Hilton Head or Vero Beach

mjvans

Never Forget!
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
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Ok, I am originally from California and have spent the majority of my growing up years hanging out at the beaches in the Summer. Just kind of laying out, soaking up the sun and taking in all the air, breeze and love of the water. I have decided to take a break from disney and split our trip next year to include a stay at either hilton head or vero beach. I look forward to taking the kids down to the beach and play in the sand, lay out on beach towels, play in the water , collect shells and make sandcastles. I am looking for beautiful blue warm water and nice white sand. Am I dreaming?? If you had to decide between hilton head or vero beach, just for the beach atmosphere , what would you choose and why??????
Thanks
Michelle
 
I am not much of a beach person, but Hilton Head seemed to have more people actually on the beach (compared to Vero). Just understand that the beach at HH is a good mile from the resort, whereas the beach at Vero is, in some cases, closer than 100 yards from the rooms.

Good luck.

Dave
 
Hi, mjvans. If you want truly "blue water and white sand", I would head for the Bahamas. As much as I love Vero, the water is not that bright blue color, and the sand is not pure white.
I think shells and sandcastles are doable though!

Good luck!... :cool:
 
I'm a beach person and have been to both Vero and HH as well as many Caribbean Islands, Bermuda and Bahamas.

In terms of beach atmosphere, Vero has more. Not only is the Resort built right on the beachfront but the theming and many activities are beach oriented also. The beach itself is a narrow, long, clean strip of sand. The surf can get a little rough at times but the water is refreshing. You can body surf and rent jetskis for fun here. You'll find many basic shells and vegetation.

At HH, you will have a good hike to get to the beach. The Resort has it's own beach house there with a snack stand, bathrooms, pool, arcade and parking. The beach there is very similar to Vero, with calmer and slightly warmer water. There are all private Resorts along the beach so it's not overly crowded.

Yes, parts of the Caribbean and Bahamas offer much better beaches in terms of beauty and watersports. They are also tops on my list. If you are looking for a Disney Resort however, I'd choose Vero.
 

Hilton Head is very wide white sand beachand hard packed enough to ride bicyles on. There is a beautiful beach house with pool and a parking lot. It is about a 5 minute drive to the beach from the resort which is on a marina. The DVC resort also operates a shuttle back and forth to the beach. We have taken bicycles to the beach house. It is about a ten minute easy ride. The beach and ocean conditions are better for small children at Hilton Head. I love Vero as well but the water depth drops off more quickly and the waves and curents are stronger. However Vero has a wonderful pool area and its proximity to the beach is definitely a plus. Bermuda and the Caribbean definitely have more picturesque beaches but DVC is hard to beat for the overall experience. Hope these points give yoou a better picture of the beaches at the resorts.
 
Neither Hilton Head nor Vero will have "blue water."
You probably want to ravel in the summer months if you want warm ocean conditions - especially at Hilton Head which is much farther north than Vero.
 
I thought the water at VB was blue - maybe too dark when you're in it to notice - but from the OV rooms it has multiple shades of blue and green. I live in SOuth Carolina, and I went to the beach right after going to VB and I thought - Ugh - this water is totally brown. So I'd say - while the water is not the carribean - of the 2 - vb is the nicer shade!
 
We've been to both HHI and VB and really enjoyed both resorts. I'm not a great fan of the beach; I'm more of a pool person - so the fact that HH isn't directly on the beach didn't bother me. But I would think if your plan was to be a beach bum -VB would be a better choice. When at HH, we may make one or two trips to the beach, but I can't imagine hauling all the beach stuff everyday to the beach house there. It is just more convenient to the actual beach at VB. Like I said, I don't think you could go wrong at either place - we love them both, but if you're planning on spending most of your time at the beach - go for Vero!
 
Due to it's Beach Front Location I'd go with VB in your scenario. While HH is a nice resort, it's not a good one for a lot of beach activities due to it's location on the island. You might also want to consider an exchange to one of a number of places if you can dedicate an entire week. Good luck.
 
They've each got their pros and cons, but all things being equal I'd take HH over VB in your scenario.

The beach at HH is my idea of a dream beach. It's very wide (very, very wide), with powdery sand. There's two tides a day, most days. At low tide you can ride bikes on the beach. At high tide you can go out in the water seemingly forever. There's a firm bottom with no sudden dropoff, and the water is generally calm. Even our neurotic daughter felt comfortable letting the grandkids play in the water. It's a 5 minute drive to the beach, which is too bad, but we left the car packed with our beach stuff, and it didn't seem like a hardship at all. There were also lots of beachy things to do. We went parasailing, on a dolphin cruise, kayaking, fishing, etc.

VB, OTOH, has a very narrow beach. At high tide it can even disappear. The sand is crunchy, and the waves are much higher. We hardly saw anyone in the water, where at HH there were lots of people playing in the water. The activities are more limited there, because there's less demand for them. But the beach is just steps away, which is nice. And it has a longer season than HH, which allows means it's easier to get into. Depending on when you plan to go, this may clinch it for VB. And it's much closer to WDW.
 















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