FLL-Charleston Trip Layover Consideration

Love those hush puppies. Yes Hilton Head. Only one place really. The island's ok, but for an overnight I'd stay at the marina. You can fuel, have a nice dinner, do a little shopping and wander the marina. Beaufort, S.C. is also a lovely little town with charm and history in case you're going inside the next day. But if you're going to run outside the next day I'd stick with HH.

Check fuel priced in Hilton Head. Last time I was there, I came in dead empty, and filled up without asking. It wasn’t quite Nantucket pricing, but it was significantly more than I paid anywhere else that Summer.

Yes you pay for the convenience, plus your choices are limited. There's an RV park around the corner after you come under the bridge. They have a fuel dock and I think they're cheaper. Fueled there a few times when I had the time.

I assume you're saying Harbour Town, located at Sea Pines, but Shelter Cove is very nice, located at Palmetto Dunes. Need to be careful to check any that are reciprocal agreement clubs as some of those are not currently accepting transients.

I'd stop in Brunswick, GA at the Morningstar marina and skip over Fernandina. Hilton Head, yeah Harbourtowne is very nice with bars, restaurants, shopping etc.

Sorry but DK from Sea Pines or Shelter Cove. Generally stayed at Harbour Town and once by the RV park where I also fueled a few times and once over in Beaufort for a couple of days. Lots of one night stays in my business and not generally too much exploring far from the marinas unless awaiting repairs. My only experience with HH beyond the marinas was cabbing over to a nice restaurant across the island and a trip to the hospital There's also a private marina which is where I think you're talking about reciprocal agreement clubs, but that I'd have no knowledge about except that they don't like wakes. Fortunately I was never the one they were calling out at.

Don't think I've stopped in Brunswick but Fernandina is a really nice town with some good places to eat and it's a day's run from there to HH inside or out. Call early to reserve your spot though. I always tried to avoid Ga cause of the flies.

I was at Harvour Town at HH on last Wednesday. Pleasant, not buggy at all. Several bar/restaurants at the harbor. All going strong.

I just did Hilton head to Fernadina to Cape Carnival. Fernadina did have a nice downtown that’s very walk able. We home base in Harbour Town. In the marina there are two restaurants with nicer one being rebuilt. That leaves the burger shack which is great for burgers or the Crazy Crap which is just ok. The golf country club house ( open to public) is much better and just a 4-5 minute walk.

Exactly. It's an easy inlet, immediate proximity to the inlet for the next leg, and an overall terrific marina that I've used several times to break up this trip. I would go there directly from Canaveral.

Morning star is a good marina and a good restaurant but that’s it. If you guest want to get off and explore there is nothing.

We love both, but think Savannah is one of the most overlooked destinations on the coast. We also like to dock downtown, incredible access to the city, quality docks. We like to explore the river in our tenders as well.

One reason we didn't mention Savannah is that with their destination of Charleston, then Hilton Head is a great contrast while Savannah does share many attributes with Charleston.

Savannah is a nice city, but I've only been there by land cause it's too far up river and out of the way while in transit. Beaufort S.C. is really lovely as are the residents I've met there. If you remember the movie Cape Fear that's where it was filmed. Just keep in mind that they're very serious about their No Wake zone. Also remember that it's pronounced Bufort as opposed to the one in N.C. Unfortunately if you're running the ocean it's a little out of the way, but if you're staying inside I highly recommend it.

A really easy UBER ride into St. Simons (10 mins) where there's a beautiful lighthouse, beaches, shops, bars, restaurants, etc.

Morningstar is a nice marina, but there's really no place walkable from there. So it would not be my first choice for the OP given his plan for entertaining friends and also Georgia's flies. Most of my stays there were because of a slow boat or bad seas. What's the story about coming past the salvage work?

No problem at all, I was just in there a few weeks ago. All of that work is outside of the channel and it's a nice easy inlet. A ship's port. Fernandina was very nice, now it's just ok, between the city marina being closed for a few years while the city fought over who was going to pay to rebuild it and covid, some of the businesses and restaurants are no longer there. Plus you have the nasty smell and dust from the paper mill if the winds anywhere out of the South.

Agreed. That's what we do. Then again, depends on one's definition of "layover". To me, layover is a brief rest between destinations, typically for fuel, sleep, weather. Perhaps that has a different meaning to others.