Island Head Watersports

Welcome to Island Head Watersports, a vibrant, kinetic hub situated along the shores of Broad Creek. Our previous investigations focused upon the quiet, human-powered observation of the shallow marshes. …

As we depart the marina, we enter the main artery of Hilton Head Island: Broad Creek. Despite its name, this massive body of water is not a creek in the traditional freshwater sense; it is a sprawling, saltwater tidal estuary…

Navigating toward the southern toe of the island, Broad Creek empties into the vast, deep expanse of the Calibogue Sound. This sound is a massive body of water separating Hilton Head from neighboring Daufuskie Island, and it…

For those embarking on the larger, specialized sportfishing vessels leaving from these docks, the ultimate destination lies far beyond the protection of the sounds. Their target is the Gulf Stream, a massive, powerful ocean…

If one does not wish to travel the full seventy miles to the Gulf Stream, the nearshore ocean off Hilton Head offers another fascinating subject of study: artificial reefs. Approximately eighteen miles off the coast lies the…

Returning our focus closer to the shoreline and the broad sounds, we must examine a specific, highly anticipated biological event that drives much of the local fishing culture: the annual migration of the cobia, Rachycentron…

As we conclude our analysis of the motorized marine environment, we must take a broader, geological perspective on the landmass of Hilton Head itself. Viewed from the water, the vulnerability and the resilience of a barrier…

As our motorized vessel returns to the docks at Island Head Watersports, the engines throttle down, and the wake subsides, leaving the surface of Broad Creek to return to its natural, tidal rhythm. The journey we have undertaken…