Shackleford Banks Shelling & Wild Horse Expedition — Local services in Beaufort

Planned a family trip around this expedition, which was a 3 hour detour on our way back home, after driving 2 1/2 hours towards this place we get a call that it was canceled due to wind. At 7:30 am, 1 hour before they say you have to be there. Guy said they made the call to cancel at 4 am but didn't call until 7:30. The forecasted winds didn't change from what was expected and reported day before scheduled tour, so while I get why they canceled it, the late notification completely ruined our day. Even if they had sent out email/text at 4 am when they decided to cancel (the time we had get up to go there, anyway) we could have planned to do something else while visiting the outerbanks on our last day. But instead they waited so long and we drove completely out of the way that it just seemed rude. Did not care for the way they ran the business and notifocations. So if you're planning on going and schedule and pay weeks in advance like we did, have a back up plan for that day and call to verify before...

I would not recommend this place at all. We were on vacation and got a very sick pup. I called Friday to reschedule for Saturday since it was our last day there. I couldn't leave my sick pup at the air bnb by himself. He was no better by Saturday and we needed to get him to a vet. I called the cruise to notify them and cancel my reservation so they could sell my tickets to someone else. The lady was very rude and would not refund me because of their "strict 48 hour cancellation policy". Well they shouldn't make people prepay to hold a spot. Things come up, life happens. What a way to end our wonderful week with a very rude person. I wouldn't bother booking with them, anything can come up in life and they don't care to help and all they want is your money. We loved everything else about our vacation except this and when we come back, I will never give my money to this place again. Not small town southern charm here like we have experience everywhere...

The wild horses were cool to see, although you aren't allowed too close (for obvious reasons). The majority of the herd is 3+ miles up the beach, so come prepared to hike if that's what you are looking for! Also, we were hoping to find a lot of shells but didn't find one whole one 😞 also thought we would find sand dollars but only tiny broken pieces and one half good size one. It's hit or miss but the sites were beautiful and the ferry was nice. The guide was very informative and helpful! It's a balance bringing enough things for the kids, the day and shelling but also not too much that it's too heavy to...