Nature Adventures Outfitters (NAO), an independent business based on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, has the equipment to get you to the “great outdoors” and knowledgeable guides who will help you enjoy it—no matter your experience level.
Owner Kathie Livingston started NAO in 1998 with the goal of offering tours guided by university-educated naturalists. Livingston said the point was, and still is, to give clients “an accurate interpretation of the area’s flora and fauna.” Today, Nature Adventures Outfitters has grown. In addition to introducing visitors and locals to nature, they outfit their clients and offer instruction in the sports of paddleboarding, canoeing and kayaking.
Overnight expeditions to lesser-known areas of the Lowcountry, such as Capers Island and the Wambaw Swamp area, are popular. According to Livingston, NAO offers both saltwater and freshwater tours. During saltwater tours, visitors are likely to spot wildlife such as eastern shore birds, dolphins and manatees, while freshwater tours offer glimpses of reptiles, songbirds, cypress trees and the endangered swallow-tailed kite.
“We take inexperienced people and guide them in the right direction,” Livingston comments. “We’ll go anywhere there’s water.”
Preservation is a large part of their mission. NAO raises money for environmental organizations, both local and out-of-state. Tours over the years have benefited East Cooper Land Trust, Keeper of the Wild, The Audubon Society, The Sierra Club and others. (Benefits for Keeper of the Wild and East Cooper Land Trust are scheduled for September and October.)
For more information, stop by Nature Adventures Outfitters on Shrimp Boat Lane in Mount Pleasant, call 843-568-3222 or visit kayakcharlestonsc.com.
—Marie Sebastian