An adventure with Byron Sewell includes searching for shark’s teeth, surfing, fishing, crabbing, a boat ride, and above all … having FUN!
“Growing up on Hilton Head in the ’70s was a much different experience than what people see today,” said Sewell, owner and founder of Native Son Adventures, an eco-adventure business that specializes in giving visitors an opportunity to see what it feels like to be a native, born on the island.
Sewell’s perspective is unique in that his passion to share his love for nature is driven by his love and respect for his parents and the legacy they created and passed on to him. Born in Savannah, because there was no hospital on Hilton Head Island at that time, Sewell grew up barefoot and covered in sand and salt. “I was baptized by the ocean when I was only three weeks old,” he said.
His dad, “Hurricane” Hampton Sewell, was East Coast famous for being a true waterman and pioneer surfer from the ’60s. Every year, Hamp would disappear at the first forecast of big waves to Cape Hatteras, Florida, or the Caribbean—wherever there were tropical storms or hurricanes—with a van full to the brim with fly rods, beach rods, surfboards, and sailboards. Hamp was a champion surfer, die-hard saltwater fly-caster, sailor, artist, teacher, and a loving father.
“If you ask my dad what his greatest achievement was, he’d say, ‘Teaching thousands of the island’s next generation to love and respect the ocean, nature, and fellow human beings,’” Sewell said.
Those same values were instilled in Sewell by his mom, too. Alyce “Sissy” Sewell is known by many as the “mother” of Hilton Head Island. Together Sissy and Hamp created the legendary Montessori-based “Kindred Spirits” children’s enrichment program, a nurturing place for after-school and summer break programs dedicated to education, promoting creativity, surfing, physical activity, music, social skills, and more. Sewell’s first real job was at his parent’s school, and his formative years were spent fishing, surfing, exploring the island, and sharing that with others.
At age 18, Sewell began spending four to eight months a year surfing, diving, and fishing the waters of Central America, New Zealand, Australia, and the French Polynesian outer islands. Learning new and different techniques, embracing different cultures and getting priceless “time in the field,” he was then—and still is today—on the search for perfect waves, undiscovered fishing spots, and adventure.
From his parents, Sewell learned not only to love and respect nature; he learned the value of community and roots, and as that seed grew, he was inspired to return home and do something impactful in the place where his parents’ legacy was already so powerful. Sewell realized the work of his family and the community influence they had already built was a strong, powerful avenue for the work he wanted to do in the world.
Watch our day with Byron Sewell and Native Son Adventures on CH2’s Facebook channel.
Sewell also credits the influence of other island personalities for his success and inspiration, including Todd Ballentine, a famous naturalist who was a mentor and teacher; Nancy and Jerre Weckhorst, conservationists who began the first turtle programs on Hilton Head; Fuzzy Davis, a local, legendary fisherman who helped Sewell get his first international jobs working with celebrities like Tom Brokaw and Keith Richards; and Frank Gaston of the Palmetto Dunes General Store, who was like an uncle and helped Sewell grow his business to include the longest running surf school on the island (the Native Son Surfing School at The Palmetto Dunes Resort), where kids now learn about the ocean, conservation, yoga, health, breathing techniques, safety, and the joy of surfing.
Giving back to his community has been a cornerstone of Sewell’s business as well. During Hurricane Matthew, he stayed on the island and following the devastation. While others were still unable to return to their homes, Sewell kept in touch with friends and neighbors, checking on their properties and keeping everyone aware of what was happening. When it was finally safe for evacuees to return, people were lined up in cars for days trying to get over the bridge. Sewell made a smiley face sign with “Welcome Home!” written on it and put it at the base of the bridge, so that it would be the first thing people saw when they returned.
The sign and the people’s response to it made the news, though no one even knew who made the sign. When folks found out it was Sewell’s sign, he decided to make T-shirts and sell them, donating the proceeds—about $40,000—to the Deep Well Project and raising awareness about the importance of island conservation and ecology. For his efforts, Sewell received a community service award.
“Some tourists and transplants don’t understand what it means to rely on the ocean for everything,” Sewell explained. “Most of them have never even walked in the marsh. They don’t understand that many locals can’t even afford to take their families to South Beach to watch the sunset. They don’t understand that our fish population has been cut in half from our waterways being over-fished. I just wanted to use the platform I had been given to shine the light on this harsh truth and to speak my truth.”
Sewell became the voice of the locals and the environment with his moment in the spotlight, and through his contagious passion, his platform has grown. Native Son Adventures is now a business that advocates for the local community and proudly espouses the history of Hilton Head Island.
Sewell’s spark for conservation—ignited by his parents, teachers, and mentors—resulted in his purpose and mission for Native Son Adventures. When people spend time with Sewell, they leave realizing how special the natural environment is and the eye-opening effect it can have. It’s an opportunity to be transformed in one afternoon.
“At Native Son, you’ll definitely enjoy things that you wouldn’t otherwise see because our experiences are cultivated by people who spend more time in the water than on land,” Sewell said.
Sewell has spent this kind of time. His carefully curated adventures will open your eyes to how special and magical everything in nature is. Perhaps you’ll go on an eco-tour, where you’ll find fossils like shark teeth and mammoth teeth and go to places only some natives know about. For example, places where pelicans are hatching babies and where dolphins are strand feeding—a phenomenon that occurs in only two places in the world: the Lowcountry and Australia.
The practice involves a group of dolphins at low tide herding a school of fish or shrimp onto a sandbar or beach. Next, the dolphins literally launch their bodies, which could weigh up to 500 pounds, out of the water and onto the sandbar or shore to feed.
Your adventure might also involve crabbing, shrimping, hunting for Native American pottery, or huge flocks of birds flying at sunset; your adventure might be a day at surf school where Sewell carries on his dad’s legacy. Between the two of them, they’ve taught almost every kid on Hilton Head Island how to surf.
One popular adventure is the surfing birthday party, which is kind of like a luau that includes music, watermelon eating, and even a big, oversized surfboard that fits 15 kids. At end of the surf lesson, the kids crack the ice-cold watermelon over the end of the surfboard and have watermelon eating contest.
You might want to experience what Sewell has dubbed the “Fried Combo Platter.” You’ll surf in morning, then get on the boat in the afternoon where you’ll learn all about the beach and the Lowcountry waterways. And you get a discount for booking both.
All Native Son employees are seasoned watermen and women. Each is as equally in love with nature as Sewell, and lots of them, like him, are local kids who grew up here—even sons and daughters of the kids that went to Sewell’s mom’s school.
Changing and impacting lives is part of his family’s tradition, and Sewell says it is the greatest blessing of his life.
To learn more or to book your adventure with Native Son Adventures, visit nativesonadventures.com.
