Kiawah is a sea island, or Barrier Island, on the Atlantic coast of the United States, located 25 miles southwest of Charleston in Charleston County, South Carolina. Kiawah Island has ten miles of wide sandy beaches, 123 acres of lush-foliage parks, 30 miles of hiking and biking trails, and world-class golf courses.
The best way to get around Kiawah is by bike. Seaside Cycles is a bike rental company that provides a variety of bikes for adults and children, child seats, tandem attachments, trailers for children, and trailers for gear. It is just minutes from the Main Gates of both Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. They offer the best variety of bike rentals at the best price, designed to make getting around the Island fun and relaxing for the whole family. Seaside Cycles also has a great blog on its website that covers topics such as the best Kiawah Island restaurants and other helpful information for planning a visit to Kiawah or Seabrook Islands.
Beachwalker Park is a beautiful picnic area having a wide boardwalk winding through palmetto, oak, and pine trees. Marsh Island Park affords stunning scenic views at the top of the Marsh Island Lookout Tower of the Kiawah River. At the Heron Park Nature Center, you can partake in nature tours and other programs, birding, butterfly, and alligator walks. The Great Egret Rookery is where you can often see many white birds in trees over a lagoon.
For art lovers, Wells Gallery at the Sanctuary has a great collection of local art to view and purchase. The art captures the beauty of the low country—the marshes, wildlife, and beaches. For some upscale shopping, vacationers can visit Freshfields Village, a captivating mix of shops, businesses, and restaurants in a peaceful setting where unique cultural events like outdoor concerts, art exhibits, and festivals are hosted.
There are five championship golf courses on Kiawah Island underscored by the Pete Dye-designed Ocean Course site of Ryder Cup and Senior PGA Championship fame. Other courses include the Jack Nicklaus-designed Turtle Point and Gary Player-designed Cougar Point courses. The Kiawah Island Golf Resort was named the number-one resort by U.S. Travel and Leisure, with courses designed by some of the best golfers to ever play the game.
You can enjoy fine dining whether you are looking for a 5-star steakhouse or something more casual, you will find Kiawah has plenty of places to choose from, from seafood to traditional Italian.
Kiawah is a haven of natural beauty, known as a retreat for those seeking a wildlife adventure and luxurious accommodations. There you will find perfectly preserved maritime forests, sand dunes, and marshes where deer, bobcats, gray foxes, raccoons, river otters, and ospreys thrive along with a wide variety of amphibians, a variety of reptiles, over two hundred species of birds from the hummingbird to the bald eagle, fish in brackish freshwater ponds, creeks, and rivers, and snakes both non-venomous and venomous. To find some of the best spots to see wildlife on Kiawah Island, a map can be obtained of the wildlife viewing locations from the wooded uplands to the beaches, ponds, marshes, and river.
