Princess F6566'7"
View Specs & ReviewThe Lowcountry market that starts at 50 feet
Yachting in Hilton Head
A Minted Location · Hilton Head, South Carolina
If you are deciding where to keep a boat between 50 and 145 feet on the South Carolina coast, Hilton Head answers the question bluntly: one of its marinas will not take you if you are under 50 ft. Harbour Town Yacht Basin publishes a minimum boat length of 50 feet across its 100 slips, with daily rate bands that stop at "80' and larger". During RBC Heritage week the same dock carries a "$100++ per foot" premium with a five-night minimum. A marina that turns small boats away and prices one week like that is telling you precisely who berths there.
The ceiling is real, and it is not a superyacht ceiling. Shelter Cove Harbour publishes 178 slips for boats up to 145 ft, with a monthly rate tier that runs all the way to "100 ft. and up" at $27 per foot — that band exists because those boats show up. Palmetto Bay takes vessels to about 131 ft — it publishes the figure as 40 metres — states no maximum height requirement, and calls itself the deepest-water marina in Hilton Head at 22 ft at low tide. Safe Harbor Skull Creek publishes 125 ft. This is a genuine hundred-foot-plus market. It is not Fort Lauderdale, and nothing here pretends to be.
One number is worth reading properly. Safe Harbor Skull Creek publishes 125 ft, and the same page caps slip beam at 19 ft. A 125-footer carries something closer to 26 ft of beam, so what is on offer at that length is a side-tie, not a slip — and the side ties are listed as unrestricted. That distinction decides whether your boat has a home or a parking space.
Then there is the fact that shapes every berthing decision in the Lowcountry: the tide runs about seven and a half feet, twice a day. NOAA's published datums give a mean range of 7.39 ft at Beaufort, 7.64 ft up Battery Creek, 7.48 ft in Broad Creek behind Hilton Head and 7.28 ft in Skull Creek. Seven and a half feet of vertical, with the current that implies. It is the reason one harbour here built a lock.
Where to keep a yacht in Hilton Head
Hilton Head's dockage sorts itself by what each basin is actually for, and the sorting is unusually clean.
Harbour Town Yacht Basin at Sea Pines is the ownership statement: 100 slips on Calibogue Sound at ICW Mile Marker 565, position 32° 08' 20" N, 80° 48' 40" W, on NOAA charts 11513 and 11516. Daily dockage runs $4.00 to $5.00 per foot with bands topping out at "80' and larger" — and a minimum boat length of 50 feet, the line that defines this basin. RBC Heritage week is priced separately at "$100++ per foot" with a five-night minimum. There is no fuel on the dock; fuel up at Palmetto Bay, Windmill Harbour or Hilton Head Harbor.
Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina is the volume: 178 slips for boats to 145 ft across 15.5 acres, with a private dock carrying fuel and pump-out. Daily dockage is $3 per foot under 50 ft and $4 per foot over. The monthly card is the one to read — it runs in tiers up to "100 ft. and up" at $27 per foot. The entrance channel comes in between red 18 and green 19.
Palmetto Bay Marina is where a tall or deep boat genuinely fits. It publishes vessels to about 131 ft — stated on its own site as 40 metres — with "No maximum height requirement", more than 7,190 linear feet of dockage, and the market's boldest depth claim: "22 ft. at Low Tide, Deepest Water Marina in Hilton Head." Transient dockage is $3 per foot including water and Wi-Fi, and the fuel dock posted estimates through 08/31/26 at $6.20 for gas and $5.99 for diesel. It sits half a mile off the ICW on Broad Creek and runs a 75-ton travel lift with a 19 ft maximum beam.
Safe Harbor Skull Creek publishes 125 ft wet and transient at 1 Waterway Lane, with ValvTect gas and diesel from a fuel dock open 08:00 to 17:00 daily and VHF on 10 and 16. Transient maximum draft is 10 ft; wet slips take 7 ft. Read the 125 ft alongside the 19 ft maximum slip beam and you have a side-tie rather than a slip — the side ties themselves are listed as unrestricted.
