Fripp Island: the Hilton Head alternative, beach resort you’ve probably never heard of

FRIPP ISLAND, South Carolina – You can pretty much see Hilton Head from the idea of Fripp Island.

From the map, I’m rather guaranteed I could swim concerning them. But it’s an hour and a 50 % by car or truck. And that is the way Fripp likes it, cut off from the rest of the travelers in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

There are no grocery stores on Fripp, a 6.5-sq.-mile personal vacation resort off the coastline of Beaufort, concerning Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga. There are no outlet malls, no lodges, no mini golfing and no crowds – at minimum when we rented a residence with close friends for spring crack.

Less than 1,000 people stay on the island yr-round, however the populace swells to about 5,000 during the summer months months.

Lots of of these are families on getaway: plunging in the Atlantic Ocean, jumping in the pool, playing tennis, playing golf, bicycling, fishing, paddleboarding, golf carting or just lounging underneath the shade of palm trees.

Fripp delivers a number of places to eat. But if you want to paint the town, you can travel 30 minutes west to Beaufort, a short while ago voted finest tiny town in the South by the visitors of Southern Dwelling magazine (which usually serves as my vacation and daydreaming manual). There you can wander the mansions of the Spanish-moss-draped historic district, a kaleidoscope of charming boutiques on Bay Street and the sunlight-dappled patios of places to eat alongside the Beaufort River.

We put in one working day in Beaufort, which I experienced frequented 8 decades in the past on a girls weekend. But the relaxation of our 7 days handed in a golden haze on Fripp.

Why Fripp?

We selected the island simply just because of an remarkable house we discovered on Vrbo with a pool, warm tub, waterslide and hearth pit. At 12 hrs absent, the location was just in the array of a one particular-working day generate, although if you want to fly you can, to the Savannah and Charleston airports. When men and women questioned the place we were heading, and I stated, Fripp, most appeared baffled. “What?”

The title is not for the excellent abundance of probable puns, many of which grace mailboxes: Fripp Floppin’, Fripp-a-dee-doo-dah and A Extensive Peculiar Fripp.

The island is named following Johannes Fripp, a 17th-century swashbuckling privateer or a British sailor who secured the area from Spanish assaults, based on who you talk to. Legend claims that pirates hid treasure on the island. But for significantly of its heritage the island was employed generally for looking, as was the properly named Looking Island to the north. Hunting Island is now a 5,000-acre condition park, with trails, a seaside and an 1875-created lighthouse at this time closed for restore.

A bridge from Searching Island to Fripp was crafted in 1961. Around the up coming 10 years, the Ocean Issue Golf Hyperlinks, racquet club, marina, houses and condos were crafted, all portion of the Fripp Island Golfing & Seashore Resort.

The island stays private and unincorporated, with quite a few of the houses rented directly by the vacation resort itself. You will have to move a security gate to enter the island, and to use any facilities, together with the two golfing programs, 4 swimming pools, kids’ routines or restaurants, you need to acquire a $35 club card superior for a 7 days, for each loved ones member 13 and older.

But when you’re on Fripp, you may hardly ever want to go away the paradise of palm trees, significantly eradicated from the daily environment.

This is a spot the place your calendar is absolutely no cost, where by your greatest problem is beach front or pool – and the answer is, both. Exactly where you can established up the Danger board and enjoy all 7 days extended. The place there is no place in packing dressy dangly earrings for the reason that you’ll wear only swimsuits and T-shirts in any case.

The island is even larger than I anticipated, with house to distribute out and deer everywhere you go. But it is compact sufficient that you can park your automobile for the 7 days and travel on bikes or golfing carts.

We generally stayed put. We stocked up on groceries in Beaufort and cooked dinner each individual evening, sharing kitchen area obligations so it produced clean-up simple. We shared child-wrangling duties, far too, so whilst the young ones hung out with their close friends, the parents felt like they really received a trip.

We whiled away our days recognizing dolphins and an alligator, riding golf carts, buying up shells, swimming and enjoying soccer on the sand. We lazed away our evenings cooking dinner, sitting down in the sizzling tub, playing cards and telling stories all-around the hearth.

That is not to say we experienced no designs. We shopped and lunched in Beaufort a single morning and rented boats. I took a tennis lesson and was unquestionably glowing with compliments and handy tips. We hit balls on the driving range. We paddleboarded. We boogie-boarded. We visited the Looking Island lighthouse. And my 9-calendar year-previous daughter and I took a surfing lesson through Nalu Paddleboarding, a store located at the Fripp Marina.

She was a organic who popped up on her to start with consider, even turned all over to wave. I was absolutely not, but many thanks to the patience of our instructor, I did take care of to stand up a couple situations on the board. Much more importantly, I felt invigorated making an attempt a thing fully new.

Absolutely new, totally chill. Frippee-ki-yay!

If you go:

Check Vrbo or Fripp Island Vacation resort to search for properties and condos.

Charges count on amenities and site, nevertheless you can get any place on the island effortlessly by bike or golfing cart.

For the duration of summer months months, anticipate to fork out $300 or extra a night for a two-bedroom rental.

Houses range from sleeping 4 to 16. A 14-person, property, for instance, could value about $600 a night time.