Hilton Head

Beaches are why most people come. The Atlantic side of the island is one long, gently curving strand of wide, hard-packed sand, about 12 miles of it, and at low tide it is broad enough to cycle on. Coligny is the busy public beach with facilities near the shops, Driessen and Folly Field are quieter and suit families, and the stretch in front of Sea Pines feels almost private. The surf is usually mild and the slope gentle, so small children can paddle safely.

The sea is warm enough to swim from about May to October and reaches around 28°C in high summer. It is not clear blue water, though. Tides and the marshes make it greenish and sandy, and jellyfish turn up some summers. Winter beaches are good for walking, not for swimming.

Eating here is Lowcountry seafood by the water. Local shrimp, she-crab soup, fried oysters, shrimp and grits and the boiled crab, shrimp, corn and sausage of a Lowcountry boil are on most menus, best eaten on decks over the marsh or the harbours at dusk. Oyster roasts are a cooler-weather ritual, and the May River around Bluffton, just off the island, has long been known for its oysters.

Beyond that the island is a resort, with plenty of steak and seafood houses, family grills and brunch spots that are pleasant rather than memorable. Old Town Bluffton has a smaller and more local set of kitchens. What the area lacks is depth: there is little street food, no real market culture and only a handful of ambitious restaurants, so a stay here eats well and simply rather than adventurously.

The island's history is quieter than its golf courses. Its most meaningful sites tell the story of the Gullah people, descendants of enslaved West Africans whose communities still hold land on the island. Mitchelville Freedom Park marks one of the first self-governing towns of freed people, founded during the Civil War, and a small Gullah museum and old family neighbourhoods carry the story on. The Coastal Discovery Museum covers natural and human history, and the ruins of the Stoney-Baynard plantation, the Zion Chapel of Ease cemetery and a Civil War earthwork fort add short stops.

The red-and-white striped lighthouse at Harbour Town is the island's symbol, though it is modern. Anyone wanting historic architecture goes to Savannah or Beaufort.

Evenings on the island are mostly about a sunset drink by the water and an early night. The few places to go out cluster around Coligny near the beach and around the marinas, where waterfront bars with a cover band and a deck fill up on summer nights. A couple of bars stay open late and draw younger staff and visitors, but there is no club scene and the crowd is mostly families, golfers and couples. Outside the summer months even these quieten, and by midnight most of the island is asleep.

This is flat Lowcountry, and its appeal is in water and wildlife rather than views. Tidal creeks and spartina marsh wind through the island's western side, live oaks hung with Spanish moss shade the roads, and bottlenose dolphins feed close to shore in Calibogue Sound and Broad Creek. Kayaking and paddleboarding through the marshes, dolphin cruises, inshore fishing and sailing are the main outings. Pinckney Island wildlife refuge, just across the bridge, and the Sea Pines forest preserve are good for herons, egrets, alligators and easy trails.

A network of paved paths running well over 60 miles makes cycling the way to see the island, and golf is the other big outdoor draw. There are no hills, and high summer is hot and humid.

The best day out is Savannah, about 45 minutes away, with its grid of oak-shaded squares, antebellum houses, riverfront and historic district, easily a full day. Closer to home, Old Town Bluffton has artists' cottages and a church above the May River, and Beaufort, under an hour north, is a handsome old port town of antebellum mansions with the Gullah communities of St Helena Island nearby.

A short ferry ride reaches Daufuskie Island, which has no bridge, dirt roads, Gullah history and a slow, cut-off feel. Charleston is about two hours away, a long day but a rewarding one.

The island was largely laid out for family beach trips, and it shows. The beaches are wide with gentle surf, the bike paths let children ride safely away from traffic, and the rental houses and villas suit groups who want a kitchen and space. Harbour Town has a playground beside the lighthouse and summer evenings of children's entertainment, and dolphin cruises, crabbing off docks, mini golf, the Coastal Discovery Museum's butterfly house and resort pools fill the days.

It is safe, easy and unhurried. What it lacks is a big attraction such as a zoo, aquarium or theme park, so the trip is built on sand, bikes and water. Summer heat and afternoon thunderstorms need some planning.

Most visitors drive, usually from Savannah's airport about 45 minutes away, and a car is the practical way to cover the island and the day trips. One main road carries almost everything, and it slows badly on summer weekends and changeover days. Several areas, Sea Pines included, are gated private communities with entry controls.

Once settled, many people barely use the car. The bike paths link the beaches, shops and villas, bike rental is everywhere, and riding along the hard sand at low tide is a pleasure. A seasonal trolley serves some areas, but public transport is limited.

Shopping is a pleasant sideline. Open-air shopping villages around Coligny, Shelter Cove and Harbour Town have resort-wear boutiques, galleries, golf and beach shops and souvenirs, and the outlet malls just over the bridge in Bluffton draw people on rainy days. Local art galleries and sweetgrass baskets, a Gullah craft, are the most distinctive things to take home. Nobody chooses the island for its shops.

This is an upmarket American resort island, and the summer season is costly. Beachfront houses and resort rooms are priced for peak demand, eating out runs at resort levels with tipping on top, and extras such as golf, bike hire and boat trips add up. Families save by sharing a rental house and cooking, and by staying off the island in Bluffton or further inland. Spring and autumn are noticeably cheaper than June to August.

For a resort island there is a respectable small arts calendar. The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina stages professional theatre and Broadway-style musicals through much of the year, the island's own symphony orchestra plays a winter season, and a regular jazz festival and a Gullah celebration with music, storytelling and dance fill out the year. Summer brings free outdoor concerts and singers at Harbour Town and Shelter Cove. Savannah adds more, but this is not a destination for the arts.

The island's pace is its wellness offer. Days run on beach walks, bike rides under live oaks and evenings by the marsh, with little noise and no rush, and the off-season months are especially calm. The large resorts have full spas, and good day spas and yoga studios are scattered around the island, with a grand riverside resort spa near Bluffton. There is no thermal or bathing tradition, so this suits someone who wants to slow down rather than take the waters.