Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
A nationally ranked Pete Dye golf course. A deepwater marina on Broad Creek. No short-term rentals. About 570 properties with roughly 70 percent full-time residents. Long Cove is one of Hilton Head Island's most distinctive private communities, and this guide will help you decide if it fits your life.
Quick Facts
If you are evaluating Long Cove as a potential home, these are the details that shape the lifestyle and the purchase decision.
Community Type
Gated, private residential club. No condos or villas. Single-family homes and homesites only.
Location
South end of Hilton Head Island, along Broad Creek, and close to the Cross Island Parkway.
Golf Course
Pete Dye design, par 71, 7,026 yards. Consistently ranked among the top residential courses in the United States by Golfweek.
Marina
Private 85-slip deepwater marina on Broad Creek with access to Calibogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.
Membership
Bundled. Full club membership is automatic with property purchase. No separate golf initiation required.
Short-Term Rentals
Not permitted. This is a residential-only community, which preserves neighborhood character and security.
Security
24-hour staffed gate. Long Cove employs its own professional security team, not a contracted service.
Views
Approximately 80 percent of properties have a lagoon view, golf view, or both. A smaller number front Broad Creek with private docks.
Community Character
Long Cove Club was developed in 1981 as a residential golf community and has spent more than four decades becoming something more specific than that: a neighborhood. The statistic that tells you the most about Long Cove is not the golf ranking or the marina slip count. It is that approximately 70 percent of residents live there full time. People know each other here. That is not common in coastal resort communities, and it is not an accident.
The community sits on 630 acres of maritime Lowcountry landscape, shaped by ancient live oaks with Spanish moss, Carolina pines, magnolias, saltwater marshes, and the tidal rhythms of Broad Creek. The Pete Dye golf course weaves through that landscape rather than imposing on it, which is part of what makes Long Cove look and feel the way it does: unhurried, green, and genuinely scenic year-round.
Short-term rentals are not permitted, which removes the vacation-traffic dynamic that shapes the character of some other Hilton Head plantations. Visitors are guests of residents. The gate is staffed by Long Cove's own security team, not a third-party contractor, which means the people at the gate know who belongs there.
For a pre-retiree or relocating buyer from outside the region, Long Cove answers a question many are quietly asking: can I find a place where the amenities are genuinely world-class and the neighbors are actually present? The answer here is yes.
Club Amenities
Membership in Long Cove Club is bundled with ownership, so every amenity listed below is included for property owners and their families at no additional per-amenity charge.
Par 71, 7,026 yards. Eight tee boxes accommodate all skill levels. Celebration Bermuda fairways, Tif Eagle Ultra Dwarf Bermuda greens. Ranked in Golfweek's Top 200 Residential Golf Courses in the U.S. and previously listed in Golf Magazine's Top 100 nationwide. The course includes a Golf Teaching Center with modern instruction technology and a dedicated director of instruction.
An 85-slip marina on Broad Creek provides direct deepwater access to Calibogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Accommodates vessels up to 35 feet. Open to all Long Cove members at no additional service charge. Boat slip availability is not guaranteed and should be confirmed prior to purchase. The marina also offers club kayaks, private kayak storage, and dock access for fishing, crabbing, and paddleboarding.
Eight Har-Tru clay courts, four lighted for evening play. A state-of-the-art pickleball center added in 2018 features four courts with a match-viewing pergola and a gathering pavilion between courts. The facility includes a hitting wall, racquets and paddles to demo or purchase, a full-service pro shop with racquet stringing, and beer on tap. Two full-time professionals offer private and group instruction, clinics, and junior summer camps. USTA team play and a full schedule of singles, doubles, and mixed events run year-round.
The Long Cove Clubhouse completed a $6.4 million renovation that earned Golf Inc.'s Clubhouse Renovation of the Year award. The facility features a formal dining room, a casual grill room, a bar and lounge, men's and ladies' locker rooms, and a full-service golf pro shop with cart and bag storage. Local Lowcountry artwork is displayed throughout.
A junior Olympic-sized heated saltwater pool maintained at 84 degrees. Dedicated lap lanes alongside open swim areas. Open approximately eight months of the year. Pool deck and lounge area available for member cookouts and social gatherings. Water aerobics classes are offered on a scheduled basis.
