from a blue-footed booby and claimed that anything that didn't have a white head couldn't possibly be an eagle. * "Clean and modern restrooms" - This was an outhouse, basically, from what my husband said (he used it, I didn't). He said there was no running water in the bathroom with which to wash your hands, and in any event, the liquid soap dispenser was missing its lid, so the liquid soap had become a watery graveyard for numerous insects.

My husband, father-in-law & his wife and I (4 adults) took the Pirate Adventure tour in early Aug 2007. We had a coupon for $2 off the advertised price, so paid $88 total. The passenger seating is on the deck, with a small space belowdeck - drinks and snacks are available for $1 each; restroom facilities are emergency only while underway; use the restrooms at the giftshop ahead of time. Captain Rapscallion Blackfoot, Bosun Angel and Swabby were an entertaining crew; the stories seemed more aimed towards the younger crowd, tho I enjoyed the history of some of the buildings we passed by. The cruise remains within the bay; you do not go out into the ocean (or really even come within view), but we did see a few dolphins swimming in the bay. The cruise was enjoyable, tho not spectacular. Recommended to those interested in a trip on a tall ship, with a bit of piratical storytelling thrown in.

My wife and I enjoyed the Jolly Rover Pirate Adventure very much. The Captain and crew were GREAT! I can highly recommend this trip. I think the folks from San Diego, California should leave the hallucinogenics at home the next time they visit the low country.

This was the most terrifying experience of my life. We took the Jolly Rover pirate adventure with our entire family - 6 adults and 6 young children. With all of the sails up and two storms in sight, the children were in the middle of the boat on the deck participating in some of the pirate activities. Luckily I was right there with my two small children ages 2 and 3 because a squall came up and the boat almost turned over. I grabbed my children but didn't have anything to hold onto. As the boat tipped further and further into the water I slid down the deck toward the water with my children in my arms. I braced myself on the gunnel, the small rail around the side of the boat. My husband was above holding onto something sturdy and grabbed my arm. The boat kept tipping and the water kept rising until it was at about mid-thigh. My children were very close to being swept out of my arms. My nieces (7 years old) were not near their mothers and were holding on for dear life. The boat tipped to approximately 35 degrees (from horizontal) before the wind subsided and we were able to go below and put on life jackets. I was basically standing on the gunnel almost perpendicular to the water. It is a miracle no one was thrown off the boat. This is a dangerous boat ride for children (and adults too). I would not recommend going on this tour. If you do decide to go on, I beg you to have your children put on life jackets even if the crew says they are hot, bulky, and not needed.