ResortQuest Recommends

Hilton Head Island Tennis

Hilton Head Island is a tennis enthusiast's dream, with more then 300 courts on three Grand Slam surfaces. ResortQuest is proud to offer a selection of accommodations with access to three of Tennis Magazine's top-50 U.S. clubs list: Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center, Sea Pines Racquet Club and the Van Der Meer Tennis Center.

If you're hoping to improve your game here, there's help available, including daily clinics, weekly clinics, and private and semi-private lessons. The acclaimed Van Der Meer Tennis University attracts thousands of amateurs and pros from around the globe. Some of the biggest names in tennis hit the courts on Hilton Head Island every season for tournaments, round-robins and exhibitions.

Just for Kids

Families come back to Hilton Head Island year after year because there is so much to do together and much more for kids to explore on their own. The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina produces several children's events including musical concerts, circuses and fun interactive performances. Many local operations design family oriented excursions including nature-based enrichment activities and day camps specifically organized for children and teens.

Touted as one of the most family-friendly vacation destinations, Hilton Head Island is the perfect destination for your next family excursions.

Water Sports and Outdoor Recreation

Twenty miles of scenic pathways offer the perfect setting for a bike ride, rollerblading, jogging and power walks. The horseback riding is wonderful at Lawton Stables, which offers professionally guided rides through the island's beautiful forest and nature preserve. Throughout the Island there are pristine lagoons that offer some of the most sensational sights and serenity you'll ever experience, provided you're willing to explore via canoe or kayak.

Water sports include swimming, parasailing, kayaking, jet skiing, boogie boarding, fishing, boating, sightseeing cruises and dolphin cruises. Hilton Head's marinas are home to several tour companies, offering romantic sunset cruises, dolphin-watching trips, fishing charters and other watery adventures. Coastal Discovery Museum, Harbour Town Marina and Shelter Cove Harbour are all excellent sources for cruises and rentals. Be sure to visit at least one of the island's astounding nature refuges. At the 605-acre Sea Pines Forest Preserve you'll find tranquil lagoons, salt marshes and winding tidal creeks. Numerous trails, boardwalks, outlook decks and picnic areas offer families opportunities for nature walks and biking. Highlights of the preserve include the 4,000-year-old Indian Shell Ring, a rookery and a wildflower meadow.

Pickney Island National Wildlife Refuge provides an up-close look at a maritime forest, salt marshes and freshwater pond ecosystems. The refuge is home to species from wading birds and deer to bald eagles and alligators. The Coastal Discovery Museum offers guided nature walks throughout the summer.

Restaurants and Dining

Variety is the spice of Hilton Head Island's culinary life. More than 200 restaurants run the gamut from the most casual cafes to upscale elegance. Whatever your pleasure, burgers to brandy or seafood to shakes, you can find it here on the island. Wear your shorts and flip-flops most everywhere. Ocean views and outdoor patios are common, as are outdoor grills.

As on any great island, fresh seafood is the star of the show. You'll find it on most menus, prepared every way imaginable. A trip to Hilton Head Island simply is not complete without sampling the seafood. Internationally inspired flavors are easy to find, too, and fun to try. From Italian to Asian, Southwestern to Caribbean, anything your palate might fancy, your taste buds can have.

Catering

If dining out is too much of a hassle or you are looking for the perfect meal to accent a wedding, family reunion or group event than catering might be the preferred style of dining for you. Hilton Head and Bluffton have multiple options for you to choose from. If you are looking for an occasional boxed lunch or pre-planned dinner for your family and friends or a large chartered event for a extravagant wedding, than look no further. Hilton Head has options to please even the most particular palates.

Shopping

The Mall at Shelter Cove features well-known stores such as Ann Taylor, Off Fifth Avenue, Williams-Sonoma and Banana Republic. Outside the mall, the marina is home to dozens of charming restaurants, sidewalk cafes, galleries and boutiques.

