Sell me on visiting Hilton Head DVC

[tinkerfan1]

I grew up in South Florida and have never visited another beach other than a Florida beach. Please sell me on visiting the Hilton Head DVC. I have never been to the Vero Beach DVC or the Hilton Head DVC. I think the Vero Beach resort looks like one I would like to visit but I live closer to the Hilton Head one. If I am not going to be able to go to Disney World yet and am wanting to throw in another quick little vacation (if possible), I'm thinking of Hilton Head. Keep in mind, none of us are golfers. Is this something that would interest us? Why? In the Spring?

 

[Simba's Mom]

I grew up in South Florida and have never visited another beach other than a Florida beach. Please sell me on visiting the Hilton Head DVC. I have never been to the Vero Beach DVC or the Hilton Head DVC. I think the Vero Beach resort looks like one I would like to visit but I live closer to the Hilton Head one. If I am not going to be able to go to Disney World yet and am wanting to throw in another quick little vacation (if possible), I'm thinking of Hilton Head. Keep in mind, none of us are golfers. Is this something that would interest us? Why? In the Spring?

We're not "beach" people, so I can't address that, but we love HHI resort. If you want to relax, connect with your family, bike, have lots of family activities offered (of which you can do lots or none), and love nature, I highly recommend it. We go in November, which is probably too cool for the beach. Later Spring or early fall are better (warmer), if you like to swim.

 

[DiznNut]

We absoutley love HHI to the point we are looking into purchasing a condo there.As you can tell we love the area just as much as we do the Disney Resort. Disney's resort is great with lots of activities for the children through teens.. We have a DD12 and DS17, which other than a Disney cruise, HHI is their favorite vacation destination. Keep in mind, Disney's resort is aprx 1.5 miles from the ocean, however, there is a nice, large beach house with a pool, arcade, quick counter food service, bar(during summer), bathroom/shower. We love the laid back feeling you get there. I love to just relax in one of the hammocks with a good book. We love to ride bikes to the beach. We also like to go crabbing. There are so many activies there that just bring us together as a family. The island has many wonderful restaurants that we enjoy. HHI is the only place for us.

 

[jtink60]

We are booked for June 6-13. My boys would like to go crabbing. Tell me about this. Is it really possible to catch your own? They would love this. Thanks

Jane

 

[jtink60]

We are booked for June 6-13. My boys would like to go crabbing. Tell me about this. Is it really possible to catch your own? They would love this. Thanks

Jane

 

[dblr]

They have a long pier with a covered area at the end that is fairly large that my boys spent most of the day on fishing and crabbing, it was nice as it is near the pool so we could relax at the pool while they were there.

 

[jtink60]

what do you do to catch crabs?

 

[DiznNut]

You can purchase a crab net at the Mercantile at the resort. You will need chicken necks for bait and then the wait begins. Keep the net in the water for about 4-5 minutes at a time so the crab can attach to the net. Bring the net up slowly so the crab won't fall out. Yes you can catch them off of the boardwalk at the resort. Also, we like to go out on the "Crabber J" sport crabbing for fun. They supply all of the equipment, but you don't get what you catch. It is catch and release. Whomever catches the most crabs wins a t-shirt. My son also likes to rent a fishing pole at resort and you can buy shrimp there for bait also.

 

[jtink60]

Thanks, We're really looking forward to HH.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We are booked for June 6-13. My boys would like to go crabbing. Tell me about this. Is it really possible to catch your own? They would love this. Thanks

Jane

If I remember, that's a great time of year for crabbing. At Thanksgiving, I asked at the recreation counter about crabbing nets and when was the best time to go crabbing. "Not now!" If I remember, they recommended June.

 

[genmasjoy]

I am a Floridian and love HH because it is such a change of scene. It's not like going to the beach in Florida - the trees and vegetation are all different. It has a laid back, very relaxing atmosphere. We have been twice and really enjoyed it. On the other hand, we went to Vero Beach once and although it was nice, it wasn't any different from home so we won't go back there.

