Isis "Sea Sea" Nunez

May 2025 Issue

by Mary Hope Roseneau
Photography (right) by
Cassidy Dunn Photography

Sea Sea’s Honey Hole Bait & Tackle is located at the very end of 8th Street in Port Royal, near the Sands. It is a concrete block building that has been there for as long as anyone can remember. It’s been spiffed up quite a bit with rocking chairs, swings for kids, and picnic tables outside. And inside you see every kind of bait (minnows, eels, fiddlers), tackle gear (rods, reels, artificial bait), and t-shirts. There are a few tables near a small kitchen on the left. The dynamo that got this business up and running is Isis (named after an Egyptian goddess) Nunez, and she is definitely a “fireball”, as described in my assignment.

Nowadays, she’s known as Sea Sea, the owner, operator, cook, and proprietress of the hottest little place in Port Royal, and that’s saying a lot. Port Royal is experiencing a rebirth and excitement these days, as people come for the music, the vibes, and especially the food! Sure, along with this comes growing pains, as Sea Sea found out when she applied for a beer and wine license in July 2022. Naturally there were folks who opposed her, but she persevered and now has a license to sell beer and wine until 4:00 P.M. these days!

But back to Sea Sea and her story. She was born in Miami to a family with ties to Cuba. Her abuelita (grandmother) taught her to cook the unique cuisine of that small island. She learned from her that “cooking is love,” and the addition of offering two meals per week at the Honey Hole has been a huge success.

Sea Sea graduated from high school and joined the Army in 2011. She served in Afghanistan as a military police and was a part of the first all-female engagement team. She learned the language of the area, Pashto, and was able to interrogate local women. This was huge because the culture there forbids their women to talk to any male not in their family. It was a life-changing experience for her.

Back home in the USA, Sea Sea was stationed at Fort Bliss, which is in El Paso, Texas, right on the border. She served on a drug suppression team and was promoted to E-4. Her next assignment was Fort Stewart, near Savannah, where she worked as a game warden and took on more military police assignments. After five years in the military, she decided that was enough, and moved to the Beaufort area, working at the Marine Corps Air Station as a civilian military police.

Keep in mind Sea Sea is a petite, attractive young woman, who had to deal with super macho Army and Marine types, as well as serving in the Middle East. But she is fierce! She doesn’t back down to anyone and has worked other jobs with varying degrees of danger, as well.

She has worked as a process server, and said her tiny, little girl appearance has been helpful in getting people to come to the door. She bats her pretty eyes, looks the person dead on into their eyes and calls them by name. Nine times out of ten, she said, they will respond, “yeah,” admitting who they are. She then pulls their papers out of her purse and says: “You’ve been served!”

She’s also worked as a waitress, bartender, and cabinet shop office manager. But her favorite thing to do, hands down, is to fish.

Fortunate to have made friends with local fishing expert Captain Tim Deckard, owner of Castaway Charters, Sea Sea has learned a lot about the local fishing honey holes (places where the best fishing can counted on). Not long ago, Captain Tim went along with her on her first trip out in her new boat! There is a video of them on Facebook that shows his calm, patient manner, as she learns to handle the tiller of a small outboard motor. Captain Tommy and Scott of Sea Island Adventures are also great supporters of Sea Sea, offering weekly fishing classes at her business on topics such as Cobia Fishing.

Sea Sea is a dreamer grounded in realism. She very carefully researched the SC Health Department regulations for a commercial kitchen, and with help from Dustin Qualls, completed the remodel of the bait shop into a small café. Her dream was to cook Cuban sandwiches and tacos like her abuelita taught her. She has started with Friday lunches and Saturday breakfast only. While we were talking, a group of fishermen walked in, and gruffly said, “We want something to eat! We heard this was a good little restaurant!” She didn’t apologize, she just said “NOT TODAY!” It wasn’t Friday lunch or Saturday breakfast time, but she kindly directed them to other restaurants where they could eat.

The food is limited. Sea Sea’s choice each week sells out quickly. For Friday lunches, she has served authentic Cuban sandwiches, smash burgers, and tacos, and on Saturday mornings it’s usually huge breakfast burritos. She advised: “Better come early.” Her cooking is done on a griddle, in a crock pot, and on a hot plate.

Sea Sea’s best advice to everyone, which she’s the first to heed: “Don’t be lazy about life!” You can bet she is living her best life doing what she loves. She has, indeed, found her own personal honey hole in everyday living.

 

Up Close:

Advice to young women about the Armed Services: Sea Sea feels that enlisting should be mandatory, as it is in some countries. Women can receive free college tuition, and learn responsibility, basic survival techniques, and most of all respect.

Follow Sea Sea on Facebook: @SeaSeasHoneyHole

Visit Sea Sea’s Honey Hole: 901 8th St., Port Royal; Open daily except Mondays. (Sea Sea has to have a day to fish!)