With quaint, gray-shingled shops, the South Beach Marina will remind visiting New Englanders of Nantucket or Cap Cod. Discover the South Beach General Store or hit the Salty Dog for a hearty meal and cold brews.

For bargain hunters, there's the popular Tanger Outlet Centers, located just across the bridge in Bluffton on the mainland. Pick up parcels at Brooks Brothers, Polo Ralph Lauren, Dana Buchman, The Gap, Liz Claiborne and more than 100 other shops, at incredibly discounted prices.

Night Life

Hilton Head Island is a great place to go have a good time. The Electric Piano is a perfect setting for those who want to go out and have a good time grooving to Billy Joel and Eric Clapton on the massive Baby Grand Piano. Right next door is Stages which occasionally has live music acts from across the South and regularly hosts local musicians for those who want to go out for a dance. If Jazz is your preferred music of choice, reserve a table at The Jazz Corner for tasty martini concoctions and groovy live jazz. For live bands, sunset views and tropical libations check out The Quarterdeck, a local favorite in Harbour Town. If you have a taste for great beer, sports and outstanding pizza try New York City Pizza on Pope Avenue. If you are looking for a sophisticated evening try a visit to the Metropolitan Lounge in Park Plaza, the martinis are great!

A longtime locals' secret, The Salty Dog Cafe on the South Beach Marina is becoming a vacationers' favorite as well. Enjoy a cocktail on the patio beneath the sycamore trees, hum along with the beach music and spy on the local fisherman bringing in their catch of the day

Spas

Vacations are for many things, not the least of which is relaxing, rejuvenating and getting pampered. Lose yourself in one of Hilton Head's many first-rate salons and spas, where the delicious indulgences range from traditional to contemporary to local and exotic innovations.

Enjoy facials, massages, skin treatments, manicures and pedicures, with treatments including sea algae, cocoa butter balm, herbs, oxygen and vegetable mud.

Lifespan Center for Integrative Health offers one to five-day passes personalized lifestyle programs integrating Western medicine with Eastern healing techniques. The center also offers a European spa with a full menu of massage, facials, and body care and hair services.

Sanctuary European Day Spa specializes in facials, massage, body-care treatments, waxing and nail services. Specialties include light-pulse facials, chemical peels and electrolysis.

Golf

With more than 20 top-flight courses to its name, Hilton Head Island is a world-renowned golf destination. Host to the PGA's nationally televised Verizon Heritage Classic, Hilton Head attracts scores of golf legends and devoted fans of the sport each year. With its stellar roster of course designers, from George Fazio to Jack Nicklaus, players can expect some of the best golf in the country on Hilton Head Island's links.

With more than two-dozen championship courses designed by the top names in golf, Hilton Head Island is nothing short of a golfer's paradise. Robert Cupp, Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Arthur Hills, Arnold Palmer, Tom Fazio, Rees Jones, Gary Player and Robert Trent Jones all have signature courses here. The Harbour Town Golf Links is home to the nationally televised Verizon Heritage Golf Tournament, and the island hosts many other prestigious tournaments throughout the year as well.

The setting for golf could not be more ideal. Seaside scenery, Lowcountry terrain, salt marshes, pine thickets and backwater lagoons combine to create spectacular backdrops and serious challenges, all of which create a golfing experience unmatched any where in the world. If you're looking to improve your game, take lessons with the professionals at the Golf School at Palmetto Dunes or the Sea Pines Golf Academy.

The Palmetto Dunes Golf School is headed up by former PGA Tour player and Hilton Head celebrity Doug Weaver, its programs include daily swings clinics, a family golf school, junior's clinics, a short-game program and a women's school.

The Sea Pines Golf Academy is for golfers that are just beginning to learn the game or you've been playing for years, their Class A PGA Professionals will help you play better golf. They employ new technology that enables their students to see what needs to be improved upon and compare their grip, stance, posture and swing to an ideal model.