About Sundial Charters
Sundial Charters has been running nature and fishing trips out of Tybee Island since 1996, led by Captain Rene Heidt, a naturalist and wildlife artist who has explored these waters since childhood. The operation built its reputation on backcountry expertise — the tidal creeks, sandbars, and barrier island beaches that most visitors never see.
Their trip menu goes far beyond the standard dolphin cruise. Guests can charter a Little Tybee Island excursion to a 6,500-acre undeveloped Natural Heritage Preserve, try their hand at crabbing and cast netting, hunt for fossilized shark teeth on remote sandbars, or fish the inshore creeks for redfish and trout. Trips run year-round, are private to your group, and are paced for families, photographers, and serious naturalists alike.
What separates Sundial from the bigger tour boats is the depth of interpretation. Captain Rene and her fellow captains narrate the marsh ecosystem like the field biologists they effectively are — explaining tide cycles, bird behavior, and shellfish ecology while dolphins surface alongside the boat. For travelers who want a wilderness experience rather than a harbor loop, this is the charter that delivers it.
