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Beaufort County · South Carolina

Daufuskie Island

The bridgeless sea island between Hilton Head and Savannah — ferry only, golf carts only. Everything you need is on this page.

Right Now on Daufuskie

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Weather now

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Tides (Fort Pulaski station)

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Sun & forecast

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Ferry schedule

Lowcountry Ferry
C.C. Haigh Jr. Boat Landing (by Pinckney Island), Hilton Head → Melrose Landing, Daufuskie
Depart HHI7:00am · 10:00am · 1:00pm · 4:00pm
Depart island8:30am · 11:30am · 2:30pm · 5:30pm
Fares from $30 · (843)422-1597 · Tickets
Daily schedule · verified 2026-07-31 from the operator’s site

Golf carts & bikes

Island Rental Carts
4-seat, $65/day · $400/wk		(843) 368-1345
Book
Tour Daufuskie
carts, bikes & guided tours		(843) 342-8687
Daufuskie Life
gas & overnight carts, book online		Book
No cars on the island — reserve a cart when you book the boat. E-bikes: Fuskie Bikes (on-island). Prices verified 2026-07-22.

How the Island Works

public core, private ends

First time? The island is a patchwork: a public Gullah historic core in the middle, working docks on the river side, and gated communities on the ends. Here is what you can actually visit:

The Historic District (mid-island)
Public
The island you come to see: county dirt roads through the Gullah National Register district — First Union church, Mary Fields School, the rum distillery, artists' studios, the community farm. Open to everyone by cart or bike.
Freeport Marina (west, Cooper River side)
Public
The working public dock — Old Daufuskie Crab Company, cart rentals, day-cruise landings. If you come by tour boat, this is usually where you step off.
Melrose Landing (northeast)
Public dock
Where the public ferry ties up. The surrounding old Melrose resort grounds are private property — its shuttered remains are what the "abandoned island" photos show.
Haig Point (north end)
Private
A private residential club with its own members-only ferry from Hilton Head. You can't drive in, but its restored 1873 lighthouse is the island's postcard, visible from the water.
Bloody Point (south end)
Private, museum open
A private golf community at the island's southern tip — but the 1883 Bloody Point Lighthouse museum on Beach Road welcomes visitors (see directory for hours).
The beach (Atlantic side)
Public
Nearly three miles of strand facing Tybee's light. Like all South Carolina beaches, it's public below the high-tide line; reach it from the public beach accesses on Beach Road.

Island Map

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Island Directory

phones, hours & websites — updated from live listings

Getting Here & Around (3)

Daufuskie Island Ferry

The island's lifeline - the public Lowcountry Ferry from C.C. Haigh Jr. Boat Landing on Hilton Head to Melrose Landing; no bridge, no cars, golf carts waiting on the other side.

4.7

Daufuskie Island Rum Company

America's only sea-island rum distillery - small-batch rums aged in the island humidity, with tastings a golf-cart ride from the ferry dock.

4.4 · Today: Closed

Tour Daufuskie

The island's guide outfit - golf-cart history tours through the Gullah historic district, gear rentals and day-trip packages from the ferry.

3.6 · Today: 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Eat & Drink (3)

Lucy Bell’s Cafe

Sit-down island cooking in a cottage on School Road - shrimp and grits, fried chicken Thursdays, and the closest thing Daufuskie has to a dining room.

4.5

Old Daufuskie Crab Company

The island's dockside institution at Freeport Marina - deviled crab, low-and-slow barbecue and cold beer under the oaks where the ferry lands.

4.4 · Today: 11:30 AM - 8:30 PM

School Grounds Coffee

Coffee, smoothies and breakfast sandwiches in the old Jane Hamilton School - the island's morning gathering spot, sharing a porch with the indigo studio.

4.8 · Today: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

See & Do (7)

Bloody Point Lighthouse

An 1883 keeper's-house light at the island's southern tip, named for a 1715 Yemassee War battle - now a small museum with island relics.

4.3 · Today: 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Daufuskie Island Beach

Nearly three miles of undeveloped Atlantic strand facing Tybee's lighthouse - driftwood, sand dollars, and often nobody else's footprints.

4.8 · Free

Daufuskie Island Historic District

A National Register district of dirt roads, praise houses and Gullah homesteads on a bridgeless sea island - reachable only by boat, toured by golf cart.

Free

Daufuskie waves

Stand-up paddleboard rentals in Daufuskie Island.

5.0 · Today: 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM

First Union African Baptist Church

An 1884 Gullah praise-house church still holding services - white clapboard, hand-hewn pews, and one of the island's oldest congregations.

