All Beaches Are Not Created Equal
Posted on April 21, 2008
Filed Under Beaches, North America, Reviews |
Of course that probably goes without saying and it should come as no surprise that what works for some people doesn’t work for others.
I’m talking specifically about Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, and Tybee Island, Georgia. Both are popular and well known, so decided to drive around the area and check them out.
In general, the beaches along most of this area are typical light brown sand that packs well. In several places you can even drive on the beach. Most of them are wide and flat with dune and grass areas that while rising up only a few feet, do a good job of protecting inland areas from storm surge.
The ocean will often provide some decent body-surfing waves, but there’s no real reefs in the area so waves aren’t particularly high, except ahead of big storms where they can be a lot of fun. Following these storms is also about the only good time to find shells washed up.
Without much reef to speak of, there’s no snorkeling or diving. You can however dive further out on various wrecks found up and down the coast. Also, the ocean floor is mostly sandy, with visibility underwater running anywhere from about 8’ to 40’.
I found Tybee Island, at least along the beach in the main part of town, to be very touristy and crowded. Lots of visitors packed in like sardines. Driving further saw diminished crowds, but being limited by the length of the island, you can only get so far away.
There are many folks that live on the island, but because a lot of surrounding marsh area limits beach choices, the few existing beaches seem to draw tons of people from nearby towns and cities.
On up at Hilton Head you can get into some fairly exclusive areas once you get out to the island. Overall it was quite nice, and comparatively spread out. Like the Tybee area, there’s a lot of waterfront besides the ocean itself, in the nature of harbors, inlets, bays, and rivers, which is good for boaters, fishing, and such, but my interest was focused on the beaches.
Although not so much as Tybee, the Hilton Head beaches that were easiest to reach were the most crowded. No big surprise, but there were some other places, that if you could get across the marshy area separating them, let you out onto less crowded beach areas.
Bottom line was you could get away to more quieter areas if willing to trek a bit. Also, the beaches were lighter, softer sand. Of course you want to bring everything with you to avoid the need to go back before days end.
Overall there seem to be a lot of folks who either really like this area, or just use these beaches because they’re the closest option. Likely some of both. Having lived near various beaches including some along the east coast of Florida, I found these to be quite similar.
One of the real challenges in finding beach areas in which to visit or even settle, is locating those that haven’t yet been discovered, not to mention over-run with people. Although it’s highly unlikely that anything still remains undiscovered, I’m intrigued by the idea of finding places that haven’t really been “done” yet.
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