Shelter Cove, Hilton Head Island, SC
Shelter Cove Harbour from the air
The island’s mid-point, on Broad Creek: a deep-water marina with a charter fleet, an open-air shopping centre across the street, about twenty restaurants between them, a waterfront park — and no gate to get through.
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Dolphin cruises, fishing and crabbing, sails and yachts, kayaks and paddleboards from the Shelter Cove Harbour docks, with live availability.
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Booked through FareHarbor, the island operators’ own booking system. HHI.com may earn a commission.
Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina
Outside Hilton Head at Shelter Cove Harbour: kayak and paddleboard rentals, guided kayak tours, dolphin tours, fishing and pontoon rentals, how to book.
Dolphin Seafari at Shelter Cove Harbour: a family-run 90-minute dolphin cruise on Broad Creek from $40, plus donut mornings, sunset and fireworks trips.
Native Son Adventures at Shelter Cove Marina: private tiki-boat dolphin tours, fishing charters and custom days on the water for up to six people.
Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina: HarbourFest, Tuesday fireworks over the water, free family shows, dolphin tours, fishing charters, kayaks and boat rentals.
The Shelter Cove Harbour shops & restaurants directory: every restaurant, shop and service around the marina basin, with parking and satnav tips.
The King Neptune statue at Shelter Cove Harbour: a 12-foot bronze Neptune whose trident is a working sundial, dedicated in 1983. Free, open any time.
Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina, at 1 Shelter Cove Lane, is the island’s deep-water marina: 178 slips taking boats up to 145 feet, a boardwalk of shops and restaurants around the basin, and the charter fleet that most visitors come for. From these docks leave the Captain Hook party fishing boat; private fishing charters with Hilton Head Sport Fishing, Bay Runner and Palmetto Lagoon Charters; dolphin cruises on Captain Mark’s Holiday; Bluewater Adventure’s drive-it-yourself catamarans; private sails with Salt Marsh Sailing and the Salt Shaker yacht; crabbing on the Captain Kidd; and kayaks, paddleboards and pontoon rentals. The marina store keeps long hours in season, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Our island guides to boating, water sports and fishing cover what to book and when.
The King Neptune statue on the boardwalk is the landmark everyone meets at, and the shaded gazebo beside it is where Shannon Tanner’s summer family shows happen. Waterfront tables ring the basin: Bistro 17 and Ela’s on the Water look straight down the creek. A note on driving here: satellite navigation does better with 13 Harbourside Lane than with the marina’s own postal address.
The shops under the harbour arcades are small and mostly independent (our Shelter Cove Harbour shops page lists them all). Nash Gallery has sold North American fine craft here since 1989; Neptune’s Niche, Treasure Island and Tradewinds Trinkets & Treasures carry beachwear and souvenirs; and A Coastal Christmas sells ornaments all year. Beside them are Salon Shelter Cove, Luxury Nails, the salt room and saunas at Pure Salt Studios, and Memory Lane Portraits, which shoots family beach photos.
Shelter Cove Towne Centre
Shelter Cove Towne Centre on Hilton Head: Belk, Kroger, lululemon and island boutiques, a dozen places to eat, a Saturday market and free parking.
Belk Hilton Head at Shelter Cove Towne Centre: clothing, shoes, beauty and home across two buildings, with store hours, pickup and free parking.
Kroger Hilton Head at Shelter Cove: open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a pharmacy, a Starbucks inside, a deli and seafood counter, and a fuel centre.
The lululemon Hilton Head store at Shelter Cove Towne Centre: yoga, running and training wear, with the address, phone number and free parking.
Spartina Hilton Head: the Spartina 449 store at Shelter Cove Towne Centre, with the brand's linen and leather handbags, jewelry and accessories.
Birdie James Hilton Head, the boutique's flagship at Shelter Cove Towne Centre: women's clothing, jewelry and accessories, with store hours.
Talbots Hilton Head at Shelter Cove Towne Centre: classic women's clothing in misses, petite and plus sizes, with style appointments and pickup.
Heritage Fine Jewelry at Shelter Cove Towne Centre: a family jeweller on Hilton Head since 1990, with diamonds, custom design and on-site repairs.
