I’m trying not to let myself slip too far into the “post vacation blues” so today I figured I’d share blog post about this island centered around family-friendly things to do in Hilton Head with kids.
10 Things to Do in Hilton Head with Kids
We have three boys in our family (ages 4, 6 and 9) and choosing a family-friendly vacation destination is important to us when considering summer travel. Hilton Head Island is extremely family friendly and everywhere we went, we saw kids of all ages and other families taking advantage of the myriad things to do on the island with children. Hilton Head Island also seems to be one of those locations families return to regularly for annual trips and Ryan and I agree we can absolutely see why! There’s no shortage of things to do whether you’re looking for adventure and fun or pool/beachside relaxation and a slower-paced vacation.
Where Is Hilton Head Located
Hilton Head Island is located in South Carolina, along the southeastern coast of the United States. Hilton Head is easy to reach from the Charlotte area, as it’s about a four-hour drive. For families who don’t live in a location that’s as drivable to the island, the Savannah/Hilton Head airport is about a 30-45 minute drive from Hilton Head Island. We arrived on a Thursday in the middle of the afternoon and traffic wasn’t bad, but we did talk to a couple of families who said avoiding a Saturday arrival during spring break or the summer months is advisable, as traffic onto the island can get backed up quite a bit.
Is Hilton Head Kid Friendly
Absolutely! As a family with three young kids, we love how family friendly Hilton Head Island is, as it’s a destination overflowing with activities kids of all ages enjoy. There are no shortage of family-friendly restaurants on the island and we loved how many offered children’s menus that doubled as activity booklets to entertain our kids as we waited for our food. Our boys love to run around and explore and the beach and the pool at our hotel entertained them for hours and hours on end. The island is also home to a bunch of parks that are unique and fun to visit for children and the ability to bike on wide paths to various hot spots was one of our favorite things to do during our Hilton Head vacation.
What To Do In Hilton Head With Kids
In case a family friendly Hilton Head Island vacation is on your radar, keep on scrolling to check out a list of family fun activities kids will love on the island!
Beach Time
I’m going to go not-too-far out on a limb here and say this is the #1 reason most people visit Hilton Head Island and with good reason. The beaches are fantastic, especially if you have little ones who love to play in the sand and surf. Tide pools are the absolute best thing in the world for our boys at the beach as they allow our kids safe, fun places to splash around and play and search for various creatures, shells and beach treasures. And Hilton Head has plenty of them! Also, during one morning ocean swim, Ryan and the big kids even ended up swimming not too far from two dolphins! It was incredible!!
If beach access is important to your family, we stayed at the Hilton Beachfront Resort & Spa during our visit and the location was fantastic for those looking for lots of beach time! (Full disclosure: The hotel hosted our family but we happily paid to extend our stay because we were having so much fun!) The hotel is located in the Palmetto Dunes community (a favorite of ours to bike around and explore) and makes walking out onto the beach a breeze. We went to the beach multiple times a day, so the ability to walk right out onto the beach and not worry about parking/loading and unloading the car, etc. was wonderful for our family.
Rent Bikes
Renting bikes is a must for our family when we visit Hilton Head Island as it adds a unique and fun feel to our vacation. We rented our bikes through Hilton Head Outfitters in Palmetto Dunes (we did this through our hotel which made things even easier), though there are bike rental spots all over the island. Our oldest rode a kids’ beach cruiser while our younger two boys were thrilled with the option to ride a tandem bike that hooked onto the back of the beach cruisers Ryan and I rented. This allowed us to bike farther distances together as a family which was key since we wanted to see and do a lot by bike on the island!
While it’s fun to bike to specific destinations, we also love biking for the sake of simply enjoying a family bike ride around the island. Pedaling all over the side streets and the Palemetto Dunes community is a favorite of our crew, as there are so many gorgeous homes to observe and the paths are nice and wide and typically very shaded thanks to the stunning live oaks all over the island. It’s also fun to bike over and around the various lagoons and our boys loved searching for alligators in the water and along the shoreline.
