Terms of Use

Last updated: August 2026.

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your use of charlestonvisitor.com (the "Site"), operated by Charleston Visitor Guide ("we", "us"). By using the Site you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site. Please read the sections on disclaimers and limitation of liability carefully, as they limit our liability to you.

1. What this site is

Charleston Visitor Guide is an independent travel publication. It is not a tour operator, travel agency, booking platform, or seller of travel, and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the City of Charleston, Explore Charleston, or any official tourism body. We do not take reservations, hold funds, or issue tickets.

There are no user accounts on the Site, and we do not accept payments, host user comments, or publish user submissions.

2. Tours, activities and third-party operators

We do not operate, provide, sell, control, supervise, inspect, or take part in any tour, activity, transport, lodging or other service described on the Site. Every one of them is provided by an independent third party. When you book, you contract with that operator or platform — GetYourGuide, Expedia, or the business itself — and not with us. Their terms, prices, taxes, fees, availability, cancellation and refund policies apply to your booking, and you should read them at checkout because they control your reservation.

2.1 We do not vet or vouch for operators

We do not verify, and make no representation or warranty of any kind about, any operator's licensing, permits, registration, insurance, bonding, certifications, safety record, staff training, background checks, equipment, vehicles, vessels, animals, accessibility, or compliance with any law or regulation. Inclusion on the Site, a description, a ranking, a recommendation, or a "top pick" is our editorial opinion for trip-planning purposes only. It is not a certification, endorsement, guarantee, or legal assurance of any operator's fitness, safety, legality or quality, and it should not be relied on as one.

Ratings, review counts and photographs shown here are supplied by booking platforms and their users. We do not author, audit or verify them, and we do not warrant their accuracy.

2.2 No agency or partnership

We are not the agent, representative, partner, joint venturer, or employee of any operator, and no operator is ours. We have no authority to bind any operator, to accept or process bookings, payments, refunds or claims on their behalf, or to resolve disputes with them.

2.3 Assumption of risk

Many activities described on the Site carry inherent risks — including but not limited to boat and water activities, swimming, paddling and sandbar stops, horse-drawn carriage rides, walking tours after dark, activities involving alcohol, golf, beach and tidal environments, heat, weather and wildlife. You participate at your own risk. You are responsible for assessing whether an activity is appropriate for you and anyone in your care, for your own health, fitness, supervision of minors, insurance and safety, and for following the operator's instructions and all applicable rules and laws.

2.4 No responsibility for operators

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY ACT, OMISSION, NEGLIGENCE, MISCONDUCT, BREACH, INSOLVENCY, CANCELLATION, DELAY, OVERBOOKING, CHANGE, CLOSURE, OR FAILURE TO PERFORM BY ANY OPERATOR, PLATFORM, VENUE OR OTHER THIRD PARTY, OR FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURY, ILLNESS, DEATH, PROPERTY DAMAGE OR LOSS, THEFT, ADDITIONAL EXPENSE, OR OTHER HARM ARISING FROM OR CONNECTED TO ANY TOUR, ACTIVITY, BOOKING, TRANSPORT, LODGING OR SERVICE YOU FIND THROUGH THE SITE, WHETHER OR NOT WE DESCRIBED, RANKED OR RECOMMENDED IT.

Any dispute or claim about a booking, refund, cancellation, injury, or the conduct of an operator is between you and that operator or platform, and you agree to pursue it with them and not with us. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release us from all claims, demands and damages of every kind arising out of or connected to any third-party tour, activity, booking or service.

3. Accuracy of information

We verify prices, hours, admission and access rules against primary sources and date the pages accordingly, and we correct errors when we find them or when they are reported. Even so, this information changes constantly, sometimes daily, and we cannot guarantee that everything is current or error-free at the moment you read it. The price and terms shown at checkout are the operative ones, not the figures on this Site.

Content is provided for general information and trip planning. It is not professional, legal, financial, medical, or safety advice, and you should not rely on it as such. If you spot something wrong, tell us — corrections are welcome and we act on them.

4. Affiliate relationships

Many booking links on the Site are affiliate links. If you book through one, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We participate in affiliate programmes including GetYourGuide and Expedia. Recommendations are made editorially; commission rates do not determine what we recommend or how we rank it, and pages carrying affiliate links display a disclosure.

5. Intellectual property

The text, layout, original photography, data compilations and analysis on the Site belong to Charleston Visitor Guide and are protected by copyright and other laws. Tour photographs, listing data, ratings and review counts belong to the operators and platforms they come from.

You may read, print and share pages for personal, non-commercial use, and you may quote short excerpts or our published statistics with attribution and a link back. You may not republish, scrape, resell, or create derivative works from substantial portions of the Site without our written permission.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• use automated means to scrape, harvest or copy the Site at a scale that burdens it;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site or any related systems;
• interfere with the Site's operation, security or availability;
• use the Site for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms;
• misrepresent our content as your own, or use our name or marks in a way that suggests endorsement.

