best island near Charleston
 

Hi Everyone!
My husband and I have the opportunity (FINALLY!) to go away on a week's vacation in August sans children. I have been dying to visit South Carolina and would like opinions on where to stay. We really want to explore Charleston, love to golf, and want a beach/water atmosphere. I have been to the VRBO website to check out deals on condo rentals, but am clueless about which (if any) island to stay on. I also read GoTravel's wonderful write-up on Charleston and am now considering staying somewhere in Charleston. Any advice would be much appreciated!

id say hilton head

Wild Dunes/Sullivan's Island/Isle of Palms.

They are all three the same barrier island. Tons to do, great beaches, warm water, great food, and a short 15 minute drive to downtown.

I don't really care that much for Hilton Head.

no offence, Mireaux, but Hilton Head is a silly suggestion to someone who has already said they want to be near Charleston.

IOP or Folly are the sensible choices.

If you want quiet & solitude, then I would vote for Seabrook. They have their own golf course & it is adjacent to Kiawah (for the really serious golfers).

I have stayed at Kiawah Island and loved it- it was quite a few years ago so dont know if it has changed a lot .
It was an easy trip into Charleston, the beaches were beautiful, we rented a cute house for a couple of nights .

hmm, litespeed chick..i had almost considered your point of view valid, until i realized you really didnt read her inquiry that well. Let's go scroll back up to the top and revisit her post for a better understanding, shall we?
. "I have been dying to visit South Carolina and would like opinions on where to stay."(this indicates that she is pretty much open to suggestions to anywhere within the state,.but lets continue) "We really want to explore Charleston",(Ok, she has made a direct interest in Charleston,.but she still hasnt defined the length of her stay-something I am assuming that you possibly overlooked) love to golf, and "want a beach/water atmosphere".(hilton head does) I have been to the VRBO website to check out deals on condo rentals, "but am clueless about which (if any) island to stay on." (she is kindly soliciting open advice from the general public-she still states her interest that she is pretty much open-minded at this point.) "I also read GoTravel's wonderful write-up on Charleston and am now considering staying somewhere in Charleston." (she has definetely indicated Charleston to be a point of interest during her travels, but as she had also indicated at the beginning of her thread-she also has interests in South Caolina as a whole as well.) Any advice would be much appreciated! (wow, she would appreciate any advice given, seems to me that she is very open-minded about her upcoming South Carolina vacation, so how can my suggestion for Hilton Head be deemed "silly" as you stated? I think its more silly when people jump to conclusions. I'd hate to be a back injury victim going to your chiropractic office, you may just overlook my issue, can you say medical lawsuit?)

Good lord.

Kiawah Island!
Without a doubt.
Its everything a beach vacation
should be, and more.
Have been going too many years
to count, each better than
the last.

Hilton Head would be the last place I would stay in or around Charleston(in my humble opinion). (Am I allowed to have my own opinion ???!) I'll check w/the M7.

Mireaux: and just think, I choose the word "silly", rather than the first one that came to mind, in order to be tactful !

I believe the word "stay" is where our disagreement begins. I take that to mean "general location where I should look for a hotel/rental" NOT "vacation destination". I read her post as indicating she has made the decision to base her trip around Charleston, and is looking for nearby island lodging.

The biggest clue leading me to that assumption is the title of the post "BEST ISLAND NEAR CHARLESTON".

Geesh.

Hilton Head = overbuilt overdeveloped no soul "place".
Second Wild Dunes/Fripp/Isle of Palms. Close enough to Charleston to really enjoy the beach, golf, and the amenities of Charleston.

I'll take two of whatever Mireaux7 is having!

:-)

near:
adv. near·er, near·est
To, at, or within a short distance or interval in space or time.

Hmmm..seems like the term near still yet does not define a precise distance.

"Alaska is near Russia." "California is the nearest state to Hawaii" ...even with these statements being used in correct context, we still know that these are distances that are well over 100 miles. For most, we would consider this to be far. In relation to the thread in question, because the OP never defines a given distance that she is willing to travel, and also because she had expressed interest in seeing South Carolina, we can take into consideration that everything would be near to her at this junction. It just all depends on far one is willing to travel. However, the terms near and far do not define precise distance. They are both terms that would require a comparitive figure to be judged against. "far from what?" "near to what?"

yeah ok, she did say she wants to stay in charleston. she also says she has a weeks vacation. maybe she wants to spend 2 nights in charleston, 2 nights in greenville, and the other remaining nights in columbia. who knows but her? her post only indicates certain objectives, and let leaves the rest to speculation.

