Hilton Head South Carolina – Natural Beauty along the South Carolina Coast

Hilton Head South Carolina is a mecca of restaurants, golf courses, resorts, and beautiful beaches….

We visited Hilton Head Island on spring break one year, and have visited regularly after that time.  Spring has to be one of the best times of year to visit Hilton Head.  The weather is beautiful – not too hot, not too cool, and the area was not overly crowded with the summer beach crowd.  Best of all, Hilton Head is very economical in the spring.

Hilton Head South Carolina is a very unique family beach vacations destination.  The natural beauty of the land has been preserved all along the beach and the roads lining the beaches.  As you drive down the streets, you hardly realize that there is a beach just right past the trees.  The hotels are even a little hard to see. The signs are low to the ground and the buildings are shrouded by trees.

The photo below is the road leading to the Metropolitan Hotel on North Forest Beach Drive.  The beach is less than 1 block to the right in the photo.  There are hotels and condos to both sides of the road, but they are hardly noticeable.  The entire community along the beach is laid out in a similar manner.  There are bike paths along the side of the road in a wooded setting providing a shady place to ride along the street.

What to Do

While in Hilton Head South Carolina, we took out to leisurely walk and bike around the island enjoying the almost 50 miles of paved public pathways around the island. Before you ask, no – we did not bike the entire 50 miles.  We spent one morning biking around town for about an hour and a half. That’s more than enough for mom’s legs to be extra tired.  There are many places to rent bicycles around the island, and most of the rental shops will deliver the bicycles to you.  Rentals are available by the hour, day, or week….. but you can bring your own if you rather.

Of course, since we were spending a family vacation at the beach, we needed to spend a day on the beach.  Our trip to Hilton Head South Carolina was in March, so we spent part of an afternoon on the beach.  It was cool, but we really enjoyed our time there.  The beach is a span of untouched beauty stretching for miles.

After dark, we tried a couple of the family fun adventure spots around Hilton Head South Carolina.  We drove out Highway 278 to Adventure Cove for a little family arcade fun.  Adventure Cove is located at mile marker 6 on Highway 278 adjacent to Carabba’s Restaurant.  It was a little nippy the evening that we stopped by Adventure Cove, so we just played a few arcade games… the kids really enjoyed the stop.

Where to Stay in Hilton Head South Carolina

There are a multitude of hotels, beach-front condos, and resorts on Hilton Head Island SC. On most of our family vacations, we choose to stay economically.  So we choose places close to the beach, but not necessarily right on the beach. This is especially true in the peak seasons.  This is purely personal preference, and there are enough places to choose to fit any budget or need in Hilton Head.

One stay was at the Metropolitan Hotel on North Forest Beach Drive.  The hotel was clean and the staff was great.  We were right across the street from the beach, and were in walking distance of Coligny Circle, where we rented bicycles.  The Metropolitan Hotel was a great place to stay…. we were very happy with every aspect of our stay there.

During a stay in Hilton Head South Carolina, we stayed at the Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort in the Palmetto Dunes section of Hilton Head.  The hotel was tops, and I would recommend it to anyone.  We stayed there right after the Christmas holidays, and booked our room through Hotwire…. so, we stayed at an incredible rate.

Be Sure to Check out all of the Current Hot Hilton Head Deals on TripAdvisor