Sea Pines Gate Pass Office and Gate Fees

• Where: Sea Pines Resort Welcome Center, 32 Greenwood Drive
• Phone: 843-671-7277
• Day pass: $10 per car (as of March 1, 2026)
• Run by: Sea Pines CSA, not the resort

The Sea Pines guest pass office is a drive-through window at the back of the Sea Pines Welcome Center on Greenwood Drive. Its official name is the Sea Pines CSA Gate Pass Office. The CSA (Community Services Associates) is the association that runs the two gates into Sea Pines, and this window is where you collect a pass that a property owner or the resort has already set aside for you.

Most day visitors never need it. If nobody has reserved a pass for you, you buy one at the gate. This page covers both: who picks up at the window, what every pass costs, and how the gate fee got to where it is. For the rest of the community, see Sea Pines.

Sea Pines Guest Pass Office Hours

From September 13, 2026, the window keeps seasonal hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The hours change with the season, so call 843-671-7277 if you are cutting it close.

Arriving after the window closes is not a problem if an owner called your pass in. Drive to the gate and tell the attendant your name. They will have it on their list and let you through, and you stop by the window the next day for the pass itself.

Which Sea Pines Pass Do You Need?

• Guest of a property owner. The owner reserves your pass by calling the office with their private passcode, or through CSA360, the CSA’s online request system. It carries your name, their name and address, and your dates, up to 30 days. Pick it up at the window. Owners cannot reserve these for contractors, landscapers, painters or other service workers.

• Resort guest. Booked a home or villa through The Sea Pines Resort? The front desk in the same building checks you in and gives you two passes. Inn & Club at Harbour Town guests get theirs in the mail, or at the front desk if they did not arrive.

• Renting through a rental company. Companies and owners who rent short term buy passes from the CSA in advance, each tied to a rental control number, and the CSA mails them to the company to pass on to you. If your booking came together less than 48 hours before arrival, buy a $20 weekly rental pass at either gate.

• Day or week visitor. No reservation needed. Buy a pass at the Greenwood Gate or the Ocean Gate, both open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Sea Pines Gate Fee: Daily and Weekly Passes

These are the CSA’s posted gate fees per vehicle as of March 1, 2026. A day pass is good for the date on it, through either gate.

• Day visitor, car or other 2-axle vehicle: $10

• Week visitor, 2-axle vehicle: $30

• Weekly short-term rental pass, 2-axle vehicle: $20

• Commercial, 2-axle vehicle: $15 a day or $60 a week

• Commercial, 3 axles including a trailer: $35 a day or $140 a week

• Commercial, more than 3 axles including a trailer: $40 a day or $160 a week

• Buses and tour vehicles: $30 a day

The main gate is on Greenwood Drive; stay in the right-hand lane to buy a pass there. The Ocean Gate is on North Sea Pines Drive, off Cordillo Parkway. Day visitors who are not staying inside Sea Pines cannot enter on a bicycle, so bring bikes in on the car. One way to get the fee back: the resort reimburses your gate pass when you spend more than $30 at one of its own restaurants.

Annual Decals for Locals and Long-Term Renters

If you come in often, a yearly windshield decal costs less than a stack of day passes. Hilton Head Island residential property owners (not mainland residents past the Byrnes bridge) can get a Preferred Island Resident decal for $75 a year. Residents of Beaufort and Jasper counties and Chatham County, Georgia, can get a Non-Resident decal for $125. Both drop to about half price after July 1 and expire at the end of the calendar year. Sea Pines long-term renters, on a lease of six months or more, pay $25 per vehicle, up to four vehicles, with a copy of the lease and registration.

The Sea Pines Gate Fee Increase

The daily visitor fee went from $9 to $10 on March 1, 2026. It has been climbing for years, and it adds up: local reporting put 2023’s gate fee revenue at $4.3 million, about a fifth of the CSA’s annual revenue. The fee is the CSA’s, not the resort’s: the resort does not run the gates or set the price.

The Sea Pines Gate Fee Lawsuit

The lawsuit people search for is about records, not the price. In March 2020, a Sea Pines resident sued the CSA after it refused to let her see the agreement that governs the visitor gate fee and how it is spent. A Beaufort County circuit judge ruled for her in September 2020, and the South Carolina Court of Appeals agreed in February 2024. In August 2024, the CSA asked the state Supreme Court to review the case. We have not been able to confirm how that ended, so check current reporting before you repeat any outcome.

Questions About a Pass or Decal

For a guest pass, call the Gate Pass Office at 843-671-7277. For decals and everything else gate-related, the CSA’s Community Connections Center is at 843-671-1343 or connect@csaseapines.com, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. If you are heading to the marina village at the south end, South Beach has directions from the gate, and the Sea Pines things to do guide covers the rest.