Hilton Head Island, SC

Once you get to the end of Pope Avenue just off Coligny Circle, you will find Coligny Beach Park, the largest and the most popular beach on Hilton Head. Miles of hard-packed fine sand are often full of tourists working on their tans, splashing in the sea, or relaxing in the shade of their umbrellas. The beach has excellent amenities, the bathrooms are clean, there are quaint changing rooms and outdoor showers, and you can rent any piece of beach-related equipment you need. Multiple and varied food options in the park encourage you to spend a day on Coligny Beach.

If you prefer more secluded and private beaches, keep biking to Alder Lane, Burkes Beach, Chaplin Community Park, Folly Field Beach Park, or Islanders Beach Park. They are all as beautiful as Coligny and have public access. While all Hilton Head beaches are public, access to them is often private. During the swimming season, there is a lifeguard on duty on most public beaches and parks. If you are wondering what to do on Hilton Head Island, this is a great place to start exploring.

There is really no need for cars on Hilton Head. The island is tiny – only twelve miles long and five miles wide – and it has no imposing hills to climb. In fact, there is no place you cannot access with a bike. Smart islanders, in order to encourage biking and discourage gas-guzzling and smoke-belching vehicles, started developing a dense network of bike paths in 1960 and are still working on it to this day.

You can go from place to place while enjoying spectacular vistas on your leisurely bike trip. There are sixty miles of bike lanes and more than two hundred miles of shared paths. About a quarter of the streets in the city have designated bike lanes or shoulders.

There are excellent maps of all bike lanes, but let your pedals take you to the island’s secret spots you would miss otherwise; venture under the canopy of live oaks and pines to discover secret beaches and forgotten parks and monuments. You can see so much more when you go slowly and take it all in.

Attractions for Couples

There is so much more to do at Hilton Head than enjoy the beaches and the magnificent vistas. In the heart of the Island, there is a 349-seat theatre that can easily stand up to much larger and better-known art centers in the country. The enthusiastic group of islanders is doing a remarkable job of providing the islanders with the best in performing and visual arts; every year they organize exciting festivals such as the Taste of Gullah, Christmas Holiday Tree Lighting, and Youth ArtsFest.

They also produce five musicals, dramas, and comedies every year, host famous musicians, artists, and performers, and organize contemporary visual art exhibitions at the Walter Greer Gallery. They offer outstanding educational program for the youth through performance and visual workshops, interesting lectures, and fun field trips. When you have enough of swimming and biking, check out what is happening at the Art Center – there is something new every day.

Address: Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, 14 Shelter Cove Lane, Hilton Head Island, SC, Phone: 843-842-2787

If you want to know more about South Carolina’s Lowcountry, its natural history, and cultural heritage, come to the Honey Horn campus and take part in one of the many programs, excursions, courses, and festivals organized by the Coastal Discovery Museum. Established in 1985, this non-profit community organization teaches about the Hilton Head and neighboring islands and their inhabitants, large and small.

Come and visit Marsh Tacky horses, wild horses of the island left by the Spaniards many centuries ago.

Check out the butterfly enclosure, enjoy the gardens full of riotous colors, walk under the ancient live oaks, or take one of the fun onsite or off-site tours and learn about turtles, dolphins, crabs, shrimp, and crocs. The Coastal Discovery Museum provides the kind of learning every kid loves and is not to be missed.

Address: 70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Phone: 843-689-6767

Once you visit the upscale, manicured, and pristine Shelter Cove Town Centre, you will have a hard time believing that it started as an uninspiring and struggling mall not long ago. With a bit of imagination and the help of a few visionary developers, the Shelter Cove Town Centre was born, and the Hilton Head community and thousands of tourists have an exciting new destination with excellent shops, great restaurants, and some very attractive residences for sale. It is now a modern village showcasing a new lifestyle in the middle of the island where so much is quite old. Overlooking picturesque Broad Creek and featuring two lagoons and a new park, the Shelter Cove Town Center is a little jewel that both locals and tourists love to visit.

Address: 40 Shelter Cove Lane, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Phone: 843-686-3090

Recommended Activities for Families

About half a mile from Hilton Head Island lies Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, which has great outdoor wildlife and nature classrooms. It is a popular tourist destination for those who love to explore, photograph wildlife, hunt white-tailed deer, go fishing, or just hike and bike through the 14 miles of trails that meander throughout the refuge. The 4,053-acre refugee consists of Pinckney Island, Big Harry and Little Harry Islands, Corn Island, and Buzzard Island. Pinckney is the largest.

The refuge consists mostly of salt marsh, brush land, forestland and freshwater ponds that are teeming with life. You can spot more than 250 species of birds, white-tailed deer, bobcats, red foxes, and plenty of American alligators. Take a hike to Dick Point or White Point – the breathtaking vista is worth an extra effort.

Just a few minutes from Coligny Beach Park, you will find yourself in a different world. Deep, mysterious forests, secluded lakes, and elevated walkways over dark swamps infested with crocodiles are just a few of the things you can see at Sea Pines Forest Preserve, the place discovered by a group of nomadic Indians about 4000 years ago.

They left us remnants of their ceremonial plaza, which today is known as the Indian Shell Ring, and traces of their long abandoned village. Explore the Forest Preserve on foot, horseback, on a wagon, boat or on bike and travel through boardwalks and along paths, small, overgrown canals, and high observation towers.

Enjoy miles of blooming meadows full of native flowers, look at the birds and other denizens of four small lakes and numerous canals that are meticulously preserved. The Fraser family established the Preserve in 1959, and they dedicated 605 acres of Sea Pines resort land for the wildlife sanctuary and public park.

Address: Sea Pines Forest Preserve, 175 Greenwood Drive, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Phone: 843-842-1979

Whether you are a guest at the Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, a guest elsewhere on Hilton Head, or a Hilton Head native, when you want to play tennis, you go to the Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center, the best tennis center around. There are 23 clay and two Nova ProBounce courts. You do not have to stop playing after the sun goes down; six courts are brilliantly lighted at night.

Experienced staff members are there to make your visit pleasant, and the Center’s pros are there to help you improve your game. There are daily tournaments and instructional programs for any experience level, including children. The Resort and the tennis center are located in the center of Hilton Head.

Address: Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, 4 Queens Folly Road, 843-686-9697

When you visit an island, you expect to have a good amount of fun on the water. On Hilton Head, that means heading to the Harbour Town Marina and signing up for one of the H2O Sports activities. The only problem is deciding which activity to try, or at least which to try first: fly a Parasail, go paddle boarding, rent a Jet Ski, ride a banana boat, see the alligators, rent a sailboat or a boat, explore in a kayak, go sailing, see the dolphins, go tubing or waterskiing. Even if you have really active kids, these activities should be enough to keep them busy. H2O has highly trained and certified guides, their equipment is new and in excellent shape.

Address: 149 Lighthouse Road, Harbour Town Yacht Basin, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Phone: 877-290-4386