HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC — Already renowned for its world-class golf courses and spectacular southern hospitality, The Sea Pines Resort has been honored as one of the “Top 10 Resorts for Parents and Kids” in the Fall/Winter 2008 issue of Travel & Leisure Family magazine.
The ranking comes courtesy of the responses of thousands of readers who took the magazine’s annual poll of top resorts. The Sea Pines Resort was the only resort on the Atlantic Ocean to make the Top 10, and was the most affordably priced of that elite group.
According to Travel & Leisure Family, Sea Pines offers an atmosphere where “amid a beach, dunes and a golf course, guests live it up in roomy houses and at an Inn.”
Put another way, the championship golf experience of the famed Harbour Town Golf Links is just one of the outstanding amenities at Sea Pines, even for the PGA Tour pros who make the Verizon Heritage tourney a must-play every spring the week after The Masters.
Recent Ryder Cup hero Stewart Cink has called Harbour Town and The Sea Pines Resort his favorite spot on the PGA Tour, and not just because he’s won the Verizon Heritage twice. Cink cites the beaches, bike trails and many other family-oriented activities as the reason for bringing his family to Hilton Head Island year after year.
The signature course of the threesome at Sea Pines, Harbour Town Golf Links, is “nothing short of a work of art” in the words of esteemed golf writer Dan Jenkins. The breathtaking, breakthrough design of Pete Dye, with an assist from Jack Nicklaus in his architectural debut, is one of the country’s truly unique layouts. Among its numerous “World’s Best” inclusions, Harbour Town was recently ranked one of the Ten Most Beautiful Golf Courses in the United States by a ForbesTraveler.com panel of experts that included renowned golf course architects Bill Coore, Tom Doak and John Fought.
In 2007, Dye’s design mastery came full circle with the opening of Heron Point by Pete Dye, a delightful remake of the aging Sea Marsh Course into the perfect complement to Harbour Town. Where the venerable Harbour Town — recently ranked 14th in Golf Digest’s “Top 100 Courses You Can Play,” features tight corridors through moss-draped oaks and pines to some of the smallest greens the pros play all year — Heron Point contrasts with a more links-like feel, with significant elevation changes, run-off areas and vertical planking separated by grass instead of the famed railroad tie bulkheads.
Golf is what put The Sea Pines Resort, and Hilton Head Island, on the map, but Travel & Leisure Family’s ranking of the resort was recognition of the entire menu of amenities that make The Sea Pines Resort Top 10-worthy for families.
Tennis Magazine, in its November/December issue that includes their bi-annual travel awards, named The Sea Pines Resort No. 7 among the country’s finest tennis resorts, and The Sea Pines Resort was also listed in the magazine’s “Best Instruction”
Yet, even more than all that, it is the overall and complete environment of one of the country’s first eco-planned communities that blows families away, and brings them back for more.
It’s The Sea Pines Resort’s five miles of sweeping Atlantic Ocean beaches, warmed by the Gulf Stream, which draw sun-seekers and beachcombers from around the world to sail and surf or stroll among the seagulls, or bike along 14 miles of trails that weave through the moss-draped oaks, pines, palmettos and ancient magnolias.
Explorers can paddle through marshlands teeming with shellfish, sea birds and other marine life, and enjoy horseback riding through a 605-acre Forest Preserve, discovering the unique landscape of the Lowcountry. The Sea Pines Resort guests have the opportunity to learn local crabbing techniques, understand the habitat of the endangered Loggerhead Sea Turtle and view marine life as different as the native alligators and the Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins that are prevalent just off-shore.
Besides boating and fishing excursions, activities available for families at The Sea Pines Resort include family hayrides, bird watching for more than 130 species that make their home in the plantation, campfires featuring stories from the island’s Gullah heritage, and sing-alongs under the stars (and the limbs of the century-old Liberty Oak in the yacht basin) with folk singer Gregg Russell that have been family favorites for generations.
Guests can relax and rejuvenate at Le Spa and Sanctuary, which offer a full array of spa services. There’s also a fitness center offering yoga, low-impact aerobics, exercise equipment and personal trainers to help craft individualized fitness programs. Special day-camp programs are available for children and teenagers with activities as diverse as dolphin discovery cruises, scavenger hunts, kayaking and dive-in movies at the Harbour Town pool.
After a day of discovery and rejuvenation, The Sea Pines Resort offers a wide selection of dining choices, from beach fare to world-class restaurants. Resort accommodations range from ocean-side villa retreats and beachfront cottages and homes to the Four-Diamond Inn at Harbour Town.
Travel & Leisure Family is right: The Sea Pines Resort is a picturesque playground for all ages. To learn more about family visits to The Sea Pines Resort, call 1-800-SEAPINES or visit www.seapines.com.
