Palmetto Dunes Palmetto Dunes and Shelter Cove are popular residential communities located mid-island. Stretching over 1,800 acres this well preserved area has 1,012 homes and 1,470 villas, three miles of illustrious Atlantic Ocean beaches, 11 miles of meandering lagoons as well as one of the largest tennis centers on the island containing 25 courts. Within Palmetto Dunes you will find the Hilton Resort and the Hilton Head Marriott Beach and Golf Resort. There are three public 18-hole golf courses designed by PGA favorites George Fazio, Robert Trent Jones and Arthur Hills. Palmetto Dunes and Shelter Cove has its share of year round residents to weekend visitors due to the extensive lodging available. The more private and secluded residential area called Leamington is also located inside Palmetto Dunes.

Area: PALMETTO DUNES/SHELTER COVE Address: 6 Night Harbour ListPrice: $3,450,000 Type: Homesite MLS: 262623 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES Address: 206 Somerset Villas ListPrice: $2,475,000 Type: Villa/Condo Bedrooms: 3 Full Baths: 3 Half Baths: 1 MLS: 255209 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES Address: 5 Armada ListPrice: $2,250,000 Type: Residential Bedrooms: 6 Full Baths: 5 Half Baths: 1 MLS: 260096 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES SubArea: Leamington Address: 88 South Shore Drive ListPrice: $1,699,000 Type: Residential Bedrooms: 5 Full Baths: 5 Half Baths: 1 MLS: 255411 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES/SHELTER COVE Address: 2 Junket ListPrice: $1,210,000 Type: Homesite View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES Address: 9 Hunt Club ListPrice: $999,900 Type: Residential Bedrooms: 4 Full Baths: 4 Half Baths: 1 MLS: 258061 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES Address: 430 Captains Walk ListPrice: $899,900 Type: Villa/Condo Bedrooms: 2 Full Baths: 2 MLS: 234749 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES SubArea: Barrington Arms Address: 301 Barrington Arms ListPrice: $849,000 Type: Villa/Condo Bedrooms: 2 Full Baths: 2 MLS: 258716 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES Address: 20 Offshore ListPrice: $675,000 Type: Residential Bedrooms: 4 Full Baths: 3 Half Baths: 0 MLS: 263313 View Listing

Area: PALMETTO DUNES SubArea: Leamington Address: 7614 Huntington ListPrice: $669,000 Type: Villa/Condo Bedrooms: 3 Full Baths: 3 Half Baths: 1 MLS: 256473 View Listing

Hilton Head Tennis – Hone Your Skills to Perfection

While the Hilton Head tennis scene may sometimes be overshadowed by the island’s famous golf scene, the truth is that Hilton Head Island offers tennis enthusiasts a world-class experience. Hilton Head boasts 300 tennis courts, with plenty of choices for those who prefer to play indoors or outdoors. Of these many tennis courts, four of them have been ranked among the nation’s 50 best by Tennis Magazine. Hilton Head Island is a great place to vacation or live if you love to play tennis. One of the premiere tennis courts on Hilton Head is the Port Royal Racquet Club. It features 16 courts and can accommodate guests at its villas. For those preferring a more traditional hotel, the club can arrange for you to stay at the Westin Resort, a beachfront hotel located nearby. One of the specialties of the Port Royal Racquet Club is its ability to cater to the needs of groups, whether they consist of three or four Hilton Head tennis enthusiasts or a larger group of 50 or more. The staff tailors each tennis-and- accommodations package according to the needs of the group. However, individuals will find their service to be equally excellent, providing you with practice drills, training, and court time according to your needs or wants. The friendly and helpful staff makes the Port Royal Racquet Club a first-class Hilton Head tennis experience. Another of the great Hilton Head tennis offerings is located on Shipyard Plantation. The Van der Meer Racquet Club, like the Port Royal Racquet Club, is one of Tennis Magazine’s Top 50 tennis courts in the nation. It has a total of 23 individual courts, including three indoor courts. There is a strong emphasis here on improving your tennis game, with extensive clinics offered over several days as well as single-day clinics. The training is offered at different levels, with beginning clinics for both children and adults wanting to learn the basics of the game, and advanced clinics for experienced players looking to hone their skills. The Van der Meer Racquet Club is a great option for those looking to improve their game. The other two ranked Hilton Head tennis courts are the Rod Laver Tennis Center at Palmetto Dunes and the Sea Pines Racquet Club. The Rod Laver Tennis Center is home to 25 world-class tennis courts, and the Sea Pines Racquet Club boasts some particularly high numbers with Tennis Magazine – number 7 on its list of top tennis resorts and number 1 for its actual tennis programs, making it another great choice for those looking to improve their game. If you are a tennis enthusiast, you owe it to yourself to check out the world-class offerings on the Hilton Head tennis scene.