 

[fishermouse]

what do you do to catch crabs?

also bring some string and tie a peice of chic to it, you need apole net, when the crab starts on the chic pull it up slow he'll hang on as long as you go slow then try to scoop it with the net when it's near the surface.. you may not catch as much as in the basket but loads of fun.. Grew up in jersey we could not affrd cages and use fish heads gathered from the trash behind the fish market...you can get really good with practice.

 

[KiminChicago]

We bought our DVC points on a trip to WDW in 2007. In 2008, DH and I decided that we would drive down to Charlotte to visit our investment properties and then head to HHI. Our kids (DS was 11 and DD was 9) were absolutely aghast that we would spend our first DVC points on a non-WDW vacation (I can still hear them saying "we just bought points and we're not going to WDW!").

The funny part of all this is that they absolutely loved HHI. As we were checking out to come back home, they wanted to know when we'd be able to go back again. The great thing about the HHI DVC resort is that they have lots of activities, some of which are free. The kids did go crabbing and we all went on a dolphin watching tour. Since we were there on Labor Day weekend, there was an all you can eat barbeque with games. There were campfires (with s'mores!) and B'Lou Crabbe, who is a wonderful story-teller. He spent some extra time with my DS talking about magic (he had a magic show where he taught everyone a magic trick and DS spent an hour in our villa perfecting the trick and he had to show it off). My DD learned one of the dances from High School Musical (along with several other girls who were there). The girls were supposed to show off their dance moves at the BBQ, but DD was the only one who was still at the resort on Labor Day, so the CM actually had DD introduced as a guest cast member and she got to dance along with all of the lifeguards and cm's around the pool.

None of us golf either, and that was one of our favorite non-Disney vacations.

 

[JCLNJ]

We love HH. Went for the first time 3 years ago over Easter and have been back every year since. This year we are thinking of going over going over NYE. We are going to SS this spring break. My kids are 15 and 17, they enjoy riding bikes all over and kayaking. Our family enjoys all of the nature walks and information sessions. We even made the cornbread on open fire one morning when it was cold outside.

 

[Conan the Librarian]

Savannah, Beaufort, Charleston.

Do you want more?

HHI is rather quiet once you get on the island. Plenty to do, especially for golfers, boaters, fisherfolk, ocean bathers, foodies, shoppers and general tourist.

The nice thing about Disney HHI is that once you cross the little bridge, its hard to tell you are anywhere near civilization, unless you go looking for it. If you want to relax, this is the place for it.

 

[Dean]

We love HH. That and WDW are our 2 usual vacation spots. We like VB and the resort there as well but much prefer HH. However, I am not that thrilled with the location of the DVC resort. We much prefer the 4 Marriott's that are Beachfront with Grande Ocean being our favorite and Monarch being the least so even though it's in the best location.

 

[tinkerfan1]

Glad to see the responses. Sounds like something I need to at least try. I've wanted to go to Edisto or Pawley's Island for a long time, so maybe I just need to try this first. Thanks, everybody.

 

[supersuperwendy]

How far of a drive is it from Philly or DC? We could stop at my parents in DC possibly on the way down or just leave from home!

 

[MinnieGi]

How far of a drive is it from Philly or DC? We could stop at my parents in DC possibly on the way down or just leave from home!

We live in northern DE and it takes about 12 hours for us to get to HHI. We usually drive straight through and then spend the night at the Hampton Inn on the island before checking in early the next morning to Disney's resort.

To the OP we love HHI! It is so relaxing and loads of fun for the whole family.

 

[hsmamato2]

I may be the odd one out but.....We come from CT,and great beaches are a short drive for us in the summer,so living in FL ,you might feel the same. We tent camp in the summer at various beaches,and visiting HHI felt,well,like more of the same. Nice,but we're used to spending very little $$$ for pretty much a similiar experience.
We have visited Vero,and Liked that a bit better,as the beach was more accessible,And Vero felt 'different' for our family than at home-but HHI is kind of a 'camping' feel to it,and for us,the thrill just wasn't there.
For people who live near beaches,and have activities like crabbing,biking and campfires anyway all the time,not so exciting. But if that's what you're looking for,you should like it!