Pure Barre Hilton Head, the barre studio at Shelter Cove Towne Centre: low-impact, full-body classes, and visitors are welcome to book a class.
WaterWalk at Shelter Cove: one- to three-bedroom rental apartments on Broad Creek beside Shelter Cove Towne Centre, with leases of 12 to 36 months.
Shelter Cove Towne Centre is the open-air centre on the inland side of Shelter Cove Lane, at number 40. Belk and Kroger anchor it — the grocery store, its pharmacy and the fuel pumps are the practical reason most people on holiday end up here — and around them sit clothing shops, a jeweller, a bakery, salons, a barbershop, fitness studios and medical offices, with a lagoon and a park in the middle of it all. Our Hilton Head shopping guide covers the outlets and the island’s other centres. The island has no traditional downtown, and the Towne Centre is one of the two places that get called one; our downtown Hilton Head page compares it with Coligny.
The smaller shops fill the rows between the anchors. For women’s clothing there are Coastal Bliss, Copper Penny, fab’rik, J.Jill and White Lotus Boutique; for gifts, Weston South (with its patch bar), ArtWare, Coastal Provisions Co. beside Poseidon, and Nourish for handmade soap. Palmetto Running Company fits running shoes, Player’s World of Sports is the tennis and pickleball shop, and Woody’s Sunglass Shop and GNC round it out.
For services there are True Loves Nail and Spa on the front row, LUX, a medical spa, and Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming for the dog. In the office buildings at 19 Shelter Cove Lane, just beside the centre, are The Proper Barbershop and the massage rooms of A’s Spa.
It is also where much of the district’s evening life happens, with music and films in the park through the warm months, and the restaurants around the edge serving before and after: Chophouse 119, Jane Bistro & Bar and Tio’s Latin American Kitchen among them. WaterWalk, the apartment community above the centre, is a place to live rather than to visit; our Hilton Head real estate guide is the better starting point for that.
The Plaza at Shelter Cove
The Plaza at Shelter Cove on Hilton Head: T.J. Maxx, Outside's outdoor store, a wine shop, a nail salon, Giuseppi's pizza and Hilton Head Tavern.
Tiffany Nails Spa at The Plaza at Shelter Cove, Hilton Head: manicures, pedicures, dip, acrylics and waxing, a kids' menu, open seven days.
The Plaza at Shelter Cove, at 50 Shelter Cove Lane, is the district’s third and smallest part: one row of shops a short walk from the Towne Centre, with its own directory. T.J. Maxx is the anchor, and around it are Outside Hilton Head’s outdoor clothing and gear store, a wine and spirits shop, Tiffany Nails Spa, a fitness studio and an optician. Two restaurants belong to it, Giuseppi’s and Hilton Head Tavern. Its Whole Foods Market has closed, so Kroger at the Towne Centre is the district’s supermarket.
Where to Eat at Shelter Cove
Shelter Cove restaurants on Hilton Head: waterfront seafood at the harbour, steaks, tacos and pizza at the Towne Centre, plus bakeries and ice cream.
Poseidon Hilton Head at Shelter Cove: raw bar, sushi, fresh catch and steaks, Sunday brunch, a dog menu and the Rooftop Bar upstairs. Menu, hours, booking.
ELA's on the Water, Hilton Head: waterfront seafood and steaks on Shelter Cove Harbour, plus Sunday brunch. OpenTable reservations, hours, menu, phone.
Bistro 17, HHI: French bistro dining on the Shelter Cove marina, with duck confit, sea scallops and sunset views. Reserve online; menu, phone.
San Miguel's Mexican at Shelter Cove Harbour: fajitas, margaritas and live music on a deck over the marina since 1977. Walk-ins only; menu, hours.
Scott's Fish Market, HHI: seafood and steaks at Shelter Cove Harbour on one of the island's biggest waterfront decks since 1988. Walk-ins only; menu.
Top Dawg Tavern & Pizzeria at Shelter Cove Harbour: burgers, wings and pizza on pet-friendly patios over the marina, with football on the TVs. Menu, phone.
Hilton Head Social Bakery's original shop at Shelter Cove Harbour: French croissants, tarts and cakes with coffee by the marina. Hours, menu, parking.
