The East Cooper Outboard Motor Club at Gold Bug Island is available for rental for your event. You do NOT have to be a member of the club in order to rent it.

All visits to the venue are by appointment only.  We schedule these visits on days we do not have events to avoid disrupting preparations and festivities. Please read through all of the pages on this site to determine if Gold Bug is the right venue for your event. A visit to the venue is fruitless if the date you want is already booked or your guest list exceeds our maximum. The FAQ page will answer most of your questions. Click the link below to set up an appointment after you have read all of the information provided and checked the calendar for availability.

Maximum capacity is 125.

Rental Fees

$1250 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
$1850 Thursday and Sunday
$2350 Friday and Saturday

We also require a $400 refundable damage security deposit. For clubhouse rentals on major holidays, we add $100 in order to pay someone to prepare the venue.

To secure your rental date, we need a $500 reservation deposit check made payable to ECOMC along with a signed contract. This deposit is applied toward the total rental cost. You have 30 days from the date the contract is signed to cancel and receive a full refund. After 30 days, no refund will be issued. The balance of the fees, payment for any staging options and the $400 refundable damage security deposit are due 30 days prior to the rental date.

How do I reserve the clubhouse? 

Click the calendar tab to check potential availability of your desired date.  Dates marked “busy” are already rented all day and no longer available. We do not hold dates without a signed contract and deposit. We rarely get cancellations so we do not keep a waiting list.

Contact us by email with the following information:

1. Rental date requested – check the calendar to see if it is available and put the rental date in the subject line of the email.
2. Your name and personal contact information
3. Anticipated guest count
4. Please read the FAQ page before sending – this will answer most of your questions.
5. Send email to rent@destinationgoldbug.com

We will confirm by return email if the desired date is still available.  You will receive a completed contract and detailed instructions on how to secure your date. Send signed contracts and deposits only to the address provided in the return email. Do NOT send any correspondence to the physical address. Mail is not delivered to Gold Bug Island and will be returned to you causing a delay in securing your date with the potential to lose the date.

We try to respond to your emails within a day or two. If you do not receive a return email, please check your spam folder because sometimes our replies get filtered into that file.  Without a phone number, we cannot follow up.

What we offer:

The rental includes the clubhouse, surrounding grounds and a designated parking area blocked off by wood and metal fencing. The bird observation deck, the dock and boat landing area are for the exclusive use of ECOMC members and are off-limits to clubhouse renters and their guests.

You will have access to the facility at 11:00am and you must shut down your function by midnight. The number of participants on the Island is limited to a very firm 125, which includes any members of the bridal party and support staff such as caterers, DJ, etc. The interior space has heating and air conditioning with separate men’s and women’s restrooms and a food prep room with a sink, refrigerator, warming oven, microwave and counter space. All actual cooking must be done either off-site or outside, using the caterer’s own equipment. Everything must be removed at the end of the night. No oyster shells can be dumped on the grounds.

There is a covered patio area known as the oyster shed with a waterfront view of the Intracoastal Waterway. The oyster shed is equipped with curtains to let down for inclement weather.

Tables and chairs are included in the rental of the facility. We have 15 round tables at 60 inches in diameter (each table seats 8) 10 rectangular tables at 8’ x 30“ (each table seats 10) and 125 white chairs. These tables and chairs provided with the venue can be used inside the building and under the paved oyster shed, but not on the lawn.  There is an ice machine on premises included for your use.

You are responsible for setup and breakdown of tables & chairs, removal of decorations and depositing trash in the dumpster. We offer many staging services and options, so please consult with us.

You may serve alcohol if you give it away. If you sell it or sell tickets or charge for admission to an event,  we require a certificate of liability and licensing according to SC ABC laws. Under-age drinking is not allowed and you will be asked to leave with no refunds.

DJs and bands are welcome. There is ample power to serve their needs both inside and outside.

Food trucks are allowed but should have their own power supply.

NOTICE:

• • Sparklers are no longer allowed on Gold Bug Island due to safety issues!

• •  All items such as flowers and flower petals must be removed from the grounds and disposed of properly following your event! No artificial flower petals, confetti or feathers are allowed. These items are hazardous to the marsh environment around the island.

• •  All items brought to the venue must be removed at the conclusion of your event before you leave the island.  Cleanup or removal of items left overnight may impact the security deposit refund.

• • Arrival and departure by boat is strictly prohibited!

• • Neither club users nor their guests are allowed to bring pets on the premises.

•   Personal fire pits are strictly prohibited. Arrangements can be made through our staging company for the use of our fire pit.

Turkey Shoot

During the month of November ECOMC holds its annual Turkey Shoot at Gold Bug Island.  It runs Wednesdays through Saturdays during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the week of Thanksgiving. This is the largest fundraiser we do and all of the money raised is donated to local charities. For this past year, we  experienced an increase of almost 20% in participation.

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For this reason we do not rent the facility on days of the Turkey Shoot. If a corporate sponsor of the Turkey Shoot wants to rent with the intention of participating in the shoot, we will consider the possibility during the first week of the shoot.