Ahoy! Welcome to Setwake Savannah
Cruise through Savannah's Waterways
with a native captain
There is nothing like the serene waters of Savannah, Georgia. Come see for yourself the beauty and adventure waiting for you! At the helm of your journey is Captain Chez "Fuskie" Simmons. Captain Fuskie is a Savannah native with a deep connection to the Gullah Geechee culture of Hilton Head Island and Daufuskie Island. The name "Setwake Savannah," was chosen by Captain Fuskie to reflect the navigational path his forefathers took to get to Savannah by boat from Hilton Head Island and Daufuskie Island. The Simmons legacy continues to live on through each boat ride.
Our Services
Enjoy an array of tours designed to suit every traveler. From thrilling dolphin tours to romantic sunset cruises, we've got you covered! Setwake Savannah offers the following charter services:
Daufuskie Island Getaways
Day trips and overnight stay are offered at an all inclusive rate or individual service rate. Overnight rates vary by the requested service upon visiting travelers.
Day travelers trips are scheduled 4 to 6 hrs depending upon time slot availability, and your party time starts promptly as scheduled. Please be on time. If there’s an emergency, please notify your captain or the assistant.
Day trippers are allowed one small waist bag per person (i.e. crossbody/fanny pack ). Any additional small hand bags are acceptable at a rate of $25 dollars per handbag. ABSOLUTELY NO DRUGS OR WEAPONS ALLOWED ABOARD ANY OF SET WAKE VESSELS OF ANY SORT. I.E. Firearms, brass knuckles, knives, or any explosive. Daufuskie is a safe and fun environment and we strive to help keep it that way.
Listen to the history and storytelling that has been passed on for generations. Keep your ears sharp for the local’s Gullah dialect; a local spin-off of the English language. All tours drop off at the county dock or the Freeport Landing at Daufuskie Crab Co.
Ask about our Gullah heritage history tour given by Gullah natives. Experience true island-style history and culture!
$100 per person round trip. $300 trip minimum. Up to 6 passengers. There is an additional $20 charge for pickups in downtown Savannah or the Eastern Wharf district.
and take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience of being up close and personal with our Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and other marine wildlife you may spot along the way. Your Captain is experienced and knowledgeable about the local ecosystem and shares a deep passion for being out in the salts. So if you’re visiting Daufuskie Island for the day or in Savannah for only a few hours and looking for something to do, come and set wake with us and create some unforgettable memories!
The Bottlenose dolphin tour is $300 for 2 hours for up to 6 passengers.
dating back from the birth of Savannah, to its harbor expansion we see today. Your Captain will brief you on the important history of the harbor while also sharing facts about the late and great Mr. Richmond Wiley and the significance of his role in the city of Savannah’s harbor.
The Richmond Wiley Harbor tour is $300 for 2 hours for up to 6 passengers.
With the Captain at the helm, cruise the Savannah harbor of the salty marshes, sip your drinks, and relax. Select your music and set wake with your family or friends. Perfect for birthday parties, bachelorette parties, family outings, or romantic date nights. You pick the destination with the choice of Daufuskie Island, Hilton Head Island, the Savannah harbor, or visiting the sandbars. It will be a day to remember!
With the Captain at the helm, cruise from Bluffton to Daufuskie Island or Hilton Head to Daufuskie the trip minimum is $200, or $50 per passenger, up to 6 passengers.
Do you need boat transportation to run errands, pick up groceries, or your Amazon packages? We can help with that! Transportation services with our boat and van are available to and from Hilton Head and Savannah.
A 2 to 4 hour cruise, pricing ranging from $300 – $600 for up to 6 passengers.
Please be mindful of the tide (its 6-hour changes) and changes in the weather and plan accordingly. Please communicate with your Captain about expected pick-up times. Enjoy the fun!
The Sandbar tours are $300 for 2 hours for up to 6 passengers.