Frosty's Ice Cream at Shelter Cove Harbour on Hilton Head: scooped ice cream, Italian ice, Hershey's soft serve and sundaes by the marina. Location, phone.
Giuseppi’s Pizza & Pasta House at Shelter Cove, Hilton Head: Pittsburgh-style pizza, pasta and wings, a full bar and Steelers games. Open daily 11 to 10.
The French Bakery, Hilton Head Island: crepes, quiche, omelettes and pastries baked on site, with mimosas by Broad Creek at Shelter Cove. Breakfast, lunch.
Between the harbour and the Towne Centre there are about twenty places to eat, which makes this the densest dining cluster on Hilton Head Island outside Coligny. The harbour side is the waterfront one: seafood, Mexican, tavern food and ice cream, all with a view of the boats. The Towne Centre side runs from a steakhouse and a rooftop bar to a French bakery, coffee, fudge, burgers and a cookie shop, and The Plaza next door adds pizza and a sports bar. Our Shelter Cove restaurants guide lists every one by side, and the island Hilton Head dining guide and its waterfront restaurants list put both in context.
Events at Shelter Cove, HHI
The summer series at the harbour, HarbourFest, runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Fireworks go up over the water every Tuesday night of it, plus a show on the Fourth of July, and they start once the sky is properly dark rather than at a set time. Free family shows play at the gazebo on most weekday evenings in season. Our Hilton Head fireworks guide lists the island’s other displays.
The Towne Centre side has its own calendar: live music and outdoor film nights in the park through spring and summer. On Saturday mornings from February to December the Hilton Head Community Market fills the same park with produce, bakers and makers. Events at Shelter Cove are free to turn up to, and there is no charge to park for any of them.
Things to Do at Shelter Cove
Shelter Cove Community Park, Hilton Head: the playground, free summer concerts and films, the Veterans Memorial and the sculpture trail on Broad Creek.
The Hilton Head Community Market: local produce, seafood, bakers and makers every Saturday morning, February to December, at Shelter Cove Community Park.
Shannon Tanner’s free family shows at Shelter Cove Harbour: two shows a night on summer weeknights, the Oyster Reefers on Thursdays, and how to go.
The King Neptune statue at Shelter Cove Harbour: a 12-foot bronze Neptune whose trident is a working sundial, dedicated in 1983. Free, open any time.
Most Shelter Cove activities are on the water, and they leave from the docks described above. On land there is the park, the Saturday market, the free summer shows at the harbour gazebo, and the sculpture trail that runs between the Towne Centre and the creek. Two things people associate with Shelter Cove are not really of it: the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, at 14 Shelter Cove Lane, is a theatre with its own season, and the Island Recreation Center, which runs the park here, is a public gym and pool on the north end of the island at 20 Wilborn Road. Both are in our things to do on Hilton Head Island guide.
The Community Park
Shelter Cove Community Park sits behind the Towne Centre at 39 Shelter Cove Lane, looking over Broad Creek and the marsh. The Town keeps it open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and to 6 p.m. once the clocks go back. There is a playground, an event lawn, a big shelter that doubles as the stage for concerts, picnic areas, public art, restrooms, a waterfront promenade, bike racks by the pavilion, free parking and public Wi-Fi. The Island Recreation Center takes the bookings when the pavilion is reserved.
Where to Stay at Shelter Cove
Shelter Cove Hilton Head rentals: the villa buildings around the harbour, which ones take vacation rentals, how booking works and the shuttle to the beach.
Shelter Cove condos for sale on Hilton Head Island: live listings by building, which buildings allow short-term rentals, quarter shares and owning costs.
Villas with prices
Captains Quarters, Hilton Head: 64 gated villas at the western end of Shelter Cove Harbour, facing Broad Creek and the marsh, with a waterside pool.
Harbourside III Hilton Head: 39 villas above the shops at Shelter Cove Harbour, sold in quarter shares, with a pool and its own rental office.
Villas with prices
Yacht Club Villas, Hilton Head: a gated condominium of 43 villas on the Shelter Cove yacht basin. Compare villas and weekly prices.