Windmill Harbour Marina is the outlier and the most interesting piece of engineering in the market: a lock-protected, tide-free basin of 258 slips from 30 ft to 70 ft, at ICW mile 558, half a mile south of the Pinckney Island Bridge. The lock holds roughly 8 ft of depth inside the basin and is only about 19 ft wide. Its length is published as 75 ft on the home page and as approximately 70 feet in the FAQ — plan against 70 ft and confirm with the marina before a length- or beam-limited entry. Dockage is $2.20 per foot under 50 ft and $2.40 per foot at 50 ft and over, with gasoline, diesel and pump-out on site.
Hilton Head Harbor is the fuel stop rather than a large-boat berth: 101 slips from 20 ft to 45 ft behind a gate, with mid-grade ethanol-free gasoline and marine diesel and volume discounts at 100, 500 and 1,000 gallons — and a 126 ft transient and fuel dock directly on the Intracoastal. That gap between the 45 ft slips and the 126 ft face dock is the shape of the whole market in one venue.
Beaufort, South Carolina — the ICW stop, not a second Hilton Head
Beaufort is a different business and its own numbers say so. Safe Harbor Beaufort, the city-owned downtown marina, counts its capacity in linear feet rather than slips: 32 dedicated wet slips plus 2,860 linear feet of side-tie, of which 1,002 linear feet is held for transients. Transient vessels are published at 8 ft to 150 ft with maximum draft, beam and height all stated as unrestricted; wet slips run 24 ft to 105 ft on a 14 ft draft limit, with ValvTect gas and diesel. The city's own description is the positioning: on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, midway between Charleston and Savannah.
Safe Harbor Port Royal Landing publishes 8 ft to 120 ft with height and beam unrestricted, 14 ft maximum draft and ValvTect gas and diesel, and locates itself precisely — marker 244 on the Intracoastal. Lady's Island Marina sits on Factory Creek, which it describes as a tidally influenced deep-water side channel feeding into the ICW and the Beaufort River, with five docks holding over 70 wet slips plus hundreds of feet of face dock, a canvas shop on site, a loaner vehicle and a dockmaster who lives there. Dataw Island Marina, a short run off the ICW on St. Helena Island, is smaller and honest about it: tie-ups for up to 15 boats, day dock and transient dockage available, space limited and advance notice requested.
Across Calibogue Sound, Freeport Marina on Daufuskie is the island's arrival point and prices like one: $10 per private vessel for the day, $5 per foot per night overnight, with a store, groceries and golf cart rentals at the dock.
Where the market stops. Haul-out here is modest, and it is worth settling before you commit to a home port: 75 tons at Palmetto Bay, with a 19 ft maximum beam, and a 50-ton Travel Lift at the Dataw Island Marina Boat Yard — a DIY yard where the owner may bring their own service provider, with a fork lift published at 20 tons and at 25 tons. So: Hilton Head can berth a 131 ft yacht and can haul nothing like one. Hauling a boat of that size means running the coast to a bigger yard.
Marinas
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbour Town Yacht BasinMinimum boat length is 50 feet, across 100 slips. A marina that refuses anything smaller, then charges a hundred dollars a foot for tournament week, is describing its owner base exactly. Positioned at 32° 08' 20" N, 80° 48' 40" W on NOAA charts 11513 and 11516, at ICW Mile Marker 565 on Calibogue Sound. No fuel on the dock. The marina office runs April to October, 7am to 6:30pm, and November to March, 7:30am to 5:30pm. | Sea Pines, Hilton Head — Calibogue Sound at ICW Mile Marker 565 | — | 100 | — |
| Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina178 slips for boats up to 145 feet across 15.5 acres. The monthly card is the tell: it runs in tiers all the way to "100 ft. and up" at $27 per foot, and a price band only exists for boats an operator expects to see. The entrance channel comes in between red 18 and green 19; confirm depth with the dockmaster. | Hilton Head — 15.5 acres, entrance channel between red 18 and green 19 | 145 ft | 178 | Private dock with fuel and pump-out |
| Palmetto Bay MarinaThe one place in Hilton Head where a tall or deep boat genuinely fits: vessels to about 131 ft, published on its own site as 40 metres, "No maximum height requirement", more than 7,190 linear feet of dockage, and the market's boldest depth claim — "22 ft. at Low Tide, Deepest Water Marina in Hilton Head." Half a mile off the ICW on Broad Creek, with a 75-ton travel lift on site and a 19 ft maximum beam. | Hilton Head — Broad Creek, half a mile off the ICW | 131 ft | — | Gas and diesel — posted estimates through 08/31/26 at $6.20 for gas and $5.99 for diesel |
