Destination index

Beaches worth planning around

Hilton Head Island, SC

Featured guide — Coligny to Driessen Town parks, bike paths, and Sep–Feb off-season value.

Quartz sand with a morning-swim vs Sunday drum-circle split — parking and water checks matter.

Swim pockets and beginner surf, Ocean Safety habits, and Kapahulu corridor eats — not just Kalākaua beachfront.

Savannah’s beach town — pick the pier or the lighthouse, and treat paid parking as part of the day.

Cape Cod National Seashore’s Atlantic face — Nauset Light, Coast Guard via Little Creek, and Marconi.

The pier is the postcard. Sit and swim on the state beach, north or south of it — Ocean Park for playground and picnic, Venice for the boardwalk.

Two towns and a 20-mile corridor — Médano is the town swim; Chileno, Santa María, and Palmilla are the coves. The Arch is the postcard, not the swim.

Two cities, two parking systems, two alcohol rules — one gulf. AL-59 dumps you at Gulf Place. The pier is not a swim. The pass channel is not a swim.

Kitty Hawk to Ocracoke — pick the town first: parking, beach driving and dog rules change at every line.

Ten miles of free beach and a 2.9-mile Boardwalk — dogs October to April, and Assateague’s horses across the Inlet.