Glow Along the Banks: A Sunset Tiki Cruise on Beaufort’s Crystal Coast

Evening settles like a warm hand on the water as the tiki boat noses away from the Beaufort Town Docks. The straw-topped canopy throws soft shade across the deck, ice clinks in the cooler, and the tide nudges you toward open views. Gulls sketch loose commas in the sky over Taylor’s Creek. Somewhere across the channel, the wild horses of Carrot Island flick their tails and turn their backs to the breeze, as if guarding the last light of day. You’re not racing the sunset so much as riding it—the Crystal Coast seems to slow the clock, letting the gold linger longer than it should.