The Maritime Center

In 2014 the former Lemon Island Marina was transformed into the Maritime Center. The Port Royal Sound Foundation established the center to provide stimulating hands-on educational experiences, both indoor and outdoor, for everyone.

Located between Beaufort and Hilton Head Island lies an ocean channel providing a home for a plethora of plant, mammal and marine life known as the Port Royal Sound. The salt level is very high and with little freshwater flowing into the channel, the water is just as salty twenty miles inland as it is in the Atlantic Ocean. Since there are no mountain-fed rivers depositing sediment on the channel bottom, the water depth is up to sixty feet. This makes Port Royal Sound the deepest natural harbor south of Chesapeake Bay.

The area around the sound is comprised of more than 200,000 acres of salt marshes, roughly half of the marshlands in the state of South Carolina. These marshlands are flooded daily at high tide creating and maintaining valuable ecosystems for both terrestrial and marine animals. It is estimated that approximately 950 million gallons of water per minute flow with the tides. This movement distributes nutrients to the sound and washes out pollutants, helping to keep the sound clean and healthy.

The Maritime Center serves as a focal point for natural and environmental education. The center is the perfect place for the entire family to experience the Port Royal Sound through exhibits, live animals, fossils and interactive displays. For the more adventurous, take a kayak excursion,led by a one of the center’s naturalists, through the salt marsh or enjoy a three hour guided hike over mud flats and nature trails.

The Maritime Center is located at 310 Okatie Highway, Okatie, SC. The centeris wheelchair accessible. For more information about the Port Royal Sound Foundation and all the activities offered by the Maritime Center, visit https://portroyalsoundfoundation.org