Hilton Head Vacation
 

My family and I are headed to Hilton Head in just over a month. We'll be there for a week and I am just looking for different activities, food, and things to do? I've been reading through other posts and they've recommended a few restaurants along with a couple activities. But the posts were a bit older - And it seems like a lot of people aren't to impressed with the area. We'd also like to do Crabbing where we can keep and eat them - Any recommendations?

Also, we'll have a car and can travel outside of HH. Any other places, food/activities, nearby that you'd recommend?

There will be 10-12 of us all ranging from ages 2-60 but most are between 20 and 50.

Thanks!

I'd go to Hunting Island if you like undeveloped beaches.

All the crabbing places I know are closer to Charleston and are highly kept secrets. You can get some chicken necks and string, throw into the marsh somewhere, and see what happens. But watch for gaters. They may be a little slow that time of year.

Hilton Head has extensive bike paths and you can ride bikes on the beach at low tide. Many vacationers rent bikes for the week.

The creeks, sound, and near shore are excellent for kayaking. Many marinas offer nature cruises. Sunset cruises are popular. Dolphin watches are active with a large local dolphin population.

Golf is abundant. Surf fishing is available. Deep Sea Charters and party boats are available. HHI tennis facilities are among the best.

Savanah's historic district is a one hour drive. Outlet shopping is just off island.

Several HHI marinas have restaurants, bars, and entertainment every night including Harbor Town, South Beach, and Shelter Cove.

My favorite restaurant is the Skull Creek Boat Yard. Other very popular stops include the Oyster Factory, CQ's, Truffles, Alligator Grill, Marley's or Red Fish to name a few of a hundred great restaurants.

I would take great exception to your comment that people are not too impressed with the area to say that thousands of families return to Hilton Head every year because it's their favorite vacation destination.

We also love Hilton Head and have been going every year for almost 10 years. We always rent bikes and ride all over the island. We have been renting from Bike Doctor lately. Restaurants we like are Sea Shack, Black Marlin, Skull Creek Boathouse, Frankie Bones and Old Oyster Factory.

Going to Savannah is a fun day trip-we took the Old Town Trolley tour-hop on and off. It is a great way to get an overview of the city. Old town Bluffton is also a fun place to look around and eat lunch.

We love to go to Hilton Head. The bike paths are awesome for walking/running/biking. There are many places to rent kayaks or do ocean fishing or dolphin tours. Other water sports are available at South Beach or Harbor Town (just my experience). Take the ferry to Dafuskie for a tour over on that island. The drive into Savannah is not bad at all and it ends up being a nice day trip. We love the food in several different plantations(Red Fish, Old Fort Pub, Sunset Grille, Sea Shack. The golfing is great and there is a wide variety of courses and prices. We like the beach in the mornings and evenings - it is nice and hard packed. Hope you have a great trip!

People love Hilton Head and it is beautiful. But I think people who knew it before don't like it. Developers spents very little money to buy all that property. It was heir's property after the Civil War and the island looked like Hunting Island, but it was all owned by black people. They were poor and happy to take little money to move away. And with all those outlet shops, yuck. But many people adore it. And I'm happy for y'all who do.

And if developers can produce a sterile "resort", they will!! I hadn't remembered about its history. Sad, sad. I think they have resisted other places like Dafuskie.

The "outlet shops" aren't what I'd want to be looking at on my beach vacation either, but they're not actually on the island and miles from the beach. A decent diversion on a rainy day though.

And I'm not a fan of staying behind a gate on a plantation, but there are areas of Sea Pines that are some of the most beautiful natural areas you'll find on the east coast.

OP: definitely rent bikes for the week, have a casual but filling seafood lunch at the Sea Shack (or on the deck of the Boathouse if you're on the north end of the island), hit happy hour at the bar at the Big Bamboo and have a great dinner at Redfish or Marley's or It's Greek to Me. Marley's has an attached shop with very good ice cream, or there's good gelato at Village of Wexford. I usually stay away from the big tourist draw places like Salty Dog, etc.

We will be at Hilton Head this fall and plan on a day in Savannah and a day in Charleston
For those of you who rent bikes, are the paths flat or hilly? paved or gravel?

Flat and paved.
Hilton Head has no elevation changes.

Thanks stumlpworks73!

And the beaches have flat, hard packed sand which are great for riding on too.

I really liked my two trips to Hilton Head, the trip to Dafuskie Island was a lot of fun (limited places to eat) and we also took a dolphin watch tour one afternoon from a guy who had a red zodiac in Sea Pines (wouldn't work for a large group though), just us and one other couple and the guide.
Nice thing about Hilton Head is so many places have really good early bird dinners, had a very nice one at CQs among others.
Yes Salty Dog is touristy, but OMG their shrimp toast is so good and rich.

Thanks for all the input everyone! We are looking forward to the trip. Sounds like some good food and some relaxing on the beach!

I'll ask some of the locals about crabbing and maybe they'll have some good info and some places to do it.

We have been going to Hilton Head for years and I will admit at first I wasn't overly impressed as you mentioned some said. It's sort of sleepy, not a ton to do if you don't golf, and doesn't have that tropical beach feel(but does have beautiful areas). But after many years we have grown to love it for all those reasons as it just makes us slow down and spend quality family beach time. We rent bikes, kayak, spend days at the beach and pool, go crabbing (chicken necks and string and go to an inlet...kids love it), rent a boat(see more dolphins this way than a tour), and have found great restaurants. My kids would be devastated now if we didn't go. There are great natural preserves to go check out alligators, lots of bike paths, Savannah is great to visit, mini golf, and many great little shopping areas too(Harbortown, Sea Pines, Coligny). See Shannon Tanner in Shelter Cove Harbor.

Restaurants..Skull Creek Boathouse, Truffles, Bonefish, Sage Room, gesseppies and wild wings for very casual

Hilton Head Ice Cream, Pino Gelato, and Marleys are all great ice cream spots.

Have fun!

Snyder hit it on the head.

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