Wimbee Creek sunrise is an assault on the senses. How to see this Beaufort Co. wonder

In the darkness of early morning hours, your senses are heightened. This is especially true on a cold Lowcountry morning on the water. You sit in your kayak on the edge of the marsh, and though you can barely see the front of your boat, you are acutely aware of activity all around you.

You hear the gurgle of the tide as it pulls beneath your boat and rolls in low heaps around the wooden pilings of a nearby fishing pier. The air is still, but there is nevertheless a quiet whisper in the marsh grass, as if invisible fingers are rustling the tops of the tallest stalks, for there is always some movement of air across the vast lace of marsh.

A large fish disrupts the slate-black surface of the creek nearby, rippling the glass-like water that is just beginning to reflect the growing light of dawn in the eastern sky. Other creatures click and bubble in exposed pluff mud, and overhead, you hear the swishing of wings as a pair of ducks scoots by in search of a sheltered place to land.

Now your eyes play a part as your gaze shifts to the horizon: Sunrise is imminent.

Within a space of what seems like a few short minutes, a glow arises that soon becomes a blaze of light, heating the clouds as if from below, and all around you the world seems to be touched by fire. You are witnessing a Lowcountry sunrise in a place unhindered by buildings, traffic or even trees.

Heaven is a Wimbee Creek sunrise

A sunrise on the water can be an unforgettable experience, and few places are better to do this than Wimbee Creek in northern Beaufort County.

Wimbee Creek near Seabrook, one of hundreds of tidal creeks and rivers that crisscross the marshy Lowcountry, is very accessible to kayaking and boating. Its waters work to drain dozens of square miles of former rice plantation fields that have become havens for migratory waterfowl and a million other creatures that thrive on land and in the water. It is connected by old canals and passages to the Combahee River above, and by a wide channel to the vast network of the Coosaw River and St. Helena Sound below, before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

Get to Wimbee Creek, which lies on the very edge of the ACE Basin, from the Wimbee Creek Boat Landing and the Wimbee Creek Fishing Pier in Seabrook. This well-maintained landing is open year-round and places you in the heart of the action if you wish to explore this area.

The fishing pier was once part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad that ran straight as an arrow across the Lowcountry and, though long gone, the old 1917 trestle serves as an excellent place to fish. The landing and pier on Wimbee Creek provide an excellent out-and-back paddling opportunity — or you can arrange a shuttle and paddle 8 miles from the Harriet Tubman Bridge on U.S. 17. In either case you will need to plan according to the tides and the weather. The location of Wimbee Creek and its watercourses are strongly affected by the tidal pull and can make for an extremely enjoyable — or extremely challenging — paddle if not timed correctly.

I recently put in with a group of friends at Wimbee Creek Landing and caught a spectacular sunrise. A cloudy winter morning made the trip to view the dawn seem like a fool’s errand, but as we huddled over warm coffee and dreamed of a hot breakfast, we were soon rewarded by a break in the clouds and fire in the sky that seemed to sweep doubts away. The unique east-west angle of the creek provided an unobstructed view of the sunrise and the start of a fine day on the water.

What promise does the new year hold for you? Just as every sunrise brings the promise of a new day, a new year is upon us, and with it comes the promise of adventures not yet taken. No matter your path or your plans, you are sure to find inspiration and a new year of adventure on Wimbee Creek — or at least it will be a great place to begin.

Getting there

Wimbee Creek is located at 550 Wimbee Landing Road in Seabrook. It is a public landing, open dawn to dusk year-round, and the same goes for the adjacent Wimbee Fishing Pier. There is a dirt parking lot with spaces for 15 vehicles with trailers and parking along Briar Creek Road. There are no facilities and no lighting. For more information, visit Wimbee Boat Landing (beaufortcountysc.gov).

A great place nearby to enjoy a hearty breakfast or a classic Lowcountry lunch is Lowcountry Produce in Lobeco. Lowcountry Produce is a locally owned market and café, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, and carries handcrafted gift items as well as meals. After our recent dawn paddle, my friends and I enjoyed a filling breakfast that seemed straight off the farm, with hot mugs of coffee to top it off. For more info on Lowcountry Produce, visit Lowcountry Produce - Home.

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 4:25 AM.