Long Cove is the only private golf community on Hilton Head Island with a dedicated, fenced dog park. The one-acre shaded space has separate areas for large and small dogs, continuous-fill water bowls, and seating. Adjacent to the dog park is a two-plus-acre playground with a jungle gym, basketball court, butterfly garden, and open green space.
Individual garden plots, an orchard, and shared growing space for members who want to work with the land. The Farm is adjacent to the playground, creating a natural gathering area. Gardening clubs and organized activities take place here throughout the growing season.
A 3.2-mile walking trail loop winds through the community. The 630-acre footprint preserves maritime forest, protected live oak groves, native saltwater marshes, and lagoons with abundant wildlife. Herons, egrets, osprey, and alligators are regular presences throughout the property.
The Long Cove Yacht Club, book clubs, bridge groups, fishing expeditions, wine tastings, art classes, and member events are woven into the community calendar. The Long Cove Fund has contributed more than $2 million to Lowcountry nonprofits since 2003. Two bocce ball lanes added in 2019 have become a popular happy hour gathering spot.
Real Estate
Long Cove is a single-family-only community. There are no condos, no villas, and no attached units of any kind. Homes range from approximately 2,500 square feet in the more modest end of the market to custom estates exceeding 7,000 square feet. Architectural styles vary, but traditional Lowcountry design is the prevailing theme, and Architectural Review Board guidelines ensure consistency across the community.
Roughly 80 percent of properties carry either a lagoon view, a golf view, or both. A smaller number of homes sit directly on Broad Creek with private docks. Lots along the creek and on signature Pete Dye holes command the highest premiums. Interior lots offer access to the same amenities at a lower price of entry.
Vacant homesites are available periodically for buyers who want to design and build. The ARB approval process governs new construction, with Lowcountry and coastal architectural styles preferred and specific guidelines covering height, color palettes, rooflines, and exterior materials.
No short-term rentals are permitted. If rental income potential is part of your financial model for a Hilton Head purchase, Long Cove is not the right fit, and I will tell you that plainly. If you are looking for a private, residential community where the person next door is likely to be a year-round neighbor rather than a rotating short-term guest, Long Cove belongs on your short list.
Market conditions in Long Cove shift with inventory, seasonal demand, and broader Hilton Head trends. Contact Carl for a current market analysis before making any pricing assumptions.
Long Cove pricing reflects a clear value hierarchy based on lot position, view, and home size. Entry-level homes on interior lots at the lower end of the square footage range represent the most accessible price of entry into the community. Mid-range homes with lagoon or golf views occupy the bulk of the active market. Premium homes on prime Pete Dye golf frontage or with marsh views over Broad Creek command a meaningful step up. Waterfront homes with private dock access on the creek sit at the top of the range and trade infrequently.
Vacant homesites are available periodically across all tiers. For a current picture of what is active, under contract, and recently sold in Long Cove, contact Carl for a no-obligation market summary.
Membership and Fees
Long Cove Club operates on a bundled membership model. When you purchase a property, full club membership transfers automatically. There is no separate golf initiation fee to join the club after closing. That bundling is a significant structural advantage compared to communities where real estate and club membership are sold separately.
Ownership carries both Property Owners' Association fees and club membership dues. HOA fees cover community maintenance, security, and shared infrastructure. Club dues cover access to golf, the marina, the tennis and pickleball center, the pool, and all other club facilities.
HOA and transfer fee details, including current amounts and what is covered, are maintained on a dedicated page. I do not hardcode these figures into community pages because they change, and outdated numbers cause confusion during due diligence. For current HOA fee information, visit the link below.
View HOA and Transfer Fee InformationDaily Life
Amenities describe what is available. Lifestyle describes how residents actually use the community. Long Cove has both in abundance.
The Long Cove golf course is a private, residential course. You are not competing for tee times with visiting resort guests. About 570 property owners share access, and roughly 70 percent of them are full-time. The course plays differently from most resort tracks on the island. Pete Dye built it to reward strategy and penalize carelessness, and it has held its national rankings for decades as a result.
Broad Creek is navigable year-round. Members with boat slips can reach Calibogue Sound in minutes. Members without boats still use the marina docks for fishing, crabbing, kayaking, and watching sunsets over the marsh. The tidal marsh itself is a wildlife corridor, and the views from the marina area are among the best in the community.
Long Cove looks and feels like a neighborhood rather than a resort. Residents who are there 70 percent of the time or more form friendships, join clubs, volunteer with the Long Cove Fund, and invest in the community in ways that short-term visitor traffic rarely supports. If you have lived in a community where the neighbor's driveway is always occupied by different people, Long Cove will feel noticeably different.
