Monday, August 31, 2009

The Awendaw Creek Canoe and Kayak Launch

From Christine Awendaw Landing 8 30 09

If you take US 17 about 18 miles North of SC Highway 41, past the turnoff for Garris landing, past the SeeWee Restaurant, past the SeWee Nature Center, over the Awendaw Creek bridge, but not quite to Buck Hall Campground, you will find a little known and even less used canoe and kayak landing, the Awendaw Creek Canoe and Kayak Launch.
Christine and I like to paddle our kayaks around and do a little fishing. So, we though we would give this landing a try. We took US 17 North and made a right on Rosa Green Road. The landing was a half mile down on the left. It is an easy ride. There is pretty much no traffic once you get North of Highway 41.
The landing is not as easy to use as a boat ramp and those with canoes or yaks greater than 13 feet in length will need to lift the boat over the rails on the switchbacks. It is clean and in good repair. Parking is easy and I had no trouble fitting my car and trailer in a spot.

From Christine Awendaw Landing 8 30 09


We got to the landing on the early part of incoming tide, so we paddled north, against the tide. This would make our return easier. We fished and paddled for about three hours. Because we do more fishing than paddling, I am guessing that we only went a half mile or so from the dock. It is still nice to have the current at my back as I return. We drifted back much of the way, with a Gulp shrimp under a float drifting along with us.

The fishing was not good. This was the first time I have fished in brackish water. I am surprised, due to the proximity to the Intracoastal Waterway, that the water in this creek wasn’t saltwater. This water was almost fresh. We each caught about a half dozen small sailcats, a saltwater catfish that is rare in this area.

From Christine Awendaw Landing 8 30 09


I would certainly recommend this landing for a nice paddle. Due to the fact that there aren’t any boat ramps around, there isn’t any boat traffic. We saw a lot of birds and it was very peaceful. The current was not too swift to run against; yet swift enough to give us a nice drift back to the put in. There may be some freshwater fish in the area. If so, they didn’t want to bite on shrimp.

There aren't any outfitters to rent kayaks or canoes at the landing. You can try these:
Time Out Sports

Coastal Expeditions

Nature Adventure Outfitters - may run tours, contact them for more info


From Christine Awendaw Landing 8 30 09

1 comment:

  1. I'm going to go try out this creek this weekend since the weather should be nice and I miss paddling. I'll let you know how it is. Might try some fishing too, we'll see.

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