4.8 · Free

Haig Point Lighthouse

A working 1873 rear-range light on tabby ruins of a former plantation, restored as the storybook landmark of Haig Point - visible from the Calibogue ferry.

4.2 · Free

Mary Fields School

The two-room schoolhouse where Pat Conroy taught Gullah children in 1969 - the year that became 'The Water Is Wide' and the film 'Conrack'.

4.0 · Free

Artists & Makers (3)

Daufuskie Blues

Indigo dye studio reviving the Lowcountry's 18th-century blue-gold in the old Jane Hamilton School - dip-your-own workshops and hand-dyed textiles.

4.8 · Today: Closed

Silver Dew Pottery

Island-born potters firing pieces with Daufuskie clay and beach sand in a backyard kiln beside the 1883 Silver Dew winery shed.

5.0 · Free

The Iron Fish Gallery & Studio

Sculptor Chase Allen's coastal-metal studio in the maritime forest - buy a fish off the porch on the honor system, as featured in Garden & Gun.

4.8 · Today: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM · Free

This Weekend Across the Water

Hilton Head & Bluffton
Everything on this weekend

Questions People Actually Ask

ferry costs, golf carts, the ‘abandoned’ rumor
How do you get to Daufuskie Island?

By boat only — there is no bridge. The public ferry (Lowcountry Ferry) runs daily from C.C. Haigh Jr. Boat Landing (by Pinckney Island), Hilton Head to Melrose Landing, departing 7:00am, 10:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm, returning 8:30am, 11:30am, 2:30pm, 5:30pm. Day-trip cruises also run from Harbour Town in season, and water taxis cross from Hilton Head.

How much does the Daufuskie ferry cost?

Fares from $30 each way per person; a luggage barge handles anything you can't carry aboard (fees from $25). Book ahead on summer weekends — (843)422-1597.

Can you rent a golf cart on Daufuskie Island?

Yes — carts are the island's transport, and you should reserve one when you book the boat. Island Rental Carts runs 4-seaters at $65/day or $400/week, (843) 368-1345; Tour Daufuskie rents carts and bikes, (843) 342-8687; Daufuskie Life books online; Fuskie Bikes rents e-bikes on-island. Many vacation rentals include a cart with the house. There are no car rentals because there are no cars.

What is there to do on Daufuskie Island?

The Gullah historic district by golf cart, the beach, two lighthouses (Bloody Point and Haig Point), the rum distillery, the indigo dye studio, iron-fish sculptor Chase Allen's gallery, Silver Dew Pottery, and dockside deviled crab at Freeport Marina. Every one is listed with phone and hours in the directory above.

Are there restaurants on Daufuskie?

A handful, and hours are island hours — check today's line in the directory above. Old Daufuskie Crab Company at Freeport Marina is the dockside institution; Lucy Bell's Cafe serves sit-down island cooking; School Grounds Coffee handles mornings.

Why do people say Daufuskie is "abandoned"?

It isn't — roughly 400 people live there year-round. The rumor comes from the island's 1980s resort era: the old Melrose resort went through bankruptcies and its remains still stand, which makes for haunting photos next to a very alive Gullah community, working farms, and artists' studios.

What is special about Daufuskie Island?

It is one of the last sea islands you can only reach by water — a National Register Gullah historic district, the schoolhouse where Pat Conroy taught (his book "The Water Is Wide" became the film "Conrack"), and a working community of makers. John Mellencamp has famously kept a home here.

How big is Daufuskie, and what county is it in?

About five miles long and two and a half wide, in Beaufort County, South Carolina — between Hilton Head and Savannah. It's pronounced "duh-FUS-kee."

Can you stay overnight on Daufuskie?

Yes — vacation rentals (many with a golf cart included) and club stays at Haig Point. There are no chain hotels, which is rather the point. Day trips are easy on the ferry schedule above.

Picnic tables and a tin-roofed pavilion strung with lights under live oaks at the Old Daufuskie Crab CompanyOld Daufuskie Crab Company

Know before you go

Five things that catch people out

  1. Book the cart with the boat. Golf carts are the only transport and sell out before the ferry on spring and summer weekends.
  2. The last ferry leaves on time. Miss it and you are chartering a water taxi. Check the day’s schedule when you book.
  3. Cash helps. Some artists sell on the honor system, and cell coverage drops in the maritime forest.
  4. Hours are island hours. Kitchens and studios close seasonally and on weekdays — call ahead, numbers are in the directory above.
  5. History in one line. A Gullah community since emancipation — praise houses, the school where Pat Conroy taught (The Water Is Wide), and a National Register historic district you tour by cart.

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