Caper's Island by Kayak

Lets Kayak to Caper's Island!

Caper's Island Boneyard Beach

Caper's Island is a great place to visit by Motorboat or Kayak. Whether you are visiting to see the wildlife (Birds, Gators, Deer, Turtles, etc), the beach pictured above, or just looking to get out for some exercise, Caper's Island provides a location which is remote but not too remote.

Read more to learn about Kayaking to Caper's, the sights, and the lessons I learned.

Friends and I decided to kayak out to and camp on the island. This was done on a warm February Weekend.

Sights

Caper's is known for the largely untouched beach which is slowly eroding away into the sea. This makes for a Boneyard Beach where trees are slowly becoming driftwood in the edge of the Atlantic. There is an odd beauty about this as can be seen below.

Sunset over Boneyard Beach

This 2 minute video is a time-lapse shot showing the trip out to Caper's Island.

Two hour trip in 2 minutes

Sunrise over Caper's Island

Mind the big gators...

Big Gator

Trip 

The below contains information about making the trip. Please review the Navigation Disclaimer before using this information.

Where to Start

Trips typically start from either Mount Pleasant, or the Isle of Palms. Specifically, Consider the following two start points. 

1. Mount Pleasant -  32.874770°, -79.738974° Gadsdenville Public Boat Landing
2. Isle of Palms -  32.804652°, -79.759089° Isle of Palmc Marina

There are two good reasons to start from Mount Pleasant instead of IOP. Firstly, starting from Mount Pleasant means that you cross Inter-coastal Waterway instead of kayaking down it directly. This improves safety and gives an opportunity to see more of what nature has to offer. Secondly, is that if one leaves from Mount Pleasant at just the right time, the tide will do most of the work for you. 

Route

This route assumes that you leave from Mount Pleasant. In order to get the tide to take you out, it is best to leave about 45-60 min after high tide. See the route below for more information. 

The Google Earth KML for this trip can be found here.

Other then the route displayed in green, the start and the finish locations, there are two markings here of importance.

1. Dock - There is a Doc on the back side of the island for motorboats. One can pull up a Kayak here if needed but it is much better to just pull up on the beach at the southern tip. If you are going by motorboat, you can easily pull up here or beach on the southern tip. Just be sure to not leave a boat tied up overnight as that is not allowed.
2. Breakers Area - The area marked in yellow can be shallow sandy, or breakers depending on tides. Trying to kayak through this area can be bad. Depending on Tide you may be able to finish at the marked location or may be able to continue around to the front of the island.

Camping

Camping on Caper's Island is is a great idea but it is by permit only. Caper's Island is the only place in SC where one can camp and build a fire right on the beach. You can get a Camping Permit from the SC Dept. of Natural Resources. Call them at 843-953-9300. Best to camp on the ocean side of the island at least 25 yeards in. Better to not camp right next to the inlet.

Lessons Learned

• Be careful along the Inter-Costal Waterway
• Trying to leave Caper's Island from the front is entirely dependent on tide. Leaving through the waves at any other time then low tide is not advised and will require walking the kayak down to the southern point near the inlet.