Best Pool Companies on Hilton Head Island

Second homes

About 1 in 4 homes in the town (25%) is a seasonal, recreational or occasional-use home (as of 2024), so many pools sit unused for weeks while an owner is away and need a service company that checks them.

Homeowners

About 8 in 10 occupied homes are lived in by their owners (as of 2024), and the median home was built in 1987, so many island pools are decades old and due for new equipment, plaster or tile.

License

South Carolina requires a general contractor license with the Swimming Pools classification, or a residential builder license, to build, service or repair a residential pool when the job is $10,000 or more.

Permit office

The Town of Hilton Head Island requires a building permit for new construction or remodeling; call (843) 341-4600, Monday to Friday, 8 to 4:30. Plantations add their own architectural review.

Weather

July and August highs average 89°F and August brings about 7.6 inches of rain. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30.

Mosquitoes

Beaufort County Mosquito Control treats the county from Monday to Friday; call (843) 255-5800 to request service.

A custom pool is a design job and a construction job. Ask who draws it, who runs the build day to day, and which shell they recommend. Camp Pool Builders builds in fiberglass and shotcrete, Diamond Pools & Spas is an authorized San Juan Fiberglass dealer and installer, and Coastal Pools & Fountains has designed and built pools on the island since 1990. Ask too whether the builder will service the pool afterward; Diamond and Coastal both list maintenance, and a reviewer of Diamond likes that the builder keeps servicing the pool.

Most of the island sits inside a plantation, and each has its own architectural review for anything built in the yard, including Sea Pines, Palmetto Dunes, Hilton Head Plantation, Port Royal, Shipyard, Indigo Run and Long Cove. Get the approval before you sign a contract or pay a deposit.

Builders quote each pool after seeing the lot, and none of the companies here publishes a price list. Coastal Pools & Fountains says on its site that it prices a pool by its perimeter and that a curved pool costs less than a rectangular one. Size, concrete or fiberglass, a spa or spillover, a heater, a salt system and automation, the deck and how hard the lot is to reach all move the number.

Ask each company for a written, itemized quote that names what is and is not included, and compare the same pool from each. Diamond Pools & Spas has a financing page, and Blue Haven lists financing, if you want to spread the cost.

Weekly pool service usually covers skimming and brushing, emptying baskets, testing and balancing the water and checking the pump and filter. Pool Scouts of the Lowcountry sends a report after each visit, A-1 Pool Service has been in business since 1992, Clearwater has served island pools since 2004 and Year Round Pool began in 1981 as a one-truck cleaning service on Hilton Head. For pool service on Hilton Head Island, SC, ask what the weekly price covers and whether chemicals are included.

Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and August averages about 7.6 inches of rain. After a storm, expect leaves, debris and chemistry swings, and ask your service company whether cleanup is included or billed on top.

About 1 in 4 homes in the town is a seasonal or occasional-use home, and a pool that nobody swims in still needs weekly care. Clearwater lists absent owners among its customers, Pool Scouts sends a report after each visit, and Diamond Pools & Spas reviewers describe peace of mind for a vacation home. Coastal Pools & Fountains says houses with a pool have become the norm for island rentals, and it can build while the owner is away.

If a property manager rents your home, ask whether the manager or you hire the pool company, and who pays for it. Guests who want a rental with a pool can start at vacation rentals with a private pool.

Since May 2023, South Carolina requires a general contractor license with the Swimming Pools classification, or a residential builder license, to build, service or repair a residential pool when the total cost reaches $10,000. Temporary licenses expired on June 30, 2024. You can check a license on the SC Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s contractor lookup before you sign.

The Town of Hilton Head Island requires a building permit to start a new construction or remodeling project, and your builder normally pulls it. Call the Town at (843) 341-4600, Monday to Friday, 8 to 4:30, with questions. See Hilton Head Island town government for the offices.

A pool left untreated while a house sits empty can breed mosquitoes within days, and an island August brings about 7.6 inches of rain. Beaufort County Mosquito Control, which has worked the county since 1974, takes service requests at (843) 255-5800 and treats from Monday to Friday. For a yard-level plan, see pest control on Hilton Head.

None of the island companies above names Daufuskie Island on its own website, so pool service on Daufuskie is a question to ask, not a service listed. Summit Services, a Bluffton company with a pool division, lists Daufuskie among its service areas; see pool companies in Bluffton. The ferry leaves from the C.C. Haigh Jr. Boat Landing at the north end of Hilton Head, about 5 miles in a straight line from A-1 Pool Service, Camp Pool Builders and Clearwater, and crosses to Melrose Landing about 8 miles away.

The passenger boats carry no vehicles, and anything beyond a carry-on and a personal item is cargo, priced from $25, that may go on the luggage barge, which crosses once a day. A service tech with chemicals and equipment will need a plan for that, and there are no rental cars on the island. Ask who arranges and pays for the crossing and whether the weekly price includes it. The Daufuskie Island ferry guide has the times, and Daufuskie Island covers the island itself.

If you want somewhere to swim rather than a pool of your own, see the Island Recreation Center, the Sea Pines pools, and the resort and hotel pools at hotels with pools on Hilton Head.

A new pool or a remodel: Coastal Pools & Fountains, Diamond Pools & Spas or Camp Pool Builders on the island, or Blue Haven and Aqua Blue from Bluffton. Weekly cleaning: Pool Scouts, A-1, Clearwater or Diamond. A dead pump or heater: A-1 or Clearwater. All the trades are on Hilton Head home services; for the mainland, see Bluffton pool companies, and for the next towns up the road, Hardeeville and Ridgeland.