Take a boat ride out to Shark Tooth Island and keep your eyes open for various marine life artifacts such as shark’s teeth, manatee teeth, fiddler crabs, starfish, and all sorts of different types of seashells and driftwood.
The Sandbar tours are $300 for 2 hours for up to 6 passengers.
With the Captain at the helm, let’s cruise the back waters of the Savannah river up to Hilton Head Island. There you can partake in lunch at Harbour Town, offering an array of restaurant choices. There is shopping nearby at The Shops at Sea Pines, where you can take home a souvenir. This is all around a great way to spend the day experiencing Hilton Head Island!
We offer transportation tours to downtown Savannah, Bluffton, Hilton Head, and Harbour Town.
For up to 6 passengers, the price is $250 one way, or $300 round trip.
Whether you are romantic at heart, or just love sunsets, there are some incredible sights to be experienced on our Savannah waters. Our boat, the Salty Pearl, accommodates six people comfortably, so now is a good time to invite a few friends or just your significant other, play some good tunes, and enjoy the sunset chasing vibes.
The Sunset Cruise tour is $300 for 2 hours for up to 6 passengers.
The Salty Pearl will take your group upriver to downtown Savannah, where a dock awaits you to the heart of town. Take your time exploring, shopping, and dining in Savannah. Your Captain will be ready to take you back at the specified time- will it be just in time for a sunset cruise to finish the day? Maybe! It’s a fully tailored trip that’s ready and waiting for you.
For up to 6 passengers, the price is $250 one way, or $300 round trip.
The Salty Pearl is available for Savannah River taxi service! The taxi service operates every thirty minutes between the Eastern Wharf District, River Street, and Emma James District on Hutchinson Island. Hours of Operation:
About Us
Our Family Returns to the Waters...
The Simmons family has been chartering these waters for several generations. My family history, that I know of, started on the coastal barrier island originally known as the First Key – or what we know today as Daufuskie Island. The Gullah refuge is my place of peace. To have the opportunity to work where my ancestors have, is to come home. With each tour, I take pride in knowing my true grit and entrepreneurial spirit have navigated through me from my ancestors. It is imperative to know where you come from in order to know where you’re going. And when I go to Daufuskie, I am going home.
We Had a Different Version of Prohibition...
Back in the day, my Grandfather, Willis, would haul whiskey for sale from Savannah to Daufuskie Island. He would mainly navigate at night, using only a lantern and the moonlight as his guide for sight direction. He would cover the whiskey up with scrap iron just in case he’d come across Game Wardens. When he got back to Savannah, he had a guy helping him who would stand on the riverbank and flash a light to let him know the coast was clear and there were no police in sight, and to come through. If his helper wasn’t there flashing the light, my Grandfather would bed down in the marsh until daybreak, or abort the trip altogether. One cold night, the Game Warden Officer finally caught up with my Grandfather when he reached the riverbank and flashed a light on him and said, “I got you now, Willis. I’ll have to take you to jail.” But my Grandfather told him that there would be no going to jail tonight, and he can give him a swig to drink, but that’s about it. He has kids at home and needs to make a few extra bucks for Christmas shopping. Well the officer had that swig of sweet scrap whiskey, and the two talked a bit. They soon discovered more about each other and that my Grandfather was a military veteran from the island, and because of that, he let my Grandfather go that night. Throughout time they became friends, and he would come to Daufuskie and stay at my Grandparent’s house sometimes. From there on, he would let my Grandfather know when the coast was clear for him to run whiskey without getting caught by other Warden Officers. Today, you can find a taste of the “Scrap Iron” cocktail at the Daufuskie Crab Co. restaurant, and they offer many of the other traditional seafood items we harvest from our rivers like deviled crabs, fresh fish fingers, and oysters when in season.
The Tastes and Traditions Will Live On...