| Safe Harbor Skull CreekPublished at 125 ft wet and transient — and the same page caps slip beam at 19 ft, where a 125-footer carries something nearer 26 ft. What is on offer at that length is a side-tie, not a slip; the side ties are listed as unrestricted. At 1 Waterway Lane, monitoring VHF 10 and 16. | 1 Waterway Lane, Hilton Head — the Skull Creek ICW reach | 125 ft | — | Gas and diesel — ValvTect; fuel dock open 08:00 to 17:00 daily |
| Windmill Harbour MarinaThe engineering answer to a seven-and-a-half-foot tide: a lock-protected, tide-free basin of 258 slips from 30 ft to 70 ft at ICW mile 558, with the lock holding an approximate depth of 8 feet inside the harbour basin. The lock is published as 75 ft long by 19 ft wide on the home page and as approximately 70 feet long by 19 feet wide in the FAQ. Plan against 70 ft, and confirm by phone before a length- or beam-limited entry. | Hilton Head — ICW mile 558, half a mile south of the Pinckney Island Bridge | 70 ft | 258 | Gasoline and diesel, with sewage pump-out |
| Safe Harbor Beaufort (Beaufort Downtown Marina)City-owned and Safe Harbor–operated, and it counts capacity the way a transit stop does: 32 dedicated wet slips plus 2,860 linear feet of side-tie. Wet slips run 24 ft to 105 ft on a 14 ft draft limit. The city's own positioning is the point of the whole Beaufort section — on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, midway between Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., at ICW Mile 536.0. This is an ICW stop, not a resort ownership basin. | Downtown Beaufort, South Carolina — on the ICW at Mile 536.0 | 150 ft | 32 | Gas and diesel — ValvTect Marine |
| Safe Harbor Port Royal LandingPublished at 8 ft to 120 ft with height and beam unrestricted, which makes it the easiest big-boat berth in the Beaufort half of this market. Locates itself precisely at marker 244 on the Intracoastal. | Port Royal, Beaufort — marker 244 on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway | 120 ft | — | Gas and diesel — ValvTect Marine |
| Lady's Island MarinaFive docks holding over 70 wet slips plus hundreds of feet of face dock, on what the marina describes as a tidally influenced deep-water side channel feeding into the ICW and the Beaufort River. A canvas shop on site and a loaner vehicle for guests. Length, depth and fuel are settled on the call with the dockmaster, who lives on site. | Factory Creek, Beaufort — a side channel off the ICW and the Beaufort River | — | — | — |
| Dataw Island MarinaSmall and honest about it: tie-ups for up to 15 boats on St. Helena Island, described as a short and scenic ride from the Intracoastal. Length and depth are agreed on the call. | 100 Marina Drive, St. Helena Island, Beaufort — a short run off the ICW | — | — | Yes — the marina states it is now offering fuel |
| Freeport MarinaDaufuskie's arrival point, with a store, groceries and golf cart rentals right at the dock. The pricing is the simplest in the market — ten dollars for the day. | Daufuskie Island — across Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head | — | — | — |
Yacht clubs
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina Yacht ClubSits inside the lock-protected Windmill Harbour basin, and the harbour states that transients from cooperating yacht clubs can ask for a guest membership for dining. Worth knowing before you assume otherwise: club membership is not required to own or rent a slip in the harbour. | 10 Yacht Club Drive, Hilton Head — inside Windmill Harbour | — | — | — |
Fuel docks
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilton Head HarborThe market in one venue: 101 gated slips from 20 ft to 45 ft, and a 126 ft transient and fuel dock on the waterway itself. You cannot keep a big boat here, but you can fill one. Private ramp and ship's store on site. | Hilton Head — directly on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway | 45 ft | 101 | Mid-grade ethanol-free gasoline and marine diesel, with volume discounts at 100, 500 and 1,000 gallons |
Figures are as each facility publishes them on its own site; blank cells mean the facility doesn't state a number. Confirm slip availability and current rates directly — or ask us to make the calls.