Wow,

I think I see Mireaux7's point. The rest of us were making the assumption that island near Charleston means, at a minimum, an island from which one could easily travel to and from Charleston well within a day.

If you don't make that assumption, then island near Charleston has a much more flexible meaning.

Hopefully all this fuss over semantics hasn't scared her right off the board.

I would recommend Wild Dunes, Isle of Palms, or Sullivans Island to be closest to Charleston.

But, I would also recommend Kiawah or Seabrook Island. They're further away and, in my opinion, more peaceful as island settings. All have good to great golf courses, as does Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand area.

Some of the islands place you on the southside of the state and closer to Savannah, if you choose to drive there for a day trip. That might be a consideration too.

Charleston, SC US
Revise | New Directions

from mapquest...
Hilton Head Island, SC US
Revise | New Directions

Total Est. Time: 2 hours, 12 minutes
Total Est. Distance: 108.79 miles

so,.beachdweller..it takes more than a day to travel from hilton head to charleston???..i guess so if youre walking.

I'd like to have a couple of those too, but I have to drive home.

Hawkeyegirl -

I apolizize for turning your thread into p$&&ing contest.

In order to get your thread back on topic, let me offer the following advice:
If go to www.islandrealty.com (IOP)
and www.fredhollandrealty.com (Folly)
you can look at lots of condos and houses for rent. Also both of these realtors will send you ( on request) a nice color brochure with some maps and info about the area that might help.

i have to commend you for at least openly admitting it was your fault.

GET OVER IT

Mireaux7,

I was trying to see your point of view. That effort paid off handsomely.

And of course you can get from HH to Charleston and back in a day. I stated that the rest of us assumed NEAR meant an EASY drive into and out of Charleston. For example: I stay in Isle of Palms, go for a long walk on the beach in the morning, decide to head into Charleston for lunch, then back to IOP for more beach time, then back to Charleston for dinner & drinks, then back to IOP. Try that from HH.

Haweyegirl,

sorry for my participation in the high-jacking of your thread. I agree with the majority here: IOP, Sullivans Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island--all would be good choices to combine beach time with one of the best cities in the U.S.

Author: beach_dweller ([email protected])
Date: 03/03/2006, 11:36 am

Mireaux7,

I was trying to see your point of view. That effort paid off handsomely.

And of course you can get from HH to Charleston and back in a day. I stated that the rest of us assumed NEAR meant an EASY drive into and out of Charleston. For example: I stay in Isle of Palms, go for a long walk on the beach in the morning, decide to head into Charleston for lunch, then back to IOP for more beach time, then back to Charleston for dinner & drinks, then back to IOP. Try that from HH.

Haweyegirl,

sorry for my participation in the high-jacking of your thread. I agree with the majority here: IOP, Sullivans Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island--all would be good choices to combine beach time with one of the best cities in the U.S.



Author: Gretchen
Date: 03/02/2006, 09:26 pm

GET OVER IT


Yes..Gawd..please get over it. yawwn.

Last summer we stayed in a wonderful condo at Wild Dunes and visited Charleston several times. It was an ideal combination.

A reasonable person would not consider HH a place from which to "...explore Charleston...".

Author: Gretchen
Date: 03/02/2006, 09:26 pm
GET OVER IT ALREADY

Did you forget you already said that?

Author: Gretchen
Date: 03/06/2006, 04:59 pm
Did you forget you already said that?


Did you forget that you said to forget about this post, or did you forget about forgetting about it? Nevermind, just forget.

I, too, would not recommend Hilton Head for this trip if you are considering "best island near Charleston". I do agree with Gretchen's description of no soul. The other islands mentioned are closer and more desirable - IMHO of course.

