Sharks Off Hilton Head: Season, Past Bites and Safety
Sharks swim off Hilton Head all summer. Bites are rare, and the recent ones were leg and foot bites, none life-threatening.
- Season: April through September, busiest in the warmest months
- Most common: blacktip, spinner, Atlantic sharpnose and bonnethead sharks
- Recent bites: Sea Pines and Coligny, in summer, in shallow water
- Warning flag: purple, on the lifeguard stands
Hilton Head shares its ocean with sharks, as every beach on this coast does. Most are small coastal species that follow the bait fish into the surf in the warm months, and they have no interest in people. Bites do happen here, a few in a busy summer, and they are almost always a shark mistaking a foot or leg for food in murky, shallow water. Below: which sharks you are sharing the water with, when they are around, the bites that have been reported, and what lowers the odds.
Which Sharks Swim Off Hilton Head
Blacktips are the shark you are most likely to see, often jumping and spinning near schools of bait fish just beyond the breakers. Spinner sharks, Atlantic sharpnose sharks and bonnetheads, a small cousin of the hammerhead, are common too, and most of these run three to five feet. Farther out and in the sounds, anglers also hook hammerheads and tiger sharks.
When Is Shark Season on Hilton Head?
Coastal sharks move in as the water warms in spring, from about April, and stay in good numbers through September. The busiest stretch is the heart of summer, which is also when the beaches are most crowded, so that is when nearly all the bites happen.
Shark Bites on Hilton Head: The Record
These are the bites on Hilton Head that were reported in the news. It isn’t a complete count; the International Shark Attack File keeps the official one. For scale, the whole United States saw 28 unprovoked bites in 2024, two of them in South Carolina.
June 22, 2025, Coligny Beach Park: a swimmer came out with cuts to the leg consistent with a shark bite. Fire Rescue treated them and took them to a hospital; the injury was not life-threatening. It was the second bite on the island that week.
June 17, 2025, Sea Pines: a 12-year-old girl was bitten on the leg. Lifeguards and Fire Rescue treated her on the beach before she was flown to Savannah; her injuries were not life-threatening.
July 22, 2024, Sea Pines: a woman was bitten near beach marker 26. She came out of the water with the bleeding under control and didn’t need a hospital, and that stretch of water closed for about half an hour.
July 2023, Sea Pines: a 60-year-old man was bitten on the foot while standing in waist-deep water and was taken to Hilton Head Hospital.
August 10, 2017, near the Sea Pines Beach Club: a 13-year-old boy was bitten on the foot while pushing his sister on a boogie board. Shark researchers confirmed the bite, which was reported as the island’s fourth that summer.
June 18, 2017: a 14-year-old from Ohio was cut on the thigh and calf by a shark while boogie boarding.
The pattern is consistent: summer, shallow water, and a single bite to a leg or foot rather than an attack. Each Sea Pines shark bite on the list came on a crowded summer day, like the one at Coligny. Recent ones have come from Sea Pines’ beaches and Coligny Beach Park, the busiest stretches of sand on the island.
How to Lower the Odds
Swim near a lifeguard stand. Shore Beach Service guards watch for sharks and big schools of bait fish and clear the water when either comes close to swimmers.
Watch the flags. A purple flag means dangerous marine life, which can be sharks, jellyfish or stingrays.
Stay out at dawn and dusk, when sharks feed closest to shore.
Keep away from people fishing and from water full of jumping bait fish or diving birds.
Skip murky water and leave shiny jewelry on the towel.
Stay out of the ocean with an open cut.
Shark fishing from the beach isn’t allowed on Hilton Head, which keeps bait out of the swim zones. The other things in the water are covered on our jellyfish and stingrays page.
Seeing Sharks on Purpose
If you would rather meet a shark from a boat, local captains run catch-and-release trips in the sounds and just offshore; see shark tours on Hilton Head and fishing on Hilton Head.
More Beach Wildlife
Hilton Head jellyfish: when sea nettles and cannonball jellies show up, which ones sting, what to put on a sting, and how to avoid stepping on a stingray.
The sperm whale that beached on Hilton Head in May 2025, earlier strandings on the island, and who to call if you find a whale or dolphin on the sand.
Coligny Beach Park: parking, ADA access, restrooms, and shuttle info for Hilton Head’s most popular beach, steps from Coligny Plaza shopping.
Every named beach on Hilton Head Island — Coligny, Driessen, Folly Field, Burke's, and more — with parking, amenities, and which one is right for your trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there sharks at Hilton Head?
Yes. Blacktip, spinner, Atlantic sharpnose and bonnethead sharks are common in the surf from spring through early fall, and bigger species live farther out. Most are small, and bites are rare.
When is shark season in Hilton Head?
From about April through September, with the most sharks near shore in the heart of summer.
Have there been shark attacks on Hilton Head?
A few, all bites rather than attacks and none reported as life-threatening in recent years. The most recent reported were two in June 2025, one off Sea Pines and one at Coligny Beach Park, after bites in Sea Pines in July 2024 and July 2023.
Where do shark bites happen on Hilton Head?
Recent ones have been in Sea Pines and at Coligny Beach Park, in shallow water on busy summer days, which is where and when the most people are swimming.
Is it safe to swim at Hilton Head?
Yes. The odds of a shark bite are very low. Swim near a lifeguard stand, watch for purple flags, and stay out at dawn and dusk and away from people fishing.
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