Mini Golf
You’ll see golf course after golf course on Hilton Head Island but when it comes to visiting Hilton Head with kids, mini golf is where it’s at! We’ve always had a great experience visiting Pirate’s Island Mini Golf (it’s a Hilton Head staple and has been on the island for 25+ years), and the course takes you over bridges, around waterfalls and over streams as you play a series of 18 unique holes. Two tips: We like to go in the morning to avoid crowds, as our young kids aren’t the most patient when it comes to waiting at each hole. Also, if you visit the Pirate Island Mini Golf website ahead of time, they often have a coupon for $2 off admission!
Lawton Stables
Lawton Stables is a fun spot to visit for those with kids who love animals. Horseback rides and pony rides are available (we’ve done pony rides for the boys in the past), but this year we kept things simple and just paid $5 to walk around and feed the alpacas, pigs, goats, donkeys and ponies. It’s a short but sweet stop if you’re just looking to feed the animals! (We did this in the morning after grabbing breakfast at the nearby Harbour Town Bakery & Cafe.) For those looking for a longer experience, I’ve only heard good things about the Lawton Stables’ horseback trail rides through a nearby nature preserve!
Pirate Ship Cruise
We booked a cruise on a pirate ship for our family through Pirates of Hilton Head after reading so many positive reviews. The entire experience lasted about 90 minutes and thoroughly entertained our boys. As an adult it wasn’t the most exciting (definitely one of those things ya do for the kids), but the “pirates” aboard the ship could not have been more engaging. They were fun and funny and full of energy! The highlight of the cruise for our kids was a visit from “Stinky Pete,” an evil (but not scary) pirate they got to spray with water cannons. Tip: The front of the boat is full-sun and we were glad we put sunscreen on the boys before we took off!
Harbour Town
Harbour Town is located within Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Hilton Head Island and worth a visit! It’s most known for its charming lighthouse and is a fun destination to walk around, as it’s located along a lively marina with lots of shops and restaurant options available to explore and enjoy. The highlight of Harbour Town for our kids, however, is the Gregg Russell Harbour Town Playground, a spot we enjoyed visiting after we grabbed lattes and breakfast sandwiches from the nearby Harbour Town Bakery & Cafe. (Note: This is also where Lawton Stables is located as well as the pirate ship cruise. A $9 daily fee is required to enter Sea Pines/Harbour Town.)
Go Out for Ice Cream
Biking to get a scoop or two of ice cream on the island is a daily must-do for our family of ice cream lovers. There are several wonderful ice cream spots on the island including The Frozen Moo (located right by The Frosty Frog — a fun, family-friendly restaurant with live music we loved for dinner one night), Hilton Head Ice Cream, Salty Dog Ice Cream Shop, The Ice Cream Cone and more. For those staying in Palmetto Dunes, we also loved the self-serve soft serve machine at the cute little General Store that was walkable from our hotel.
Visit a Park
The parks on Hilton Head Island are something special! Some parks worth checking out: Lowcountry Celebration Park (this one has a giant pirate ship for kids to explore), Shelter Cove Community Park (located near a delicious French bakery), Gregg Russell Harbour Town Playground (located right by Harbour Town Bakery & Cafe, a great spot for breakfast or lunch), Chaplin Community Park (this one also has a dog park if you have a furry friend with you) and Jarvis Creek Park.
Pool Time
If you stay somewhere with pool access, pool time is a slam dunk with kids when you’re visiting Hilton Head Island in the hot summer months. During our June vacation, the weather was HOT and very, very humid, so cooling off in our hotel pool was something we did every day… often several times a day. We absolutely loved the pool at the Hilton Beachfront Resort & Spa, as it has a section that’s 10-13 feet deep that blew our family away. It’s not often you come across pools with such deep water and this was such a blast for our entire family.
