Our Story
Discover the heart behind the adventure!
Creating life-changing adventures, just for you!
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Unique Experiences
Discover stunning places that will inspire and enrich your life.
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Customized Adventures
Tailor-made experiences that ignites your passion for life through adventure.
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Diverse Services
Endless activities, from boat tours to island dining.
Meet The Founders
Epic Excursions was founded by Ian and Kristi Balding in 2017. They’ve always had a love for travel and adventure, and dreamt of having a business together that centered around the water lifestyle. A different type of service business that incorporates some of the activities that they enjoy doing on vacation in the caribbean islands, while tying in the fun, laid back adventures that they’ve enjoyed for years right here in their home waters!
They wanted to “do it right”, as they say. Put simply in their own words, “We want our customers to experience the same type of adventures on the islands off of Wrightsville Beach that we have experienced from years of traveling to tropical places for our own enjoyment.” They’re hoping to provide new and unique adventures for locals, vacationers, families, and groups looking for something different and exciting to do, that’s “outside the box”.
Ian is a life long surfer and paddleboarder, and has been building custom surfboards and paddleboards for the last 18 years. And Kristi, has always had a love for planning travel and group events. Together they’ve decided to incorporate Ian’s custom boards and Kristi’s talent for planning, into this uniqueness that is Epic Excursions. From boating, to paddling and surfing, to glamping, and even customized events, Ian and Kristi have created fun, unique experiences that they hope you’ll agree are truly EPIC!
No#1 Choice for Boat Tours & Island Adventures
John P2024-10-27Verified Great sunset cruise Sunset cruise was fabulous. Captain Amy was great and took care of everything. Highly recommend. Thanks for arranging. jennifertravelroo2024-10-12Verified Epic Excursions provide an epic experience! Ian and Jonathan were fantastic captains and were so thorough ensuring our family of all ages had a fantastic day! We will definitely use Epic Excursions when we visit Carolina Beach and Wilmington again. The seafood boil exceeded our expectations! Hands down the day was a highlight of our trip. PuraVida0012024-08-15Verified Birthday celebration with Epic Excursions Thank you for an excellent day on the boat with Epic Excursions - Ian the captain was fun and knowledgable about the area - beautiful white beaches and wake board fun! Thanks for making our day so special - Amy M2024-06-23Verified Great company and wonderful experience!! SO awesome!! My husband and I took my best friend and her family to Masonboro Island for dinner and drinks by boat. What a wonderful experience!! Phillip H2024-06-19Verified Best of Wilmington beach activities We reserved the catered seafood boil. Very well done, secluded and totally relaxing. We had family visiting from Florida, Connecticut and Dubai to celebrate our daughter's high school graduation. We wanted them to experience the best of Wilmington without the crowds while celebrating our daughter's achievemnet. This was a perfect solution. The experience was wonderful, from the reservations to the actual outing, and the boil was delicious. Would do again in a heartbeat! Excursion5938692024-06-15Verified Great family outing with Epic Excursions!! Fabulous afternoon cruise with our family of 12 guided by Captain Ian. We saw the beautiful sites of the Wrightsville Beach intracoastal, took some fun swims and learned alot of history/background on homes and sites along the way. Ian was great with kids and adults engaging us--very friendly and went that extra mile to make sure our trip was great fun!! Kristi at Epic Excursion was very helpful in booking and needed pre-trip info. I would highly recommend Epic Excursions-great provate tour--well worth the $!! Susan G2024-05-27Verified Girls Weekend We loved our experience and our captain Jonathan Bater. He was a true gentleman and very informative. We had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves. We definitely would recommend EE to family and friends! Money well spent and a perfect day on the water! Diane C2023-09-08Verified Unique experience in Wrightsville Beach We did an island dining experience and it was absolutely incredible. Everything ran so smoothly and our captain was so friendly and knowledgeable. I would recommend an excursion with this company to everyone!! Lisa S2023-07-30Verified Awesome Captain & Beautiful Views Beautiful views, great to hang out on the sandbar and float in the water. We learned so much about the area and the ocean from our Captain Bryan, he was awesome. We def recommend and will go again! Keep in mind they offer all kinds of different excursions when booking. Tilly2552023-07-18Verified Epic fun Highly recommend Epic Excursions for a unique boat outing in the Wrightsville Beach area. Leave the work to the crew who will find a unique spot on a barrier island to take you and your group of up to 13. The event can be crafted in many ways, including tents, beach chairs, tables, and even a fire pit. Food is coordinated through other vendors and beverages are BYO. Water, coolers and ice are provided. We have been on 2 Epic Excursions recently. One was full chef service grilling dinner on the beach with seated dining. The other was a more casual lowcountry boil standing around a table eating delicious steamed shrimp, clams, corn, sausage and potatoes. Both were equally enjoyable. Booking and details were easy to arrange. Highly recommend.