Traffic in the summer

After much planning and schedule changes due to our children%26#39;s sports conflicts, we finally made reservations for Hilton Head in the Shipyard plantation during the week of June 10th. Orginally we had planned on going earlier to avoid crowds and to get better rates but it just didn%26#39;t work out. From a lot of the posts I%26#39;ve read everyone talks about the benefits of being able to walk to shops and restaurants. Does this mean driving and parking in Hilton Head during the summer is a pain? How bad does it get. We have only been there once during the off season. I just want to know what to

expect. Is that why PD and Sea Pines offers transportation services to help with parking and traffic problems?

Traffic in the summer

Gale63~

Traffic in the summer is quite an ordeal on HHI, but I would not let that prevent you from enjoying a great time on the island! You are early in the summer, so you may fare better, July is really difficult, and yet we return year after year!

Renting bikes with your family is a great option. You can ride on the beach as well as the wondrful pathways for biking. I recommend checking the tide tables when riding on the beach as high tide is NOT the time to ride there!

Sea Pines (Harbour Town) and Shelter Cove (Palmetto Dunes) do get really crowded in the evenings. IF you decide to go to Shelter Cove for the fireworks on Tueday evening, I would reccomend going early and having dinner there. Parking is a big issue here!

Anytime you can make reservations for dinner, you are better off. Not knowing how old your children are, many times they don%26#39;t care much for the long waits. We alternate cooking in and going out, and try to make some reservations at our favorite restaurants in advance.

Kite flying on the beach (after 6 pm) is a great activity if the kids are into it...Mine are older now, so they play football and Frisbee and such...

Hope you have a great time!

I am investigating a few posts on restaurants and saw your inquiry!

Traffic in the summer

Traffic on the island is not bad in the summer even though we have 75,000 visitors a week on average in the summer. Visitors to Shipyard, Seapines, and Forest Beach can use the Cross Island to get to their areas.

Others drive down 278 to Palmetto Dunes, Port Royal, and the Folly Field Areas.

I Can%26#39;t say it%26#39;s easy on 278 off island in the Bluffton area. This is where we have the worst traffic. Going East on Saturday afternoons, or West Saturday mornings is bad. It can also be a pain weekdays during our local Rush hour, when locals are traveling to or from work.

Certain areas like Harbor town or Coligny have limited parking, so you might find it%26#39;s hard to park. We recommend to all visitors to SeaPines to park in the area known as the Powerlines, near the preserve entrance and take the trolley to HarborTown or South Beach.

There is metered parking near the public beach area in Forest Beach or below the Beach Market.

PD and SeaPines are full service resorts. In PD you can only use the shuttle if you are staying there. One exception (They don%26#39;t serve the Marriott). The case in SeaPines is as you expect.

Stan (hhiguy)

One thing I would hightly recommend is if you get on the island in daylight establish some landmarks because when it gets dark on HHI it can be difficult driving if you don%26#39;t know where you are going.

I agree with the above about things looking different at night.

If you are from NYC, then the traffic is not bad. Otherwise,

it is, sometimes very much so. But you%26#39;re at the beach, so who cares? Just don%26#39;t be in a hurry and you%26#39;ll be fine. I have never had a problem with parking at a restaurant but I don%26#39;t tend to go late. If you go to Harbor Town (at least at night), definitely take the shuttle. When you get there, you will see why!

Thanks for all the tips. Chunky, your%26#39;e right it is all relative. We have been vacationing in a small North Carolina Beach for about 10 years, so any traffic is a lot to us! We are really excited about visiting Hilton Head. I saw in another post where someone said Hilton Had doesn%26#39;t have a lot for children to do. It really made me chuckle, because the beach we usually visit has sand and ocean for entertainment with a few restaurants. For us going to Hilton Head is a big deal beacuse there is so much to do!

In yesterday%26#39;s ';Island Packet';, there was a story which reported that our town council is considering no longer requiring meter parking in the south forest beach public lot.

That means that parkers will not use space in the plaza that shoppers are meant to use.

They expect the free parking to take effect june 15th.

Stan (hhiguy)