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Hilton Head Golf Courses – Simply the Best

Hilton Head Island is one of the best golf resort destinations in the United States. Golf Digest has ranked the island as the number ten golf resort in the nation, and its rank is well-deserved. Several Hilton Head golf courses have been used by the PGA as qualifiers for participation in the U.S. Open tournament. In addition, one of the stops on the PGA Tour is the Verizon Heritage Classic, which is played every year on the Harbour Town Golf Links course on Hilton Head. The island’s PGA heritage may be reason enough for any diehard golf enthusiast to visit Hilton Head, but among Hilton Head’s golf courses there are a number of hidden gems as well. One of the most famous Hilton Head golf courses is, of course, the Harbour Town Golf Links course. It is part of Sea Pines Plantation, the first of the island’s modern resort communities. The Verizon Heritage follows the Masters tournament on the PGA Tour. Naturally, its fame has caused it to become one of the most expensive Hilton Head golf courses, but the quality of the course makes it worth every penny. The tees used during the Heritage are very challenging even for the veteran golfer. Although the course size is smaller than average, it offers a subtle challenge that requires incredible accuracy in place of the brute force required by larger courses. In fact, many golfers don’t realize how challenging it is when they first see it. It isn’t until they end up with their first triple bogey that they truly appreciate how difficult the course really is. Fortunately, there are also forward tees available which reduce the challenge considerably, making it an ideal course for both beginners and seasoned veterans. Another of the great Hilton Head golf courses can be found in Port Royal Plantation, where golfers who play Robber’s Row can enjoy some of the most scenic golf to be found on the island. Although it is not overly difficult, it does put up a good fight while offering classic Southern live oaks draped with Spanish moss and beautiful views of the island’s marshes. It is also one of Hilton Head’s less expensive golf courses, particularly during the summer or late in the day. The most beautiful of all the Hilton Head golf courses, however, is easily the Robert Trent Jones golf course in Palmetto Dunes Plantation. It is a relatively friendly course for beginners and those who haven’t played golf for a while, but can still be challenging for those who choose to play from the back tees. Hilton Head’s system of lagoons is used as one of the obstacles in 11 of the course’s holes, and the ninth and tenth holes are famous for their beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean. These are but three of the many world-class Hilton Head golf courses and all of them are well worth checking out. If you are planning a golf vacation on Hilton Head Island, be sure to research the island’s other golf courses as well, as there are many other hidden gems to be found as well.

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A Great Place to Enjoy Water Sports – Hilton Head

Hilton Head Island is a unique and beautiful vacation destination.  It combines many of the amenities and conveniences normally only found in major cities with the natural beauty of the island with its marshes and beaches.  The island offers anything a golf or tennis enthusiast could ever want, and for everyone else the island offers parks, bike paths, walking trails, extensive shopping, numerous restaurants, and miles of beaches.  Needless to say, to get the most out of a Hilton Head vacation, you have to stay more than a day or two.  Unfortunately, this also means massive hotel and restaurant bills which can potentially make a long vacation unaffordable to those of us who actually have to ask how much something costs before buying it.  One great way to enjoy the island for less is to take advantage of a Hilton Head vacation rental property, allowing you to stay in a house or condominium for less than an equivalent hotel stay. 

