Edisto Island South Carolina Tourist Information
All The Tourist Information You Need To Know About Edisto Island, Including Lots Of Facts To Make Your Vacation More Enjoyable And Knowledgable.
Edisto Island is a quiet, inshore retreat in the southeast of South Carolina, about 45 miles to the south of Charleston. It has been a popular holiday destination for families for many years, with its long beach and activity base, yet is not overly commercialized and has a great deal of vacation rentals. Popular Edisto Island attractions include the beach, Edisto Marina, an 18-hole golf course, quality seafood restaurants, and Edisto Island South Carolina tourist information.
The island was settled way back in the late 1700s by English cotton planters, although evidence suggests the Edistow Indians had a presence here long before. The advent of the cotton fields brought much wealth to Edisto and many of the plantations remain today on the National Register of Historic Places. The town of Edisto Beach is where it’s at, having the bulk of the housing, shops and restaurants, and stretches for over four miles. Accommodation ranges from beach homes and vacation rentals to condos overlooking the marina and even campgrounds at Edisto Island State Park, which borders the township to the north.
Edisto Island attractions
- Edisto Beach State Park: The park was set up in the 1930’s during the depression and covers over 1,250 acres of beachfront, forests, and marshland just to the north of the township of Edisto Beach. There is a nature trail here (the Spanish Mount Trail), as well as a small dock, campsites and cabins, and the new Edisto Interpretive Center. Views from the dock over Big Bay Creek and St Helena Sound from the center are stunning. The park is not far from the Edisto Island South Carolina tourist information office.
- ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge: Edisto Island is also the gateway to the ACE Basin; one of the Eastern Seaboard’s largest undeveloped estuaries. It is a vast ecological preserve that features the Edisto, Ashepoo, and Combahee river deltas and comes with excellent fishing, boating, kayaking, swimming, and wildlife spotting. The refuge headquarters are on Willtown Road.
- Edisto Island golf: The Plantation Golf Course at Edisto is an 18-hole championship course situated within the Ocean Ridge Resort. This is the only resort on the island and is a plush, well turned out place with good facilities. The course itself has been recently made over and features excellent fairways and greens and lots of water. There is also a pro shop and clubhouse onsite.
- Edisto Island Serpentarium: This is another popular attraction that the whole family can enjoy in Edisto Beach. The serpentarium features a large range of reptiles and teaches all about how they live and breed in the region. It is on the main highway in town near the Old Post Office Restaurant.
Getting to Edisto Island
Edisto Beach is best accessed by flying to nearby Charleston International Airport and driving down by hire car. The airport receives flights from major centers all over the US and the drive is a short and scenic one via 50 miles of highway. The route goes via the US 17 west from Charleston and then south on Highway 174 all the way to Edisto Island South Carolina tourist information.