Member-organized clubs include the Long Cove Yacht Club, book groups, bridge circles, art classes, fishing expeditions, and wine tastings. Community events rotate through the clubhouse dining room, the pool deck, and the marina. The charitable Long Cove Fund is a resident-driven organization with deep roots in the Hilton Head Island nonprofit community, having granted over $2 million locally since 2003.
The 3.2-mile walking trail system moves through maritime forest with moss-draped live oaks, saltwater marsh edges, and lagoon banks. Wading birds, osprey, alligators, and white-tailed deer are visible on most morning walks. The community preserved significant natural habitat during its original development, and that is reflected in the quality of the landscape today.
Long Cove is not exclusively a retirement community, nor is it primarily oriented toward young families. The demographic is genuinely mixed, which creates a more organic social environment than communities that skew heavily one direction. The two-acre playground, basketball court, junior swim lessons, and golf instruction programs serve the younger-family segment. The quieter pace, proximity to great healthcare, and overall lifestyle appeal draw retirees and pre-retirees in equal numbers.
Location
Long Cove Club is on the south end of Hilton Head Island along Broad Creek, positioned near the Cross Island Parkway. It is close to the island's best services and beaches while remaining genuinely private.
Honest Evaluation
There are several strong gated communities on Hilton Head Island. Choosing the right one depends on what matters most to you. Here is where Long Cove stands apart, and where the trade-offs lie.
Communities that permit short-term rentals attract a different type of buyer and create a different daily environment. Long Cove prohibits them entirely. If long-term rental income is part of your financial plan, this restricts your options. If consistent, owner-occupied neighborhood character is your priority, this is an advantage.
No condos. No villas. No attached units. Every property in Long Cove is a single-family home or a vacant homesite. This is a meaningful distinction from larger resort-style plantations that mix property types throughout. It affects the buyer pool, the resale market, and the daily character of the community.
Hilton Head Island has more than 30 golf courses. Long Cove's Pete Dye design is consistently ranked among the best residential courses in the United States, which is meaningful because most Hilton Head communities have golf without that level of national recognition. For serious golfers, the quality difference is real and measurable.
Not all golf communities with marinas include marina access in the base membership. At Long Cove, the 85-slip deepwater facility on Broad Creek is open to all members regardless of boat ownership. The dock is a social amenity as much as a nautical one.
With roughly 570 properties on 630 acres, Long Cove is more intimate than Sea Pines or Hilton Head Plantation. Fewer properties means a smaller social pool, which translates into knowing your neighbors rather than just living near them. For buyers who want to build real community connections, smaller scale works in their favor.
No beach access within the gates. Hilton Head's beaches are a short drive, not a walk. If oceanfront or near-beach access is your primary lifestyle requirement, Sea Pines or Palmetto Dunes may be a better starting point. If rental income or maximum resale liquidity across multiple buyer profiles is the priority, the no-short-term-rental restriction narrows your future buyer pool in ways worth thinking through.
Common Questions
Carl Kratz
Broker & Realtor, Century 21 Integra Realty
Why Work With Carl
I have lived in the SC Lowcountry since December 1996, which means I have watched Hilton Head Island's private communities evolve over nearly three decades of market cycles, community renovations, and generational buyer shifts. I have been licensed as a Broker and Realtor since 2009, serving buyers and sellers across Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Beaufort, Hardeeville, and Ridgeland.
Long Cove is a community I know well. The bundled membership structure, the ARB process, the marina dynamics, the relationship between the POA and the private club, and the specific ways the no-short-term-rental restriction shapes both the lifestyle and the resale market are topics I work through with buyer clients in real time, not in generalities.
My largest single transaction in the Lowcountry was a $4 million-plus sale in Palmetto Dunes in 2020. I understand the luxury gated community market on this island from both sides of the transaction, and I have represented buyers navigating this kind of purchase from out of state, often without the ability to visit multiple times before making a decision. That context shapes how I work.
If you are evaluating Long Cove, or trying to understand how it compares to Sea Pines, Wexford, Colleton River, or other communities in this corridor, I am glad to have that conversation without a sales agenda attached to it. The right fit is more important than the closed transaction.
I can walk you through the current inventory, the ownership costs, the membership structure, and how Long Cove compares to other Hilton Head communities you may be considering. No pressure. Just information.
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