Thanks for the replies (I think). I hope my time in Charleston will not give me the headache this thread has provided. We would like to do most to all of our vacationing in Charleston, so to those of you who assumed (correctly) that we would like to be somewhere within approximately 30-45 minutes of downtown Charleston, thank you for the input. And I'm sorry (believe me) that I was not more explicit in my explanation of "near". I'm just a nice, fairly well-traveled person who lives somewhere cold looking for a great vacation in a part of the country I have never been before. The end.

Sorry for the turn this thread took. mireau7 likes to stir things up. It wasn't your question, believe me.

We'll also be looking for someplace warm to escape (unfortunately not until NEXT winter...sigh). So I'd love to hear a little more info about Kiawah, Isle of Palms, etc. - ptcly personal experiences and why a particular island is a particular favorite. (Just for the record, if there is a spot on this continent that I've been and feel rabidly against, it would be HH).

Previous winter getaways for us have been on the Gulf coast (from Padre Island to Gulf Shores to Seagrove FL - a real favorite, that one!). I realize the Atlantic islands likely won't be as warm in mid-Feb to mid-March, but we loved Charleston on our brief foray there and would like to spend a little more time in the area. So please jump in and share details of your favorites?

I'd recommend Isle of Palms, particularly the Wild Dunes area, for a great spot near Charleston. Kiawah is beautiful and more tranquil, but it is not a quick drive into Charleston. Isle of Palms offers you the island/beach atmosphere with about a 20 minute drive into Charleston. We really enjoyed staying in one of the Oceanfront Boardwalk homes in Wild Dunes. It was right near the Grand pavilion with nightly music and activities, we had the pool out our front door, and the beach was only steps away. We've done a lot of beach vacations as a family and we easily decided to return to this spot a second time this summer. Our kids love the activity and we love having the pool and beach close!

Are you from Iowa? I was raised a hawkeye fan, but I went to ISU (boooo Cyclones.)

We're honeymooning in Charleston in June. Have fun on your trip!

katie_scarlett--how was your honeymoon in Charleston? And hawkeyegirl- where did you decide to stay?
Signed, Another Hawkeye Fan

I would recommend Kiawah! My parents own a home on the island and are planning to retire there (lucky them). Previous to their purchase on the island we would vacation there just about every other summer. Plenty of outdoors activities (bike-riding, nature tours, marshes to explore, the beach, etc), with a variety of accomodation options. We had stayed in condos, small homes, they have two hotels on the island (one is a luxury hotel, if you feel like spending a lot of money). They are an hour away from Charleston, and Freshfield Farms was just recently built near the entrance to both Kiawah and Seabrook. They have a Whole Foods-y type grocery store, outfitter store, some good restaurants and other shops to browse through.

There is only one hotel on Kiawah now. With the opening of The Sanctuary they closed the Kiawah Island Inn. There are lots of condos, villas, cottages and homes available for rent. If pool access is an issue, make sure to inquire about it. Some regimes have a pool while at others the only way to access one is to rent through the resort. Also, if staying on Kiawah, make sure to get a book of all of the activities going on during your stay. They are available at many locations on the island. It's nice to be able to look at the whole week to decide if there's anything that interests you before you miss that activity. Many things are free; the prices are listed for everything else.

How about a compromise....We live in Charlotte and go to the C-ston area all the time.

Took my wife for our anniversary and stayed at two meeting street for two nights (she cried when we walked in the room...get the one with the porch and the rounded sitting area over the side entrance), and then out to Kiawah.

Kiawah is awesome if you like beach and secluded trails, natural areas, etc. Driving in to Charleston is ok but it is 35 to 45 minutes and not much fun late at night....Great to go in to Chas ton mid afternoon, shop, then do dinner...

Wild Dunes used to be great but has really built up the past 5 years to the point where there is not much open space left. It is still great, but Kiawah probably has a more special feel, and the new hotel, The Sanctuary, is world class, service and views are both spectacular.

Two Meeting Street is probably the nicest old Inn in Charleston, a city with great inns, right on the Historic Battery, and just blocks from downtown....dinner at High Cotton or Blossom, or Fulton 5, for casual seafood Coast was good, Sunday breakfast at Hominy Grill, etc. Peninsula Grill was great, but a bit formal for my taste. Warm up drinks at Cintra or the top of the Vendue Inn overlooking the historic district...