Staying at Shelter Cove means a condominium rather than a hotel room: villa buildings such as Captains Quarters, Mainsail, Harbourside I and II, Harbourside III, the Yacht Club and Anchorage stand around the harbour, most of them a walk from the boardwalk, each with villas for rent. Newport Villas, the Peninsula at Newport and Tradewinds Trace are residential: they bar or restrict short stays. Our Shelter Cove rentals page goes building by building, and our Hilton Head vacation rentals guide covers the companies that manage them. To buy one instead, our Shelter Cove condos for sale page has the live listings, building by building.
Two vacation-club resorts sit at the harbour itself, Marriott’s Harbour Point and Sunset Pointe and Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, both listed among our Hilton Head resorts. Owners here rent short-term, so this is also a district where a rental-management company has plenty to do.
Marriott's Harbour Point and Sunset Pointe has two-bedroom villas on Broad Creek beside Shelter Cove, with two pools, tennis and the marina close by.
Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, the HHI Disney resort: villas, two pools, Tide Me Over and a free shuttle to the beach club. What to know first.
About Shelter Cove, Hilton Head
- Where
- Mid-island, on Broad Creek
- Address
- Shelter Cove Lane, off William Hilton Parkway
- Gates
- None — free to drive in and park
- Anchors
- Belk and Kroger at the Towne Centre
Shelter Cove, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, is the mid-island district on Broad Creek, on the sound side of William Hilton Parkway and across the road from Palmetto Dunes. Nearly everything in it has a Shelter Cove Lane address: the harbour and its marina on the water, the Towne Centre and its park a few hundred yards inland, the smaller shopping centre called The Plaza beside it, the theatre, and the condominium buildings and townhouses wrapped around them. The district site counts more than 900 homes here.
What makes Shelter Cove, HHI, different from Sea Pines, Palmetto Dunes or Shipyard is that there is no gate. It is open to anyone, parking is free, and paths and sidewalks connect the two sides, so a family staying anywhere on Hilton Head Island can spend an evening here without a pass or a fee. Our Hilton Head Island map shows where it sits relative to the beaches and the airport.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shelter Cove gated?
No. Shelter Cove is open to everyone: no gate, no pass and no fee to drive in, and parking is free at the harbour, at the Towne Centre and at the community park. That is the main practical difference between it and Sea Pines, Palmetto Dunes or Shipyard.
Where is Shelter Cove on Hilton Head Island?
Mid-island on Broad Creek, on the sound side of William Hilton Parkway and across the road from Palmetto Dunes. Almost everything in the district has a Shelter Cove Lane address, and the harbour is best found by satnav as 13 Harbourside Lane.
What is the difference between Shelter Cove Harbour and Shelter Cove Towne Centre?
They are two parts of the same district, a few hundred yards apart. The harbour is the waterfront side: the marina, the charter boats, the boardwalk shops and the waterfront restaurants. The Towne Centre is the open-air shopping centre inland, anchored by Belk and Kroger, with the park and most of the district’s other restaurants. A third, smaller centre, The Plaza at Shelter Cove, has T.J. Maxx, Giuseppi’s and Hilton Head Tavern.
When are the fireworks at Shelter Cove?
Through HarbourFest, which runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. Fireworks are set off over the harbour every Tuesday night of the series, with an extra show on the Fourth of July, and each one starts when the sky is fully dark rather than at a fixed hour.
What is there to do at Shelter Cove Community Park?
A playground, an event lawn, a covered stage used for concerts and film nights, picnic areas, public art, restrooms and a promenade along Broad Creek, with free parking and Wi-Fi. It is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and until 6 p.m. in winter, and the Hilton Head Community Market takes it over on Saturday mornings from February to December.
Can you book a boat trip at Shelter Cove without staying there?
Yes. The marina is public, and the charter operators at the docks take bookings from anyone: fishing trips, dolphin and nature cruises, sailing, sunset and dinner cruises, crabbing trips, and kayak, paddleboard and pontoon rentals.
What do visitors say about Shelter Cove Harbour?
Reviewers treat the harbour as a departure point first — dolphin trips and boat rentals are what they name, ahead of the restaurants and shops — and they mention the boardwalk and the views from it repeatedly, and describe the facilities as clean and well kept. No complaint recurs.
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