Over the past five years, I’ve been exploring Hilton Head Island’s waterways on my own. But after spending a day out with Native Son Adventures, I realized there is still so much more to experience and was reminded that an unexpected adventure can remind you of childhood joy.
Our adventure crew of Maggie Washo, Jevon Daly, Trevor Harden, and I met up with Byron Sewell, owner of Native Son Adventures in April. Born and raised on Hilton Head Island in North Forest Beach, Sewell is a native who loves exploring and sharing the Lowcountry with others.
During the 1970s, his childhood was spent exploring a much less populated version of Hilton Head. “Growing up on North Forest Beach with my dog, it was all dirt roads,” he said. “We had treehouses everywhere.”
His first adventures in life included his bike, backpack, and a fishing rod. He would often head off to Sea Pines or Shipyard to climb trees and fish. “That’s just turned into traveling the world, exploring really virgin areas for me,” he said. “It’s just part of my blood and I have to have a lot of nature in my life.”
Sewell started his career as a captain on Lowcountry waterways more than two decades ago. “I started fishing, fly fishing, and light tackle guide services in 2004 and did that for about five years out of Palmetto Dunes,” he said. “About five years into it, I was starting to do really well with fly fishing.”
Sewell jokingly inspects Peck’s first find of the day, and promises there are much more interesting finds ahead.
But an opportunity for international adventures beckoned him to leave the Lowcountry for several years. He was recruited to use his guide skills on private islands all over the world. “I had some crazy epic jobs that snowballed from one to the other,” Sewell said. “Then, I got an adventure job on an expedition yacht around the world.”
After several years of thrilling experiences abroad, he returned to the island to be closer to family and started Native Son Adventures back up again. “We changed it from strictly fishing to what we called the “day with a native” trip, where you get to pick different interests,” Sewell said. “We fish a little, and when the fishing slows down, we go find shark’s teeth, and then we’ll go teach the kids to throw cast nets, or paddleboard with dolphins, or go to Daufuskie.”
The first stop on the Native Son Adventures tour.
Our Native Son Adventure
No one really knew what to expect for our day-long excursion with Sewell. We were told to wear water shoes and be prepared to get dirty. Honestly, I thought we were about to be hazed in the pluff mud but nonetheless, I was excited for an adventure with a local expert.
Sewell’s goal for our group was to locate shark’s teeth. I quickly learned that Daly is a savvy shark tooth ninja with years of experience and a keen eye for quickly spotting them in the wild. He might also be a bit competitive. Washo, on the other hand, had yet to locate one on her own if it had not been circled by Sewell, but she was committed to trying.
Daly celebrated the day with one of the biggest teeth he’s ever found in over 40 years of combing local beaches.
Searching for shark’s teeth is nature’s version of an Easter Egg hunt because you must search through shells, leaves, twigs, rocks, and other natural debris to locate the fossilized teeth. Plus, they come in a variety of sizes which doesn’t help narrow down what your eyes are constantly scanning.
“We’ll find shark teeth, fossilized turtle shells, horse teeth, giant sloth bones, and dire wolf bones,” Sewell said. “You can find anything out here. This is a legendary area of the world and you can only find shark’s teeth in certain parts of the world, not everywhere.”
Our adventure led us to numerous successful fossil hunting locations. The first stop yielded a piece of broken pottery from indigenous people estimated to be 500-2500 years old. At our next stop, Daly found some small shark’s teeth and we were all relieved to get the ball rolling.
Brooke Peck shows off her first find of the day, a horseshoe crab.
“Most of these are fossilized teeth,” Sewell said. “They are anywhere from 5,000 to 20 million years old. We don’t find a bunch of young teeth from a shark yesterday.”
As the adventure continued, I spotted my first shark’s tooth and it was a doozy – a 3-inches long and from great white. We all celebrated the successful find and Sewell said it was the first time he had ever visited that specific location.
Daly concentrates his efforts in the tall grass, where shark teeth can sometimes wash up in the tides.
Admittedly, I was able to find it because it was so big and only partially covered by sand. The competitor in me was excited to have a point on our non-existent scoreboard.
Trevor Harden captures drone footage of the day. Find the video on CH2’s social media pages later this month.
A few minutes later, a pod of dolphins playfully swam by the edge of the island. We all took in their frolicking and enjoyed seeing the new, bright green marsh growth nearby. We were surrounded by nature’s beauty and enjoyed the opportunity to disconnect from our normal lives.
It was about this time that Washo spotted her first shark’s tooth of the day and became excited. “It’s like when you learn how to spot a gator in the water. It’s the same sort of thing,” she said. “Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.”
Trevor Harden, Maggie Washo, Jevon Daly and Brooke Peck pose with Byron Sewell of Native Son Adventures.
The landscape of some of the places we visited had steep, eroded edges. Since the Lowcountry is known for being flat, seeing these sharp ledges was very surprising for us. Sewell explained that the bottom of waterways around the Savannah River are constantly dredged for the safe passage of large ships. The removed dirt is relocated to the existing islands nearby. This unearthing is why fossils can be easily accessed.
“They dig down to these certain time periods and then dump them on these islands,” he said. “Rain comes and tides come and then erosion. We walk the banks looking for them and you never know what you’re going to find.”
Daly, Peck, Sewell and Harden scour the beach for shark teeth.
When we found our way into the Savannah River, I was delighted to see two container ships headed our way. It doesn’t matter what size boat I am on, those ships make me feel very small. They create a massive wake, which Sewell safely navigated.
As we turned back toward Hilton Head, Sewell had one more habitat to show us – a place he called “Bird Island.” As one might expect, the area was packed with birds. I couldn’t believe how many pelicans were out there, including migratory white pelicans.
Washo captures nesting pelicans with her zoom lens.
As we looked closer, Sewell grabbed his binoculars, and we realized that the island was covered in dozens of pelican nests. I had never seen one pelican nest, much less 30 at one time. It was a special nature moment in my life.
Washo’s first find of the day, located with assistance from Sewell, who has an eye for spotting shark teeth hidden in the sand.
Sewell was a great captain that day. He took us to so many scenic spots, educated us on our finds, and shared his love of the waterways, which invigorated the rest of us. When we started out the day, we had no idea what we’d find, see, explore, or experience. At the end of the day, we were happy, sun-kissed, and windblown, which is the recipe for a fun day on the water. It made me feel like a kid again.
Thanks to nature, even if you did this excursion every day for a week straight, each day would present something different. From bird sightings to fossils recovered to dolphin pods and the weather, each day is unique and full of adventure.
Native Son Adventures offers fishing trips, a day with a native excursions, tiki hut boat tours, and surfing lessons. Visit nativesonadventures.com for more information.
The day’s haul, with dozens of teeth and fossils.