Marine Graduation Parris Island
 

My family and I are planning to attend my nephew's graduation from the Marines in May(18th). We will be flying from Boston - Marine website suggests either Savannah or Hilton Head Airport. I am looking for suggestions on which airport would be easiest and closest drive to Parris Island. Planning to spend two days after graduation as a short vacation with him. Hotel w/ a great pool would be nice, no specific budget.
Thank you for the help!

The HH airport is probably a little closer to PI which is actually slightly outside of Beaufort itself. As I recall it is served by one airline (USAirways Express...probably with connections out of Charlotte).

Seasonally there have been direct flights from Washington, DC.

SAV is much cheaper than HHI with many more flight options. Assuming that you have a car, I prefer HHI for lodging with a 40 min drive. HHI has many options but that date begins their spring busy season. Beaufort is more B&B'ish.

HH's airport is pretty small and you would surely have more options and hopefully pay less flying into Savannah. You will need to rent a car anyway so you may even want to consider the following airports: Columbia, SC and Myrtle Beach, SC - even Jacksonville, FL.
There actually are several hotels in Beaufort but I would imagine they book up quickly w/ graduation. May would be a nice time of year to stay in either HH or Savannah - getting warm but not unbearable yet.

We flew into Charleston possibly because it was cheaper via UsAir. We rented a car and did a leisurely drive inland to our hotel near PI. The hotels wanted a min of 2 nights as I recall which was fine since we arrived in time to watch graduation practice and he had a few hours off to show us around which included EATING. After graduation we drove back to Charleston via Beaufort (great place for a short visit with a beautiful park). We did typical Charleston things like a carriage ride around town and ATE. I still remember walking out on the beautiful pier and sitting on a swinging bench will he continued to talk about everything. Even though we exchanged letters for 12 weeks there was only one phone call allowed that his group had won the priviledge of having. There really wasn't much time for him to write but we sent letters every couple of days which included photos of things at home. I don't know if your Marine will talk a blue streak as ours did but most likely he will EAT. Remember, they haven't been allowed any junk food for 12 weeks and have very limited rations during the Crucible just before graduation. One of his friends lost 50 pounds during boot camp. He will probably also be anxious to get home to show off the new him and visit with friends before heading for combat training. Two days of family time sounds about right but don't be surprised if he doesn't relax because of being used to a grueling schedule and the excitement of being with family and going home for a short visit. You are going to be so proud of him!

savannah is about an hour from harbor island/beaufort. stay on harbor island. it is about 15 minutes from beaufort. vrbo.com has houses and condos there. we love harbor island.

harbor island might be a nice idea. They have a pool and you can walk along the beach there on the sound or drive/bike the short distance to Hunting Island and swim in the ocean.
Check and see when the pool opens though.