Port Royal

Surrounded by the Beaufort River and Battery Creek, the Old Village quarter of greater Port Royal offers a unique blend of small town atmosphere, natural settings and pleasant surprises

Easily accessible from Highway 802, this uncut gem of the Lowcountry lies peacefully distant from the hubbub of its better known sister communities of Beaufort and Hilton Head Island.

The Old Village boasts an authentic period tea room, working shrimp docks, first-rate restaurants, and some of the most interesting and eclectic shops on the coast. The Old Village is also home to the Lowcountry Estuarium / A Coastal Learning Center, and The Port Royal Farmer’s Market, which is held each Saturday morning from April through November in Naval Heritage Park, across from The Naval Hospital.

Nature lovers can wander the trails of the fresh water wetland bird sanctuary, and explore the inter-tidal zone at Sands Beach, where a quarter mile long boardwalk leads to an architectural design award-wining observation tower that looks out over the marshes of Battery Creek -- a popular dolphin playground.

Port Royal hosts three annual festivals: The Soft Shell Crab Festival in April, The July 4th Celebration, and Oktoberfest, which adds seasonal spice to the low simmering community gumbo that sets this town and its warm and welcoming residents and shopkeepers apart.