Cruising on the
Vagabond was quite an experience for our whole crew. When buying tickets, someone asked about the likelihood of spotting dolphins. "We haven't had a cruise in over 3 years that hasn't seen a dolphin," came the reply. Well, true to their word, we weren't 10 minutes out of Harbour Town before the captain announced some dolphins had been spotted. We spent a good bit of time viewing three different groups of dolphins, including a mother and her calf. The captain spent the entire time sharing his extensive knowledge of dolphins and other sea creatures. We spent a little while observing a shrimp boat in action, then proceeded to cruise out into the open ocean before turning around. The captain narrated much of the trip, detailing information about the islands, life on them, and of course the ocean and sea life.
A word about photographing dolphins. While we saw a lot of dolphins doing a lot of things, I was unable to get a decent picture because of shutter lag time, even worse since I was using a digital camera. By the time I spotted a dolphin breaking the surface, trained the camera, and snapped the shutter, the dolphin was going back under. If you go on the cruise with the expectation of getting a great dolphin picture, you might be disappointed. If you go to watch the dolphins in their natural environment, you won't be.
The Vagabond has a good deal of seating, and we found being on the top deck, above and behind the pilot house, a great place to observe from. There is a snack bar with cold beer, soda, and water, as well as candy bars and other snacks. There are the obligatory T-shirts and hats, and they also sell several different sizes of stuffed dolphins. When boarding the boat, a picture is taken, and you are given the opportunity to purchase prints when disembarking. The cruise leaves from Harbour Town in Sea Pines plantation, and stays out for an hour and a half. We paid $19 per adult and $10 per child, and I believe it was well worth it.