Setwake Savannah's
The Salty Pearl
Our trusted Salty Pearl is a 21-foot dual console Sea Hunt cruiser. She can seat 6 passengers and the Captain comfortably, or 5 passengers with roller totes or coolers comfortably. Our basic operational fees are $150 per hour, and $60 per hour for standby time.
The Salty Pearl
Boat Tours Available 7 Days a Week from Sunrise to Sunset
All tours on the Salty Pearl are by appointment only. We use Fare Harbor for all our booking requests. All participants will need to sign a safety charter agreement before boarding. We look forward to creating great memories for your party with fair winds and following seas!
Details and Safety Protocols
Key Information and Policies
Mandatory Safety Waiver Agreement
All participants on a tour are required to sign our charter agreement before onboarding any of our vessels. This form will be provided to you for signature at the dock.
Max 6 Person Capacity
Things to Bring on Board:
Sunglasses
Sunscreen
Hat
Weather appropriate clothing
Water and drinks
Binoculars
Beach towels
Appropriate footwear
Weather Policy
We strive to provide the best possible boating experience you can ask for and your safety is our number one priority. The coastal weather often changes by the hour and a forecast issued the day before may be substantially better or worse than anticipated the day of your charter. We have a no-rain and small-craft advisory policy so we do not depart the dock if it is currently raining/storming or rain/storms are imminent in the latest forecast model. During otherwise nice weather, if a small-craft advisory is posted, and still safe to do so, we will continue to operate within the protected Intercoastal Waterway. The boat will never go into open water during an active small-craft advisory, when sea conditions exceed 3-4 feet waves, or winds exceed 25 mph. We will generally make cancellation decisions 1-2 hours before departure time. Please feel free to call before driving to the departure location. If our Captain decides not to cast off due to weather or advisories, you have the option to reschedule or receive a full refund. If availability exists, we can change the trip time to allow rain or storms to pass. If we cast off in mediocre weather, and finish a trip for the agreed allotted time, discounts or refunds will not be given. While you are on your tour, if you and the Captain mutually agree that the conditions are undesirable or unsafe to continue, we will return to port early and a calculated per-hour rate will be issued for lost time based on the rate of your trip.
Cancellation Policy
We ask that when guests book a charter tour, they should be certain that they will enjoy the boat that day. Once a client books a trip, we notify all subsequent inquiries that "the boat is unavailable or taken." So for this reason we have the following refund policy. 100% Refund: A full refund will be given for cancellations made 7+ days prior to the scheduled charter date. 50% Refund: A partial refund will be given for cancellations made 3-6 days prior to the scheduled charter date. (You have the option to reschedule for a later date.) No Refund: There will be no refunds given for cancellations made less than 72 hours prior to the scheduled charter date or if you end or request to return to port early during an "already in progress" charter for any reason. If the Captain deems it necessary to end a trip early due to guest misconduct, intoxication, gross safety violations, drug use, harassment or in any way a risk to the boat, passengers or crew, refunds will not be given. Refunds will be issued within 48 hours of cancellation to the original form of payment. If a charter tour is canceled for any reason by Setwake Savannah or the Captain, a full refund will be issued.
Pet Policy
We are pet-friendly as long as the pet is people-friendly. If your dog is a "barker" please be considerate of your fellow passengers and do not bring the dog on board. We also ask that your pet be up to date on all vaccinations. Our pet policy is for dogs only, and they must be leashed at all times. Please bring food, water, dishes, and any other items that your pet may require. A dog is not allowed on board unless they have access to fresh water and a bowl. Let's keep it safe and fun for everyone on board!
Payment Options
We accept cash for all our tours. We can process your cards with Square, Venmo, or Paypal. The processing fees are passed along to the client: $3.00 per hundred for swipes and taps and $4 for manual entry over the phone.
Overnight Policy
We do not operate at night due to dangerous submerged or floating hazards. Lock your doors, secure any of your valuables, and secure your parking. We are not responsible for any towing, theft, or break-ins of your vehicles.
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