So, you’re on vacation at Hilton Head Island and want to do something with the kids other than go to the beach? Ask anybody at your hotel or the kiosk at Coligny Plaza and the Pirates of Hilton Head Island will always pop up. Pirates of Hilton Head departs from Sea Pines, located on the south end of the island.
Once you arrive at Harbor Town just walk down to the marina and find The Black Dagger. It’s a large black ship with red and yellow accents and flying the Jolly Roger flag. It is a real pirate ship and the experience that you’re about to go on will enthrall children 10 and younger.
When the cruise leaves the dock all of the pirate helpers will gather towards the front of the ship. The Black Dagger has a nice covered area where the parents and guardians can sit down to enjoy the show. It really is a show and that’s a difficult thing to imagine being that it takes place on a moving ship with a skeleton crew.
The show is driven by two first mates who alternate between pumping up the crowd on the starboard and port side. As the ship makes its way out into the Calibogue Sound they make lots of pirate jokes, introduce you to the captain, get to know the kids, sing songs and did a variety of skits. But this is no variety show, you’re on a search for treasure that’s been marked by floating buoys that can be seen on the water. You also want to get the treasure before the smelly, villainous Stinky Pete finds it.
When the ship gets close enough to a buoy, the mates will ask for help directing the ship. Once the kids point out the direction the captain will make way toward the buoy to see what treasure lies beneath. It’s good treasure, could be juice for the kids (cups are on The Black Dagger) or other prizes that the nasty Stinky Pete might be after.
Stinky Pete is the heel, comic relief and target practice for the trip. He’s in a motor boat, waving his sword and doing his best Captain Lou Albano on water routine. To be fair, Pete is about 30’ away, so we can’t hear him, but the kids are pelting him with water anyway. The front starboard and port side where the kids are seated have water cannons facing the sound. This gives each person the chance to give Pete his just desserts, which is a sustained water blast until he falls into the sound.
After a 15 minute cruise back to docks the kids get to take some treasure, disembark from The Black Dagger and resume their vacation. The entire cruise takes an hour and forty five minutes. In the busy season there are between one to six sailings a day, but check their schedule and book in advance.
We went in the early afternoon, on this particular day it was in the low 90’s, humid and uncomfortable. Yet, here were Squirt and Ship Wreck-our crew, yelling, jumping, sweating and doing all that they could to get the kids pumped out about meeting Stinky Pete. It worked, the kids had an absolute blast and I understand why Pirates of Hilton Head is the #1 attraction on Hilton Head Island according to Trip Advisor.
Families like to go to Hilton Head because they have great beaches and have restrained their growth. There is no neon, it’s very bike friendly and incredibly family friendly. Pirates of Hilton Head needs to be on your to-do list if you’re near the low country and vacationing. It’s a time that the kids won’t soon forget.
To give you an idea of how much our 4 year old enjoyed his time on the Pirates of Hilton Head he kept his treasure from the ship’s journey, a bag of plastic ‘pirate money’, until we got home. At home, while eating at our local bagel place, he took it upon himself to pass out a coin to some of the folks eating there. “It’s pirate money”, he told them. Most of the folks gave the money back to me once he moved on to the next table. Almost a year later he found one of his pirate money coins in the garden. “Oh look, it’s one of my pirate monies”, he said. I didn’t bother to correct his grammar. I was just in awe of the fact that he remembered the trip and how his small toys can literally get everywhere.
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