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Hilton Head Island???


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I am going to the bahamas May 9th and we are driving from Ohio...On our way we are stopping at Hilton Head Island, SC....Does anyone have any ideas on what is there or what we could do?...We have never been there but I have been to Myrtle Beach....Are they similar?

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No, Myrtle and Hilton Head are NOTHING alike.

 

Those of us who live in Carolina call Myrtle the Redneck Riviera. It's by far the cheapest beach on the Carolina coast, and it's very much a party-place. Myrtle Beach itself (meaning the O.D. area -- it's really Ocean Drive, but O.D. seems appropriate) is really a rough place. It's very crowded and is full of nightclubs, strip clubs, etc. You'll see lots of dollar stores, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, and plenty of sex-toy stores. The police presence is very visible. It's a bit like Vegas, but more seedy. You should absolutley avoid Mytle the first two weeks of June; that's when all the recent high-school grads head to the beach.

 

If you get away from that main area and branch out to North Myrtle and Cherry Grove, it's a decent family place. North Myrtle is hotels and resorts, Cherry Grove is inexpensive houses and trailers. Lots of people like to stay in these areas, knowing they can drive down to Myrtle for a bit of a wild time, then drive back "home" to somewhere safer.

 

Hilton Head is considerably further south, and it's much nicer -- it's not even in the same league as Myrtle. It's mostly very upscale rental houses (for example, most houses have private pools). You'll find a few hotels mid-island. Hilton Head is full of golf courses, and you won't find the type of coarse entertainment you'd find at Mytle. The restaurants and shops are much more expensive and exclusive. You'll find lots of outlet shopping: Bass, Waterford, Oneida -- definitely no dollar stores or sex toy stores.

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We go most every year to Hilton Head. It is a really a nice place and absolutley NOTHING like Myrtle Beach. You can be in an oceanfront hotel and not even see the water because of the gorgeous vegetation. The main road down the island is away from the water. Most hotels and homes are in plantations which are gated and require either a pass or a reason to enter. You can tell the guard where you are going to eat or what you are visiting and you'll get a tempory pass.

 

If you are just staying the night and are driving on to Florida, just a head's up that it is not right off I95. You exit and it is about 20 minutes or more down a state road before you get to the hotels and homes.

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The responses so far are very accurate...Hilton Head is nothing like Myrtle Beach (thankfully, LOL). There are many things to do here, with golf, tennis and hanging out on the beach at the top of the list. We also have miles and miles of paved bike trails, wildlife refuges, forest preserves, historical sites, museums and art galleries to explore. Of course, there are excellent restaurants and world class shopping as well as a variety of spas where you can indulge yourself with every type of massage and beauty treatment known to exist! Early May should be an ideal time to visit as the temperatures can get very, very hot later on in the spring...in the summer, temps in the high nineties with sky-high humidity is the norm. I hope this helps. One friendly word of warning, though; spending time on Hilton Head can be very addictive! Many people who live here started out as tourists and decided to relocate to this island paradise!

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There is a wonderful children's entertainer in Sea Pines Plantation that always mentions that everyone there on vacation is from Ohio....must be a popular spot for visitors from your state!

 

Most of the nice chain hotels have ocean front properties. Marriott, Westin(nearer to the beginning of the island thus a little quicker to get back to I94) Crown Plaza...You'll have no trouble finding a nice place to stay. :)

 

There is also a Disney Vacation Club property there set in a marsh. It isn't on the ocean but they have a beach club that is.

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It's nice..w.e used to go every year many years ago. We were going to go last summer but when we got there we saw SO much traffic that we said forget it. Wound up in Ponte Vedre Beach, FL instead.

 

BUT I suppose that had I been staying in a condo unit in one of the big resorts or at a full service hotel I would have been happier.

 

We were going to stay at the Residence Inn and determined that it would be too much of a PITA.

 

My best friend's MIL/FIL live there year round, and he & his family go once a year and love it.......give it a shot. There's nice beaches, great golfing and tennis if that is your thing, and lots of good dining.

 

NOTHING like Myrtle Beach.

 

 

(I just think that the traffic and toll road really annoyed me so don't let my experience cause you not to go....as I said, when I was a kid we went there probably 12 years in a row......)

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I agree, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head are worlds apart as far as the type of vacationers, however the traffic is not much better than MB. We stayed at a private ferry island a couple of years ago and had to go through HH to get to the ferry. Took us 1 hour to go just a few miles on a Saturday. Almost missed the afternoon ferry.

