Hilton Head vs. Charleston

[ranger58sb]

We spent most of last winter in Hilton head and loved it. To the point we engaged a realtor to get a deep look around the region ( Beaufort to Savannah). So far decided to not buy but rather continue to snowbird. Used Skull Creek last time. Using Shelter Cove this time.

Spent last winter mostly in Hilton Head. Wasn’t taxed or paid use fee. With the normal short cruising trips never got close to residency thresholds. Savanna is nice but don’t think much of the rest of GA. Parts of NC are pleasant but much isn’t.

Hippo, what's to do in Hilton Head? Compare to Charleston?

We're planning to stay aboard in Charleston over this coming winter... ideally with some side trips before, during, and/or after.

Side trips could include Savannah, Hilton Head, Port Royal, Beaufort... and we've stopped briefly in Savannah (Thunderbolt) and Beaufort before so we're semi-familiar with those. Haven't stopped in Hilton Head before, nor Port Royal...

-Chris

 

[ranger58sb]

Maybe I slipped this one past everyone...



-Chris

 

[oguidry]

Hilton Head is a delightful resort island with many good restaurants. It obviously is near Savannah and Beaufort, SC.

Charleston is completely different animal. It is a world class tourist destination with around 7 million tourist visits per year. Highlights are the beaches, museums (including the just opened International African American Museum), house museums, plantations, and lots of good shipping and dining.

Basically can't go wrong either way.

 

[Shrew]

Maybe I slipped this one past everyone...



-Chris

Technically, the original post called out one specific person. When that happens people tend to step back.

Hilton Head is nice, particularly if you like to golf. Hilton head has two personalities. A lot of gold courses and residential homes lining the fairways, and the resort hotels and restaurants along the beach.

We love both Savannah and Charleston.

 

[ranger58sb]

Thanks, guys.

We've wintered in Charleston, and liked it.

We've passed through Savannah, and liked it but docking in Thunderbolt hasn't been wonderful for easy downtown access. (Marinas are nice enough, though, and there's public transport, so it'd be semi-workable.) OTOH, downtown Savannah doesn't seem to offer as much as downtown Charleston. (?)

Haven't stopped in Hilton Head. (And we don't golf.) For us, it's sounding like a "visit" place, not necessarily an "over-winter" place. (?)

-Chris

 

[Hippocampus]

Charleston is amazing. We simply rented a car periodically and did side trips. Was nice to spend a few days off the boat so didn’t bring it. Friend owns a B&B with a view of where the Forest Gump bench used to be in Savanna. When he hasn’t rented it we have access. The Savanna river has significant currents. We’ve done it both ways. Rented car and boat. This year will probably do rented car. Both cities are pretty walkable and have a good bus system so just a rent a wreck works. Likely cheaper to take a car than boat or nearly the same.
Hilton head a really good bike path system and there’s a grocery steps away from a dinghy dock. We have a berth in in Shelter Cove so can either bike or dinghy to it. Even in the winter fishing is good and accessible by dinghy. We haven’t gone outside but rather in the small creeks, bays, inlets and along the ICW. Been told it’s slow end of dec into Jan but we’re at the dirt dwelling those times for family Xmas and such. When bopping around on the trawler and anchored just dropping a Carolina rig off the back works. When in the dinghy slow trolling or if stopped fly fishing works.
Don’t golf much so can’t speak to that. Sorry.

 

[O C Diver]

If I were considering wintering in Savannah, I would consider Isle of Hope marina as a possibility.

https://www.iohmarina.com/

Between Charleston and Hilton Head, I'd rather visit Charleston and winter in Hilton Head. Too much humanity in Charleston and no interest in being part of the downtown marina follies. My step daughter's family was close by for sightseeing, but far enough away to escape the crowded weekends. There's a tremendous amount to see, but I'd rather be in a quieter area.

Ted

 

[dannc]

We always wanted to see Patriots Point, which has the USS Yorktown and other vessels, across from Charleston.

I really want to see the USS Laffey which was hit by numerous bombs and kamikazes during the invasion of Okinawa. If I remember the book correctly, she was left dead in the water and with her deck almost awash. Somehow she did not sink, was repaired enough to return to the US, where she was fully repaired and served into the 70's.

From the damage she took, one would have expected her to have been scrapped, yet she was repaired and ended up as a museum ship.

Course there is more to see at Patriots Point but I really want to see the Laffey.

