An Island Mom’s Tips For Carolina Island Tourists

There are many things that you can do to maximize your vacation experience on a Carolina island. None of this is rocket science, by any stretch, but it’s worth considering as you make your plans.

1.  My best tip involves the timing of your visit. The absolute best time to visit the Carolina islands is in September and October. Why? The crowds drop off sharply at the end of August.

Okay, not this sharply, but you get the idea. Thus, so do the prices. What doesn’t drop sharply? The glorious air and water temperatures. There’s just nothing like a warm September day, when the ocean’s still in the 80s, the crowds are gone, and you’re sitting on your raft, foot dangling carelessly in the ocean, rocking gently with the waves, with a cabana boy bringing you margaritas and fanning you with palm fronds (okay, that one might be a bit of a stretch), knowing dinner without a wait awaits you at your restaurant of choice whenever your fancy suits. Now, add to this the fact that you just paid half of what you would have for your beach accommodations two weeks ago.

2. If you can’t visit in September or October, try the beginning of June. The water is pretty warm by this point, certainly by Midwestern or Northeastern or frankly anywhere but maybe Southern standards, anyway, and the crowds are growing but have not peaked yet. On many islands, the first week or so of June is still considered mid-season, due to many schools still being in session, so you can often get a drastically reduced rate on your accommodations. If you are more concerned about crowds than price, the first week of high season can also be a good bet, because some schools are still in session and many of those families whose kids are out still don’t want to leave for vacation right as school is ending, so they tend to wait a while. This means early to mid-June is typically not quite as crowded as late June through most of August.

3. If you value your sanity, do not, for the love of all that is meant to be in this world, grocery shop on Saturday afternoon during high season. Or preferably any time Saturday or Sunday. As a local, I avoid those days like the Bubonic plague, severe food poisoning, and any employment that involves cleaning gas station toilets. Saturday (or occasionally Sunday) is the turn-over day for most rental properties on most of the islands. Typically, most rental properties (except hotels) only do weekly rentals during the high season, which usually lasts from sometime in June to late August, so the biggest bulk of tourists arrive and depart all on the same day of the week. Therefore, sickeningly large numbers of people who are coming on to the island for their afternoon check-in decide to pick up a few groceries on the way to their rental properties, all within the same short window of time on Saturday. This makes the lines unbearable. There isn’t a perfect solution to this, I understand, because you do need food, and restaurants will naturally be busy too. But if you pack a few things in a cooler, go out for an early or late dinner the night of check-in, and even just hold off on your grocery shopping until after dinner, it will likely make a difference. And, in my experience at least, once the weekend is over, the stores are still busy compared to low season, but the lines are significantly more manageable than on Saturday afternoon, when it can sometimes feel like your food will sour, spoil, rot and decay long before you make it to the cashier.

4. Some rental companies offer early check-in (or late check-out) for their properties on a limited basis for an additional fee. So, instead of checking in at 3 or 4 p.m., for instance, you may be able to check in at 12 or 1 p.m. This, in my opinion, is a worthwhile upgrade for two reasons. First, if you are like me, the main reason you take a beach vacation is to, well, be on the beach, so if you get to your beach property at noon versus late in the afternoon, it is almost like adding another beach day to your vacation. Second, you also save time in traffic (less people choose or can get this option so more will be traveling to the island later on in the day) and will likely save time in line at the grocery store if you simply can’t survive without freshly purchased Ding Dongs in the cupboard of your rental property promptly upon arrival.

5. If it is essential to be within easy walking distance of everything for your vacation, then do so, but realize that the beaches will be more crowded in those areas. If you don’t mind a long walk or a hop in the car to shop or go to dinner, for instance, try to place yourself further from the main drag. The great thing about not being right in the middle of things is your beach will be less crowded and you won’t have to search for a space in the sand for your group. This of course applies more to islands where commercial areas are in a central location, in a town center of sorts. Some of the more populous beaches have commercial areas that stretch all along the main oceanside road, so getting away from the “vortex” of the crowds may not be possible in those places. But on the smaller islands, when you get away from the center of town, it feels like you are in a regular residential neighborhood that just happens to be on the ocean. Whichever you prefer, this information should be easy to get to make sure you end up in your ideal spot on the island.

6.  Finally, this one will be more obvious to some, but in case you are like I was when I lived in Chicago, it might be useful.  Until we moved to the Carolinas, we almost always stayed in a hotel for our beach vacations. However, I wish we had looked more at condos, townhouses, and homes for our vacations, especially when we went with other families. Some of the prices for larger units look steep initially, but when you calculate out the price per room per family per night, it’s often much less expensive overall, and you get many additional amenities for your money, such as washer/dryers, multiple TVs, DVD players, video game players, grills and a full kitchen. All-in-all, you may have a more enjoyable experience and save money as well. Plus, you get more privacy. Furthermore, if you are planning to stay in oceanfront accommodations, for example, in a home or duplex, the ocean is often literally right out your door instead of down the hall, down the elevator, across the lobby, down the other hall, and past the pool. Oh, wait, you forgot the sunscreen. Turn around, go back the other way past the pool, back thorough the hallway, then through the lobby again, and well, you get the point.

However, whenever, and wherever you do it, I hope you all get a chance to experience the islands of Carolina first-hand soon, if you haven’t already. They are indeed wondrous, even if you don’t end up with your own personal cabana boy. Sorry, but mine’s already taken.