I ended up buying goggles from the hotel gift shop because I wanted in on the fun and even had to equalize my ears to get to the bottom! We also loved that the hotel pool had a bar and food service easily accessible. We ate lunch poolside one day and sipped on fun drinks during our visit which was a nice treat for us as adults! (Our boys loved their non-alcoholic slushie drinks.)
Children’s Museum
This is one I cannot personally speak to but it felt important to include on this list in case you find yourself looking for something to do on a crazy-hot or rainy day in Hilton Head. The Sandbox children’s museum was on our radar if the weather turned bad one day, as the reviews and photos make it look like a gem of a spot for young kids.
QUESTION OF THE DAY
For those who have visited Hilton Head Island, what are your Hilton Head must-dos?
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I love hearing about all your travels! We love to travel, however got a puppy this spring and now I wonder how travel will work?? What do you do with pepper while traveling? Have you taken pepper on vacations with you?
Oh yes!!! You might be surprised how so many places are dog friendly – especially vacation rental homes! Pepper often comes with us! If she doesn’t, she will stay with a friend or we have a doggie daycare place near us we have used that she seems to like (they’re outside a lot and with other dogs which pepper lovesss bc she’s obsessed with other dogs). So excited for you and your new puppy!!!
Hilton Head is our family’s yearly favorite vacation destination!!!!! For the last 20 years we have always stayed in Sea Pines mainly because of the miles of biking trails. Sea Pines has everything and you don’t even have to get back in your car all week if you don’t want to. The restaurants, shopping, activites, beach, and biking keep us busy! We have, however, also stayed in Palmetto Dunes and Shipyard plantations over the early years. So glad you have discovered our favorite!
Bookmarking for future!
I love reading your posts in Feedly, but recently something changed where now only a small amount of the post shows up there and you have to visit your site to read the rest. Would love to still read the whole thing in Feedly (unless maybe the point is to have people click over?)!
oh this is so frustrating! definitely not something i’ve changed on my end! i know people have also had issues receiving my blog posts via email on Feedly so it might be time for me to look for other options. thank you for sharing this with me!
We head there for our 5th annual visit this Saturday. Cannot wait! I would recommend the Coastal Discovery Museum next visit – it’s free and has kids programming some week days. The Turtle Talks are super fun and informative too. There is a free on in Coligny that we go to every year but also a paid one in Palmetto Dunes. My 9 year old and I also love running the Turtle Trot 5k each year. Fireworks on Tuesday at Shelter Cove are fun plus there are kids stations (most paid) to kill time while waiting. We have plans to check out Vanishing Island this year. Tip – if you dine at the restaurants at Sea Pines and spend $40 (easy to do) you can get your $9 entrance fee credited from your bill.
hope you have the best time! and thank you for sharing this recommendations — so helpful as we really do hope to return soon! i’d honestly love to make it an annual trip!
We just got back from a week in Hilton Head! We stayed in a house within Sea Pines. It’s worth mentioning that HHI is dog friendly! Dogs are allowed on the beach (leashless) during certain hours in the AM and PM. This was a highlight for our family- watching our goldendoogle run her heart out! Pirate ship playground is 10/10. There are private boat tours available (most seat 6) to get up close to dolphins, pull up the captain’s traps, boat in and out of inlets, etc. My kids (6 and 4) loved rescuing all the star fish from the tide pools too! Restaurants- Coast in Sea Pines- outdoor seating (a must with kids!). live music 4-7PM, such a breezy relaxing setting right on the beach. Old Oyster factory- good food, good atmosphere, less crowded that the beloved Shull Creek area. Also FishCamp on Broad Creek- good setting on the water! Also worth noting- during our stay in Sea Pines we saw lots of wildlife besides alligators- Bald eagles, deer, egrets, etc
love all of these recommendations!! THANK YOU! and our boys would’ve LOVED to see bald eagles — that’s so, so cool!
Julie!! Did you hear that there was a shark attack today in Hilton Head!? Glad your family had a wonderful vacation. It really looks perfect💜
My mom sent me that article this week — so crazy!! And so, so glad the person was okay!