Later,
Dan

 

[Hippocampus]

The tourist area for Hilton head is mostly in the southern end. We tended to stay away after the first look see. Hilton Head itself has a very interesting history. There are parks and sites documenting it and worth a visit. We did boat to Daufuskie Island which is a fun day trip or if you want to go slow 2days. There’s also a ferry there as well. The Tybees are to be avoided. Way too touristy for my taste.

 

[mbdana]

USS Laffley

Dan,
The USS Laffley is another great ship built by Bath Iron Works in Maine. She took a (severe) licking but kept on ticking in WWII. There is a real reason that "Bath Built is Best Built"....USS Laffley is an extraordinary example. Worth a tour at Patriots Point.
Best regards,
Mike Dana
Bath Iron Works (ret)
Third Reef
36' Grand Banks #819
Potts Harbor Maine

 

[mbdana]

USS Laffey

Sorry for my previous post....my tablet thinks in knows what I want to say more than I do. It USS Laffey just like Dan said

 

[Hippocampus]

Leaving Saturday. Ultimately going to HH-Shelter Cove. Should be there around Nov 15th. Stop by and say hi. Other than ~1 m to 1 1/2 m around Xmas time (fly back to MA) should be in there other than short trips.

So far dec/Jan are the really cold times. Other than that weather is like my two favorite times in New England - spring and fall. Continue to endorse your plan to stay in SC.

 

[dannc]

Sorry for my previous post....my tablet thinks in knows what I want to say more than I do. It USS Laffey just like Dan said

I read a book on the USS Laffey when I was a kid, then decades later, we were looking at a trip to Charleston and I read about Patriot's Point, and loo and behold, there was the Laffey. Figured my memory was wrong and looked did some digging and it was the same USS Laffey. I had figured she would have been scrapped decades ago and was happily surprised she was now a museum ship.

We never made the trip to Charleston!

One day....

Later,
Dan

 

[Adopo]

We always wanted to see Patriots Point, which has the USS Yorktown and other vessels, across from Charleston.

I really want to see the USS Laffey which was hit by numerous bombs and kamikazes during the invasion of Okinawa. If I remember the book correctly, she was left dead in the water and with her deck almost awash. Somehow she did not sink, was repaired enough to return to the US, where she was fully repaired and served into the 70's.

From the damage she took, one would have expected her to have been scrapped, yet she was repaired and ended up as a museum ship.

Course there is more to see at Patriots Point but I really want to see the Laffey.

Later,
Dan

Those men were heroes, absolute heroes to the core.

One of my favorite youtube subscription channels below. Bookmark it..

One more...

 

[Adopo]

Regarding HHI vs Charleston, we have slipped both, current own a 70 ft slip in Harbor Town. Currently do not have a boat that size for the slip. I like HHI, not as busy etc, but if you like a large selection of Restaurants, history, things to do, try Charleston with the caveat of putting up with crowds etc.

We could rent out slip out if interested PM me, right now we have it in the rental pool with the marina office.

Ignore slip 33, it's the one circled in red.

 

[dannc]

Those men were heroes, absolute heroes to the core.

Thank you. I will put those on my watch list.

Later,
Dan

 

[Adopo]

Btw, I love webcams, gives you the ability to see the actual weather, and whats going on. Here are two at Harbor Town.

Live video from Lighthouse camera

 

[Osprey69]

Regarding HHI vs Charleston, we have slipped both, current own a 70 ft slip in Harbor Town. Currently do not have a boat that size for the slip. I like HHI, not as busy etc, but if you like a large selection of Restaurants, history, things to do, try Charleston with the caveat of putting up with crowds etc.

We could rent out slip out if interested PM me, right now we have it in the rental pool with the marina office.

Ignore slip 33, it's the one circled in red.

I sent a PM regarding slip.

 

[Captain_Michael]

Charleston has become popular in recent years for wintering over. There is a lot more going on in Charleston than HH. Charleston has many excellent restaurants, several colleges with lecture series, good airport with connections and same for the highways, and at least one of the major marinas (Megadock aka City Marina) is within walking disdtance of many things. The other large marina is at PAtriots Point, across the Cooper River in Mt. Pleasant and next to the ships museum (Yorktown and Laffley). Patriots Point does have a golf course. You are isolated at Patriots Point, but there is a water taxi that makes very frequent runs across the river into the city.