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jacqueline Leazer2024-11-22 What a wonderful afternoon!!! Memories we will hold dearly! Wonderful ride, bonfire on the beach, spotted dolphins, s’mores! I could go on and on! This is a must do and worth every cent!!! I am And Mason were incredible!!! Clayton DeConte2024-11-22 Epic Excursions completely made our wedding ceremony dream a reality! My wife and I and a small group of family and friends used 2 boats from Epic excursions to take us out to Masonboro Island for a beautiful private wedding ceremony on the beach. Both Captains were great and made our day special. Kristi was great to work with and communicate with answering all our questions and concerns. We had some possibility of bad weather but Kristi assured us that it would be a great day and the Captains would take care of us with the wind. They did! Alexis Delia2024-11-19 Epic Excursions provided an outstanding experience for our team outing. Ian and Mason ensured everything we needed was taken care of, making the entire day stress-free and enjoyable. They set up a fantastic camp on the beach, complete with a taco bar that was well-organized and delicious. Their attention to detail and professionalism stood out, and they made sure everything ran smoothly from start to finish. Highly recommend Epic Excursions for a well-planned and enjoyable boating and beach day in Wilmington. Steve Candia2024-09-12 Last minute idea.. owners were able to accommodate and walk me through the process. Jonathan was awesome as the captain, hitting all the locations I was hoping to see. Overall great time and highly recommend.. Called 4 companies that day, Epic was the only company to return the call , even while they were on vacation. Michelle Fillion2024-09-02 We rented 2 boats on Sunday of Labor Day weekend to celebrate my husband's birthday. We added an extra hour as well. Jonathan was a great and knowledgeable captain. We went up to Lee Island which was fantastic, wide open sandbar and lagoon to swim in. Even took extended ride through the marshes. Great friendly staff. Ian was also great as a captain on the other boat. Would use again. Autumn Mickel2024-08-30 Captain Ian was a delight and incredibly knowledgeable about the Masonboro inlet. The waves happened to be choppy and Captain Ian made our boat ride smooth as butter! Looking forward to coming back and trying the oyster farm tour & tasting. Dianna Dames2024-08-29 I had the most amazing time celebrating my birthday with EE. It was the highlight of my wilmington trip 1000%! We all wished we could come back the next day for another tour! We booked the three hour and my only suggestion for those considering booking is book even longer! None of us were ready to leave when our time was up. I would celebrate this way every year if I could and spend the entire day out on the water. Also, can't forget to shoutout Jonathan who was an amazing captain. He had no complaints while we requested he take 5 million photos of us. He took us to Figure 8 and Masonboro. He kept us feeling safe and secure, even those of us who ventured to use the SUP. Perfect 5-star experience! Katelyn Cook2024-08-26 This is the second time we have used epic excursions while a large group was visiting from out of town. We had a great time again and Jonathan was a great captain! I'm sure we will book with epic excursions again and would recommend them to friends! Thank you for the memories!
We used Epic Excursions in the week leading up to my wedding to do a private boat charter with my family! They were one of the only companies I could find that would take our group of 9 on a captained charter, and we had an amazing time!
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Alana Z.
TripAdvisor
We used Epic Excursions in the week leading up to my wedding to do a private boat charter with my family! They were one of the only companies I could find that would take our group of 9 on a captained charter, and we had an amazing time!
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Alana Z.
TripAdvisor
We used Epic Excursions in the week leading up to my wedding to do a private boat charter with my family! They were one of the only companies I could find that would take our group of 9 on a captained charter, and we had an amazing time!
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Alana Z.
TripAdvisor
Ready for Your Next Adventure?
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