My family (husband, 3yrold, and grandparents) are looking to vacation in South Carolina. Which is not over commercialized? Looking for high quality but not to crazy of an atmosphere. Also interested in child activities.

Have not been to M. Beach, but have read posts here that indicate it is pretty "commercialized." Hilton Head is a twelve-mile long island with two (that's 2) four-lane highways and every franchise/big box store you can name (although "tastefully" placed behind greenery. For less "crazy" atmosphere, you might want to look at some of the other islands...During our exploration last month, St. Simon's (where we only day-tripped) seemed to offer a nice beach experience, and had lots of good-sounding restaurants. Beaufort is another town on the water that gets crazy in high season, but if you're going before July-August might not be so bad. Good luck...

Both Mrytle Beach and Hilton Head are pretty commercialized, but I'd rank Hilton Head over MB in quality. They've done a great job of zoning, and as the previous post suggests, have placed most everything as unobtrusively as possible.

You might also think about Kiawah Island. We rented a house there one Thanksgiving...fantastic. Like HH, it has great bike trails, uncrowded beaches, hard packed sand suitable for biking, running etc. You don't have the restaurant selection you do in HH, but then Charleston isn't far and what a great city that is for touring!!

St. Simons, mentioned in the previous post, is in GA, about midway between Savannah and JAX. Beaufort isn't right on the ocean, but there are beaches within a drive...Hunting Island State Park. There are (or were) cabins out there that can be rented. Erosion is doing it's number on this barrier island though..the beach is shrinking and they're losing the cabins one after another.
Carol

I would go to Hilton Head. Myrtle Beach is more than over commercialized, its a total tourist trap. The beaches are beautiful but everything around is totally cheesy.

This reminded me of a feature in a Nat'l Geographic from over ten years ago which I read a few years ago called 'Sea Change in the Sea Islands'. I remember it talking about how people who lived on those islands all of their lives were losing their homes when they developed them. Sad.

cmcdaniel,

Was it warm enought to swim over Thanksgiving?

This post has inspired me to order some brochures of the area. Thanks.

It would take a hardy soul to swim in the ocean in November in South Carolina, though I'm sure our friend John from the West Coast would give it a try.

Even an outdoor heated pool (if you could find one open that late in the year) would be a challenge.

Myrtle Beach has plenty of large hotels with indoor pools, though.

Hilton Head is far superior to MB. But Hilton head does have areas that are congested and overcommercialized. look for accomodations in Sea Pines, which has preserved thousands of acres of pine forest.

I didn't even read the other responses, so forgive me if I am redundant. The answer to your question of "which is better?" based on what you said is NEITHER. Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach are both overly commercial and clogged.

I'd vote for one of the beaches near Charleston, particularly Isle of Palms. I have done a good bit of traveling, and Isle of Palms/Charleston still owns my heart.

Noah...we wouldn't have gone swimming then, no. At the time, we lived in Savannah and didn't swim when water temps dipped below 80, and by November, it's quite a bit below that.