Cruising from Hilton Head
Start with the tide, because it governs everything else here. NOAA's published station datums give the mean range as 7.39 ft at Beaufort (8667999), 7.64 ft at Battery Creek (8668092), 7.48 ft in Broad Creek behind Hilton Head (8669338) and 7.28 ft in Skull Creek South (8669133), with great diurnal ranges of 7.90 to 8.23 ft; the outlier is Port Royal Plantation at 6.10 ft. Call it seven and a half feet of vertical, twice a day, on a coast of tidal creeks — which means real current in the cuts, real change in your fenders and lines between lunch and dinner, and a genuine reason to arrive on a rising tide if your draft is anywhere near the published limit. It is also, quite literally, why Windmill Harbour was built behind a lock: a tide-free basin holding about 8 ft, reached through a chamber roughly 19 ft wide.
The Intracoastal does the geography for you. Harbour Town sits at Mile Marker 565 on Calibogue Sound at the south end of Hilton Head. Windmill Harbour is at mile 558, half a mile south of the Pinckney Island Bridge, on the Skull Creek reach that carries the waterway between Hilton Head and the mainland. Port Royal Landing marks itself at marker 244. Beaufort's downtown marina is at ICW Mile 536.0 — sixty-seven statute miles south of Charleston at Mile 469.0, and the city's own words for the position are midway between Charleston and Savannah. That is the honest shape of this market as a cruising ground: a comfortable single day's run in either direction to a bigger city, with the Lowcountry's best anchoring and creek water in between.
Draft is the constraint you plan around, not air draft. Palmetto Bay claims 22 ft at low tide half a mile up Broad Creek, and it is the deepest published figure by a wide margin. Safe Harbor Beaufort states 14 ft for wet slips and unrestricted for transients; Port Royal Landing states 14 ft. Skull Creek is the shallow one — 10 ft for transients and 7 ft in the wet slips. Shelter Cove's channel comes in between red 18 and green 19; confirm depth on the call there, and at Harbour Town, Lady's Island, Dataw and Freeport.
Air draft is a phone call rather than a published figure in this market. Palmetto Bay states no maximum height requirement, and Safe Harbor Beaufort and Port Royal Landing both describe transient height as unrestricted. If you are running a tall boat, take the bridges on your route off the chart and confirm them with the dockmaster.
One closure to plan around at the northern end. The City of Beaufort's 200 ft floating Day Dock is closed — the relieving platform behind it has been shut to pedestrian traffic until further notice. ⚠️ The anchoring rule stands either way: no watercraft may anchor or moor in the Beaufort River within 200 feet of the Day Dock, and there are no tie-ups between 01:00 and 06:00. Arrive expecting to take a berth at the marina rather than the town dock.
- Beaufort River off Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park — Beaufort River, downtown Beaufort, South CarolinaThe 200 ft floating Day Dock is currently closed — the city states the Waterfront Park relieving platform has been closed to pedestrian traffic until further notice. The anchoring rule stands regardless: no watercraft may anchor or moor in the Beaufort River within 200 feet of the Day Dock. Plan on a berth at the marina rather than the town dock, and check the city page before arrival.
Service, refit & supplies
Shipyards & refit
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Dockage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dataw Island Marina Boat YardA do-it-yourself yard where an owner may bring their own service provider, with a 50-ton Travel Lift and a fork lift published at 20 tons and at 25 tons. Together with Palmetto Bay's 75-ton lift and 19 ft maximum beam, that is the haul-out you can plan on without leaving the market. | St. Helena Island, Beaufort — alongside Dataw Island Marina | — | — |
Chandleries & specialty suppliers
- The Boathouse at Palmetto Bay Marina — Hilton Head — inside Palmetto Bay Marina on Broad CreekA fully-stocked parts department and what the marina calls a first-class paint facility, with factory-certified outboard master technicians on site. The service counterpart to the marina's 75-ton travel lift.
On the Hilton Head calendar
Hilton Head's calendar is anchored by one week that reprices the entire waterfront. RBC Heritage, the PGA TOUR Signature event at Harbour Town, runs April 12–18, 2027. The marina's response tells you what that week is worth: dockage carries a "$100++ per foot" premium with a five-night minimum, against a normal daily rate of $4.00 to $5.00 per foot. If you keep a boat here, that week is either the reason you keep it here or the week you go cruising.