HH is infinitely smaller and isolated. There is golfing, and while Savannah has many of the cultural attractions like Charleston, it is a bit of a drive to get there from HH. HH is a pleasant resort area, but resort is the key word and I think Charleston as a city has more going for it for wintering over.

 

[rwidman]

Charleston has become popular in recent years for wintering over. There is a lot more going on in Charleston than HH. Charleston has many excellent restaurants, several colleges with lecture series, good airport with connections and same for the highways, and at least one of the major marinas (Megadock aka City Marina) is within walking disdtance of many things. The other large marina is at PAtriots Point, across the Cooper River in Mt. Pleasant and next to the ships museum (Yorktown and Laffley). Patriots Point does have a golf course. You are isolated at Patriots Point, but there is a water taxi that makes very frequent runs across the river into the city.

HH is infinitely smaller and isolated. There is golfing, and while Savannah has many of the cultural attractions like Charleston, it is a bit of a drive to get there from HH. HH is a pleasant resort area, but resort is the key word and I think Charleston as a city has more going for it for wintering over.

We have lived outside of Charleston for nearly twenty years now and have visited Hilton Head. I agree with you. You can see all there is to see in Hilton Head in a weekend. Charleston is an actual city with history, culture, restaurants, and everything else you might need.

 

[psneeld]

Enjoy Charleston now, every year it gets flooded out more and more.

 

[ranger58sb]

When we started planning our winter, Hilton Head seemed to be an option since we'd not ever stopped there before. And then thought maybe we'd make a southbound jog first, when we leave Charleston... but as it turned out, we have a car here in Charleston... so yesterday we drove down to HH to have a look around.

Big disappointment. First, we didn't realize HH might be so populated, so congested. Then we thought we'd have a look at Harbor Town... but then had to pay $9 for a daily driving pass to get close... and then discovered there wasn't any parking available anyway. Well, some parking lots, but all full. Bagged that. Probably better by boat, maybe for a couple days.

Had a decent lunch at Black Marlin Cafe (Palmetto Bay Marina on Broad Creek), then set off to see Safe Harbor Skull Creek at the north end of the island since that's another potential AICW stop-off point. Turned out we needed some kind of community pass to get close... so we bagged that, too. From the water side, Skull Creek has always seemed too unprotected...

We drove into downtown Beaufort on the way back, just 'cause we could. The marina looks pretty much that same as when we stayed there a few years ago; only change seems to be that it's now a Safe Harbor place. Interesting that Beaufort by car is a decent sized town, whereas Beaufort by boat always seemed like a dinky little one-street place.

That last is true of Southport, too -- and now we discover it's the same with HH -- so I imagine it's similar for other places along the AICW.

-Chris

 

[ranger58sb]

Enjoy Charleston now, every year it gets flooded out more and more.

Yeah, there was another flooding situation in December; took out a boatload of cars in the marina parking lot, hosed up the entrance/exit barrier system, etc.

We didn't actually know about the parking lot flooding until a few days later, given we're on floating docks and couldn't see what had happened until we went ashore later. Lucky for us, we didn't have our car here yet, at the time...

Several flood warnings since then, but nothing that affected the marina...

The January wind storm was a bigger deal for boaters. Damage to boats, a few sunk, damage to the megadock, etc...

-Chris

 

[Cargile]

Dan,
The USS Laffley is another great ship built by Bath Iron Works in Maine. She took a (severe) licking but kept on ticking in WWII. There is a real reason that "Bath Built is Best Built"....USS Laffley is an extraordinary example. Worth a tour at Patriots Point.
Best regards,
Mike Dana
Bath Iron Works (ret)
Third Reef
36' Grand Banks #819
Potts Harbor Maine

In the 90's we did many inspection/acceptance missons to BIW, Burke class destroyers. For what it does, accomplish it is small, tiny in acreage. Amazing how they do what they do on a postage stamp.

 

[DavidM]

Years ago, shortly after a hurricane had wiped out half of their floating docks, we moved our sailboat to Skull Creek Marina on Hilton Head. Back then all you had to do to get past the gate was to tell the guard you were going to the marina or a public restaurant inside. I guess things have changed.

But even back then (20-25 years ago) you had to pay a fee to drive into Harbor Town. But we only did that once. There are lots of nicer places than HT in HH such as the marinas and restaurants along Broad Creek. We never got to the ocean side beach. Too crowded even then.

And HH is one of the most expensive places on the east coast then and now.

David