Skull Creek Dockside
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by! Today I’m sharing my Travel Guide for Hilton Head Island. We recently took a four night trip to Hilton Head to celebrate our 20th Anniversary. In this post I’ll be sharing where we stayed, where we ate and what to do. We stayed April 30th – May 4th before moving on to another location that I’ll also be sharing soon.
How about that sunset?! The sunsets there did not disappoint. There were amazing restaurants to catch this beautiful view. Let’s start there.
Where To Eat:
There are three restaurants right next to each other on Skull Creek that I highly recommend. Skull Creek Dockside, Hudson’s and Skull Creek Boathouse. Dockside and Hudson’s actually share a parking lot. Both are very popular so keep that in mind. We were able to sit in the bar area at Dockside – first come first serve – and see the sunset. Outside seating was already full for the evening. I believe they did take reservations as well. Beautiful areas outside to watch the sunset, have drinks or dinner. My Husband had the Lo Country Boil and said it was great. I had the Almond Crusted Grouper which was great as well. Boathouse is more casual and we had lunch there one day. Again, sit outside and enjoy the great view. They have a fun shop with logo items on the lot that’s worth visiting. The Hushpuppies were worth getting as a starter. We both had the Grilled Fish Tacos but wish we would have gotten them blackened. Hudson’s was another great one worth going to. You get Hushpuppies for the table to start, so no need to order. Good but not as good as Boathouse. The catch of the day is always changing and they were out of something I wanted so I got the shrimp. They were large and it was good.
Skull Creek Boathouse
Hudson’s
The Shelter Cove Marina is a fun place to visit for walking around the marina, shopping and eating. We ended up eating at two different restaurants there and both were great. We had Sunday brunch at Ela’s On The Water. Be sure to make reservations for this popular one. I had the French Toast and my Husband had the Cheeseburger. Both were very good! Scott’s Fish Market was another great find there. Even on a Monday evening it was a little crowded. We had a perfect spot outside though for another great sunset. I had Shrimp Tacos that were really good and my Husband had Fried Shrimp.
Ela’s On The Water
Scott’s Fish Market
We’re not big breakfast eaters so we just grabbed something light from the resort and also had a few bananas in the room from a nearby grocery. There are the usual places to shop like Publix, Walmart, etc. along the main highway on the Island. Lunch was mentioned above or poolside at the resort.
Where We Stayed:
After looking at reviews and seeing recommendations from other Bloggers for The Westin, we decided to stay there. It was between the Westin or Omni. There really aren’t many name brand resorts on the beach and that’s what we were looking for. Of course you could always stay in a VRBO or Air B&B. The Westin was a nice enough resort and looked beautiful from the online pictures but it was just ok for us. We had an ocean view king room. Ocean view was being generous. Looking back we wished we would have asked for a different room. Our balcony was in a corner and overlooked a rooftop. With the palm trees, we barely got an ocean view. Not what we paid for or expected with booking rooms in that category before. We are Marriott rewards members so I was a little surprised with that room location to be honest. The balcony had seen better days, too. The room itself was nice and large. The bed was heavenly and made up for the poor balcony and view a little. The bathroom was also a nice size with a large soaker tub. Pool area was nice but crowded. One of those resorts that you need to save a chair at like 7-8am. Reminded me a lot of The Hilton Sandestin. A nice enough resort but not somewhere we’d go back. Probably a good choice if you have kids. The beach was nice and wide, perfect for walks. There were jelly fish at the time and no one got in the water.
The Westin
Things To Do:
We love exploring a new area. Basically driving around looking at homes, beaches, shopping, etc. We mostly spent days on the beach or by the pool but we did venture down to the Harbor Town Lighthouse one day. It’s a cute area and definitely worth visiting. There is a $9 fee to enter the Sea Pines area and the pass is good all day. There’s private residences there and a Golf Course along with the Lighthouse, shops and some places to eat. There are charter boats of different kinds like sunset tours, dolphin watching there as well.
At Shelter Cove Marina you can rent paddle boards, boats and kayaks as well as charter fishing. It was definitely one of my favorite spots on the Island.
Thank you for stopping by and checking out my travel guide! I’ll be sure to link where else we stayed on the trip once that is up. Check out my Favorite Travel Essentials post for all the packing, luggage and gadget favorites. If you’re curious as to what I wore on this trip and see a little more of the area and resort, click here for that post.
