We have taken our family to Hilton Head, SC for the past few years and love the safe, clean atmosphere. For a change of pace, we are looking for a new destination with clear water and plenty of beach for the kids to enjoy. We are trying to avoid the towns with the "BIG" t-shirt shops but certainly welcome family friendly activities, biking, shopping, etc. Any suggestions on beaches and places to stay? Thank you.
I recommend Sanibel in Florida. It's a beautiful, fun, affordable vacation spot!
Hi S.. We are from Charleston, SC and we love Hilton Head too. When we lived there we would vacation in Wrightsville Beach, NC. It is near Wilmington. Very family friendly. Also Clearwater Beach, FL is very nice. The drive from here is pretty intense...we live in Carmel too. We have a 3 yr old and a 2 yr old. There aren't really any places we choose to go around here, we mostly go back home and visit. There is also Isle of Palms which is a barrier island off of charleston. Very easy to get to. The beach is nice and there are a ton of fun things to do there. Good Luck and have fun.
I know this is an old thread, but I essentially had the same questions at the beginning of the year and one of my husband's coworkers turned us onto Holden Beach, NC. It's an island...actually a glorified sand bar, but it's a huge sand bar...an hour north of Myrtle Beach. It's completely residential. two commercial propertied on the island (a general store and an ice cream cafe place)....
The beaches are clean, no seaweed piled up. All families - no drunk, naked college students. Everyone pretty much has their own private beach (though there are a few houses that don't) and the best part is that for the peak season, rentals start as low as $950/wk for eight days, seven nights! We LOVED it. Our kids (6 and 6 ms) loved it. It was the cheapest way to do an extended vacation. Only thing is it wasn't a vacation for me bc I was still vacuuming, doing laundry, making beds, and fixing all the meals everyday. I got down to the beach twice for about 5 hours total. But I'm a mom, right? Watcha gonna do?
We were about 10 minutes (off the island) from a grocery store (Food Lion - be prepared to shell primo dollars for your food...we spent about $150 for the week, though we didn't eat nearly everything) and a souvenier place, putt putt, ice cream - with a walmart and actual civilization about 25 minutes away. We drove to Myrtle Beach one day (just to play putt putt and reinforce we picked a better place and sure enough....Myrtle beach just looked like the vegas of nc. ugh) and we drove to bald head island and a battleship...We saw shrimping boats, a bald eagle, went crabbing at night, and even got to help newborn baby turtles get to the ocean!! They've got an amazing turtle conservation unit there....It was really awesome. And we stayed in one of the smallest places there - Surf Song - about 1300 sq ft three bedroom, two full bath. but why would a family of four need anything more? :) The houses come with all amenities, down to providing dish detergent, laundry detergent and softener, etc. It was AWESOME. There are rental places for umbrellas chairs, wagons, bikes, etc, but get it early!! I definitely recommend renting an umbrella (the cheap ones they sell at the store won't hold up) and a set or two of chairs (awesome!), a beach cart (to take it down there) and some bikes....The best part is, this place is so family friendly, everybody just leaves all their stuff on the beach for the week so you don't have to cart everything back and forth. IT IS GREAT!!
There is the ocean view side and the intercoastal waterway side on the other side of the island if you have a boat and want to take it with you - all the houses on that side have their own docks...and most are in the two gated communities on the either end of the island. :)
Holden Beach, NC. check out brunswicklandrealty.com or alan holden realty at http://www.holden-beach.com/ or hobbs at http://www.hobbsrealty.com/
We just returned from our first vacation to St. Joseph Michigan. With a 2 year old and a 10-month old, we didn't want to travel far, but still wanted the beach . . . this proved to be perfect for us! 3 hours away, plenty of beaches with sugar-soft sand, lake water as close to being at the ocean as you can get inland, beautiful weather (cooler mornings and evenings, still plenty of warm weather to enjoy the beaches).
What made our vacation more enjoyable was where we stayed - Chalet on the Lake in Stevensville. (just 10 minutes away from downtown st. joe) This little rustic resort community was VERY family friendly - with plenty to do for kids of all ages. It is right on the lakefront with it's own beautiful private beach for guests/owners, has several great playground areas, 2 larger pools, 1 kiddie pool, tennis courts, sand volleyball, fishing pond, etc. Each chalet unit has 2 bedrooms upstairs (1 queen bed plus a bunk bed in each room), a full kitchen - living area - dining room downstairs. Ours had a screened in back porch - others closer to the lake have decks.
If you decide to stay here, ask them which unit they would recommend - each one is individually owned and some are maintained better than others.
Let me know if I can offer more suggestions for St Joseph!