7. Third-party sites

The Site links to many external websites. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content, accuracy, products, services, or practices. A link is not an endorsement. Your use of any third-party site is at your own risk and subject to that site's terms.

8. Disclaimers

THE SITE AND ITS CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT INFORMATION ON IT IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE OR CURRENT.

Travel involves risk. Weather, tides, water conditions, road conditions, operator decisions and your own choices are outside our control, and you are responsible for your own safety and for verifying conditions and requirements before you travel.

9. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR TRAVEL COSTS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR RELIANCE ON ITS CONTENT, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SITE WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of certain damages, so some of the above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Charleston Visitor Guide and its operators from any claims, losses, liabilities and reasonable legal fees arising out of your use of the Site, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

11. Changes to the Site and these Terms

We may change, suspend or discontinue any part of the Site at any time, and we may update these Terms. Changes take effect when posted with a revised "last updated" date. Your continued use of the Site after that date means you accept the revised Terms.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and by the Federal Arbitration Act as to Section 13. Where a dispute is not subject to arbitration — because it falls within an exception in Section 13.1, because you opted out under Section 13.10, or because the arbitration provision is held unenforceable — you and we agree it will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Charleston County, South Carolina, and you consent to their jurisdiction.

13. Dispute resolution and arbitration

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights, including your right to sue in court and your right to a jury trial.

13.1 Agreement to arbitrate

Except as described below, you and we agree to resolve all disputes arising out of or relating to the Site or these Terms through binding individual arbitration, not in court. This applies to all claims, including those that arose before you agreed to these Terms. Two exceptions: (i) either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies; and (ii) either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court for infringement or misuse of intellectual property.

13.2 Informal resolution first

Before starting arbitration, the party raising the dispute must send written notice describing it to the other. Notice to us goes to [email protected] with "Dispute Notice" in the subject line; notice to you goes to the email address we hold for you, if any. Within 45 days of that notice the parties will confer in good faith by phone or video to try to resolve it. If the dispute is not resolved within 60 days of the notice, either party may begin arbitration. This step is a condition precedent to arbitration, and the deadlines are tolled while it runs.

13.3 Arbitration rules

Arbitrations will be administered by JAMS (www.jamsadr.com). Claims under $250,000 (excluding fees and interest) will use JAMS' Streamlined Arbitration Rules; larger claims will use JAMS' Comprehensive Arbitration Rules. Unless the parties agree otherwise, arbitration will be conducted in the county where you live. All arbitration materials and documents are confidential.

13.4 Starting an arbitration

A demand for arbitration must include: your name and contact details; a description of the claim and the facts supporting it; the relief sought and a good-faith estimate of damages; confirmation that the informal resolution process in Section 13.2 was completed; and proof of any required filing fee.

13.5 Authority of the arbitrator

The arbitrator has authority to resolve all arbitrable disputes, including questions about the scope and enforceability of this arbitration agreement, except that a court, not an arbitrator, will decide: (i) any challenge to the class action waiver in Section 13.7; (ii) disputes about arbitration fees; (iii) whether the condition precedent in Section 13.2 has been satisfied; and (iv) which version of these Terms applies. The arbitrator may award the same relief a court could, but only on an individual basis and only in favour of the individual party seeking relief. The award is final and binding, and judgment may be entered in any court with jurisdiction.

13.6 Waiver of jury trial

BY AGREEING TO ARBITRATION, YOU AND WE WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JUDGE OR JURY FOR ALL COVERED CLAIMS.

13.7 Waiver of class actions

ALL DISPUTES MUST BE BROUGHT ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. NEITHER YOU NOR WE MAY BRING A CLAIM AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE OR COLLECTIVE PROCEEDING, AND THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S CLAIMS. If a court finds this waiver unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim — and only that claim — must be brought in the courts identified in Section 12, and the remaining claims stay in arbitration.

13.8 Attorneys' fees

Each party bears its own attorneys' fees unless the arbitrator finds a claim was frivolous or brought for an improper purpose.

13.9 Batch arbitration

If 100 or more substantially similar arbitration demands are filed against us within a 30-day period by the same law firm or coordinated group, JAMS will batch them into groups of 100 and appoint one arbitrator per batch, with one set of fees per batch.

13.10 Your right to opt out

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Send an email to [email protected] with "Arbitration Opt-Out" in the subject line, stating your name, the email address you use, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. That is all that is required. Opting out will not affect any other part of these Terms, and we will not treat you differently for doing so.

13.11 Severability

If any part of this arbitration agreement is found invalid, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable; the rest of the agreement remains in effect. This section survives termination of these Terms and your use of the Site.

14. Notice to California residents

Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following notice: the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210. The Site is provided free of charge to users.

15. General

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a transfer of the Site. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Site and supersede any prior understanding.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms: [email protected] or the contact page.