Before jumping online and searching for Hilton Head vacation rentals, it is important to follow several steps in order to get the best Hilton Head vacation rental property for your needs.  First, you need to decide how much you are willing to pay and what kind of vacation you want.  Do you want a small house on the beach or would you prefer a condominium with a breathtaking ocean view?  Do you need a place for your kids to play when you’re not on the beach or will they be satisfied with whatever you can bring with you into the condo?  You also need to consider how many people will be sleeping in the house or condo so that you do not violate terms of a potential lease agreement.  You should also research the various Hilton Head communities to decide which one is the best fit for you.  Finally, you need to decide whether you would be more comfortable renting from a private homeowner or from a rental management agency.

If you decide to pursue a Hilton Head vacation rental through a private homeowner, it is important to develop a relationship with the homeowner.  You should meet in person or at least talk on the phone, as you can’t tell everything about a person just through email.  There is a greater amount of risk for both parties, so if you don’t like the homeowner you should not pursue the rental property.  There is more protection offered if you decide to get a Hilton Head vacation rental through a rental agency, but even then you need to be careful to ensure that you are not being taken for a ride.  You need to find out everything you can about the rental agency.  You need to know their history as a company.  You need to find out if they are a member of the VRMA (Vacation Rental Managers Association).  If they’re not, do not work with them.  You should also double-check to make sure they don’t have excessive complaints on file with the Better Business Bureau.  While no vacation is absolutely guaranteed (you can’t predict the weather six months ahead of time, for instance), taking these steps will help you to avoid a preventable disaster.  Finding the right Hilton Head vacation rental for you will help you to have the best possible time at the best possible price during your stay on the island.

Every year many people decide to take a Hilton Head vacation to get away from it all while still enjoying amenities and conveniences usually reserved for major cities.  Hilton Head Island is the perfect spot for a vacation, offering beautiful beaches, salt marshes, lagoons and more.  Even while enjoying the island’s natural beauty, activities, restaurants and shopping are all available within a short walk or drive.  Hilton Head Island is renowned as a Mecca for golf enthusiasts, tennis buffs, and restaurant connoisseurs alike.  In addition to the many restaurants and shops unique to the island, many chain stores and restaurants also have locations on the island, adding city convenience to the island’s unique charm. 

As a coastal resort island, Hilton Head Island offers vacationers beautiful beaches and spectacular ocean views.  Anyone going on a Hilton Head vacation can look forward to 12 miles of beaches, with widths of up to 600 feet when the tide is low.  Many hotels and resorts enjoy beachfront locations, offering guests ocean views and easy access to the beach. 

Every year many people go on a Hilton Head vacation and completely ignore the beach.  Instead they go to enjoy the island’s impressive golf courses and tennis courts, many of which are ranked nationally by leading golf and tennis magazines.  The famous Harbour Town Golf Links course hosts the annual Verizon Heritage Classic and is open to the public to play—and this is only one of many impressive golf courses on the island.  The island’s tennis scene includes nationally ranked tennis courts including the Sea Pines Racquet Club—ranked number 2 in the nation.  With all these impressive offerings, it is no surprise that many people go on Hilton Head vacations specifically for the golf and tennis.

The island is also well-known for its many restaurants, well over 200 on the island itself.  Hilton Head vacationers can look forward to a full range of dining experiences, from steaks and seafood to international offerings, including Italian, Greek, French, Thai, Mexican, Chinese, and Japanese food.  It is possible to base an entire Hilton Head vacation just on trying different restaurants and then recovering on the beach until the next meal.  Among the many outstanding restaurants are Michael Anthony’s Cucina Italiana, The Studio, Alligator Grille, the Salty Dog Café, the Crazy Crab, Robert Irvine’s eat!, Redfish, and many, many more. 

Anyone going on a Hilton Head vacation can look forward to great beaches, golf, tennis, and restaurants—and these are just the beginning.  With extensive and unique shopping in addition to national chains, and many seasonal activities and festivals, no Hilton Head vacationer will ever run out of great things to see and do.