The Sea Pines Beach Club
I love the idea of a relaxing beach vacation, lazy days spent with my toes in the sand and a book in hand, but I know myself too well: I’m not great at sitting still for long stretches, I try to avoid too much sun exposure, and I hate the heat. A few months ago, my family discovered a beach destination in South Carolina that offers myriad activities to keep non-beach people occupied: Hilton Head Island’s Sea Pines Resort.
About a 6 1/2-hour drive south of Richmond, Sea Pines is a gated resort that spans the southern third of Hilton Head Island. Accommodations run from the Inn and Club at Harbour Town (a boutique luxury hotel) to house and villa rentals that are perfect for families. While rentals are available through sites such as Airbnb and VRBO, we rented our two-bedroom villa through Sea Pines, which provided full resort privileges such as beach club parking and two hours of complimentary tennis court use per day.
Tennis, anyone?
Sea Pines Racquet Club, with its 20 clay courts and acclaimed tennis program, helmed by former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Stan Smith, was a big draw for me. According to the Physical Activity Council’s figures, I was one of the nearly 22 million Americans who picked up a racquet during the pandemic. I was eager to hone my skills during daily strokes and drills clinics.
Our villa was behind the Racquet Club, which made it easy to hop on the courts for a few additional hours of tennis each evening. It wasn’t such a plus, however, when court maintenance started up around 4:30 each morning and the leaf blowers, sprinklers and Gator Rakes got to grooming the clay.
Activities Galore
Sea Pines is also home to three golf courses, another sport that has been booming since the pandemic. Harbour Town Golf Links is the best-known course, site of the RBC Heritage, South Carolina’s only PGA Golf tournament.
With a 15-mile network of bike paths, cycling is the preferred mode of transportation around Sea Pines; Hilton Head itself offers more than 80 miles of bike trails. Rentals of easygoing cruisers are available through the resort, but we brought our own bikes and rode many miles daily.
Then there’s the beach, which we accessed through the Sea Pines Beach Club, offering a market, the restaurant Coast, outdoor showers, public restrooms and a surf shop. The beach here is wide, with white, hard-packed sand.
Sea Pines Harbor Town is a lively gathering spot with restaurants, shops, a playground and a marina that serves as a point of departure for water sports: kayaks, powerboats, stand-up paddleboards, sailing trips and more. The South Beach Marina at the opposite end of Sea Pines is home to the popular Salty Dog Café, where we met up with some Richmond friends for an afternoon cocktail and snack at one of its outdoor picnic tables.
Other activities and attractions include horseback riding, dolphin tours, a small animal farm with pony rides for children, a fitness center and spa.