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Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach are very different. I lived in Myrtle Beach while attending college and have many relatives in that area. I do not think it is a dangerous area, we go at least 5 times a year and never felt danger. I do find MB to be more kid friendly. We own a timeshare in HH, and the kids are hard pressed to find something to do other than swim in the pool, shop, or visit the video arcade. In MB, the kids enjoy the pavillon, NASCAR, Myrtle Waves, and the Aquarium, just to name a few. As of late, when we vacation with just the adults, its Hilton Head all the way, if the kids join us, MB is the only way to go! JMHO

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Hi,

 

If you like to shop then go to the outlets! There are lots of them in relative proximity to one another. The harbortown area is nice also. Although I've never gone up there, I think you can go to the top of the lighthouse located right at the marina.

 

Hilton Head doesn't get nearly as crowded as Myrtle Beach during the summer, but beware of the traffic on Fridays coming onto the island - very heavy.

 

Deborah

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We own a timeshare in HH, and the kids are hard pressed to find something to do other than swim in the pool, shop, or visit the video arcade.

:eek: When we were kids, we used to ride our bicycles and golf carts all over the island. I don't think you can do that with the traffic now. We were never bored. Building sandcastles on the beach, taking long "shell finding" walks and swimming in the ocean. That's what going to the beach is all about!

Another thing we used to do was to lure the alligators onto shore with chicken necks, then take off in the cart. Before someone lectures me on the dangers of this practice and how it causes the alligator to come on shore looking for food (dogs, small children, etc.), I know all this now and have passed it on to my children. We just didn't know any better back then.;)

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If you are just staying the night and are driving on to Florida, just a head's up that it is not right off I95. You exit and it is about 20 minutes or more down a state road before you get to the hotels and homes.

 

Also, be aware that it's almost impossible to find places at night. We lived on Hilton Head for several years and still go down a few times a year. Their zoning ordnances are so strict that they don't allow large lighted signs, and the entire island pretty much looks the same. If you do anything in the Sea Pines end of the island, you'll probably have to pay a $5.00 fee just to enter that part of Hilton Head Island. They also have some scary traffic circles!

 

It may have changed since we lived there (1987-1989), but there was an ongoing battle between the people who depended upon tourism for their living and the retirees from other parts of the country who wanted no one to cross the bridge to the island except their relatives and friends. "Tourist" was a very bad word to them. There are beaches, but they don't allow much in the way of development and most of the nicer restaurants are away from the beach and tucked away in wooded areas with very poor lighting at night. They're even hard to find during the daytime. We stayed at the Marriot resort in February, and it was a very nice facility, but the only sign was a small lighted one about 2 feet by 3 feet beside the entrance. It's not a great place for kids to visit because there's just not much for them to do. On the entire island, I think there is one miniature golf place and it's even hard to find at night:( .

 

The best exit to take to Hilton Head is the highway 278 exit off I-95.

 

Allen

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There is a wonderful children's entertainer in Sea Pines Plantation that always mentions that everyone there on vacation is from Ohio....must be a popular spot for visitors from your state!

.

 

When we lived on Hilton Head, it seemed like almost every person we met was from either Ohio or New Jersey!

 

Allen

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:eek: When we were kids, we used to ride our bicycles and golf carts all over the island. I don't think you can do that with the traffic now. We were never bored. Building sandcastles on the beach, taking long "shell finding" walks and swimming in the ocean. That's what going to the beach is all about!

;)

 

Kids are different now, though. Do they even know how to ride bikes or how to swim?:eek:

 

Allen

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Hi,

 

If you like to shop then go to the outlets! There are lots of them in relative proximity to one another. The harbortown area is nice also. Although I've never gone up there, I think you can go to the top of the lighthouse located right at the marina.

 

Hilton Head doesn't get nearly as crowded as Myrtle Beach during the summer, but beware of the traffic on Fridays coming onto the island - very heavy.

 

Deborah

 

Living in the area (I can tell you) the traffic is terrible all the time! :)

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The name of the entertainer (i assume he is still there) is Gregg Russell....he's been at it for, gee, probably close to 30 years. GREAT John-Denver-esque sound.

 

Great with kids....(although sometimes when I was in my late teens and 20s I would have preferred LESS kids! lol) Great singer....not sure if he is at Sea Pines all year but it's worth the money (you have to pay a small fee to get into the plantation unless you are a guest) to see him...under the big tree in Harbour Town.

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