Summer belongs to Shelter Cove. HarbourFest is in its 37th year, with fireworks every Tuesday plus the Fourth of July, running from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend. Music & Taste on the Harbour takes over Thursday nights in the fall and returns September 10, 18:00–21:00.
In the autumn the market shifts north and inland. The Beaufort Shrimp Festival, in its 32nd year, takes Waterfront Park on October 2–3, 2026 — the closure of the Day Dock is worth remembering before you plan an arrival around it. The Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance & Motoring Festival runs October 30 – November 1, 2026.
Beaufort Water Festival dates are set by the organiser — confirm them directly. And one clock that is published: the Sea Pines marina office runs April to October, 7am to 6:30pm, and November to March, 7:30am to 5:30pm — a seven-month front-half of the year, with the winter kept open but quieter.
Yachts we'd shortlist for Hilton Head
Reviewed the same way as everything on this site — specifications verified against the builder's own numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between keeping a boat in Hilton Head and in Beaufort, South Carolina?
Hilton Head is an ownership market and Beaufort is an Intracoastal transit stop, and each one's published numbers give it away. Hilton Head sells slips — 178 of them to 145 ft at Shelter Cove, 258 behind a lock at Windmill Harbour, 100 at Harbour Town with a 50 ft floor. Beaufort's downtown marina counts 32 dedicated wet slips against 2,860 linear feet of side-tie, holds 1,002 of those feet for transients, and describes itself in the city's own words as midway between Charleston and Savannah at ICW Mile 536.0. One thing to keep straight: this is Beaufort, South Carolina. Beaufort, North Carolina is several hundred waterway miles further up the coast.
How big is the tide at Hilton Head and Beaufort?
About seven and a half feet, twice a day. NOAA's published station datums give a mean range of 7.39 ft at Beaufort, 7.64 ft at Battery Creek, 7.48 ft in Broad Creek behind Hilton Head and 7.28 ft in Skull Creek South, with great diurnal ranges from 7.90 to 8.23 ft; Port Royal Plantation is the outlier at 6.10 ft. That swing drives real current through the creeks and cuts, changes your lines and fenders between lunch and dinner, and argues for arriving on a rising tide if your draft is near a marina's published limit. It is also the reason Windmill Harbour was built behind a lock — a tide-free basin holding roughly 8 ft, entered through a chamber about 19 ft wide.
Can you haul out or refit a large yacht in Hilton Head?
Not a large one. The biggest lift in this market is the 75-ton travel lift at Palmetto Bay Marina, with a 19 ft maximum beam. The other yard is the Dataw Island Marina Boat Yard near Beaufort, a do-it-yourself facility with a 50-ton Travel Lift where owners may bring their own service provider, and a fork lift published at 20 tons and at 25 tons. The practical reading is that Hilton Head can berth a 131 ft yacht and cannot haul anything close to it. Major work means running the coast to a bigger yard, which is worth settling before you choose a home port.
What is the largest yacht that can dock in Hilton Head?
Shelter Cove Harbour publishes 178 slips for boats up to 145 ft, which is the largest slip figure in the market. Palmetto Bay Marina takes vessels to about 131 ft — published on its own site as 40 metres — with no maximum height requirement and 22 ft of water at low tide. Safe Harbor Skull Creek publishes 125 ft, but read it with the same page's 19 ft maximum slip beam: a 125-footer carries nearer 26 ft of beam, so that length is a side-tie rather than a slip. In Beaufort, Safe Harbor Beaufort takes transients from 8 ft to 150 ft with draft, beam and height all stated as unrestricted. There is no true superyacht tier anywhere in this market.
Why does a Hilton Head marina have a 50 ft minimum boat length?
Because Harbour Town Yacht Basin is an ownership berth for a resort community rather than a public transient dock, and its published rules say so plainly: minimum boat length is 50 feet, across 100 slips, with daily rate bands that stop at "80' and larger". During RBC Heritage week the same dock carries a "$100++ per foot" premium and a five-night minimum, against a normal $4.00 to $5.00 per foot. A facility that refuses anything under 50 ft and prices one week at that level is describing its owner base precisely — this is a 50 to 145 ft market, and the marinas are not shy about it.