Leave your friends green with envy as you vacation and support a community that has been in the green from the get-go. Check out Hilton Head Island’s legacy. Did you know that it:

-- Is the nation’s first eco-planned community. There are more miles of Bike Paths than you will want to ride: http://www.hiltonheadislandsc.gov/publications/brochures/BikePathBrochure.pdf

-- Has a “Lights Out” program during turtle nesting season    to protect the loggerhead turtles. Over 155 nests were laid in 2012, some right in front of the house. 

-- Offers over 80 miles of public pathways and nature trails for biking and walking. Hilton Head is a silver level biking community and the bike path is contiguous to Pelican’s Perch  Plan to bike?  We can have bikes delivered before you even get here.  Just let us know

-- Is home to the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, covering 4,053 acres, it has a stunning array of birds and plant life. More than two-thirds of the preserve consists of salt marsh and tidal creeks.

-- Is one of the few places on Earth that bottlenose dolphins “strand feed.” At low tide, dolphins will herd fish into tidal creeks and together, create a wall of water that pushes the fish onto the muddy banks where the dolphins then feast.

-- Has a number of golf courses designated as Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries. This designation recognizes achievement in environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, public/member involvement, integrated pest management water conservation and water quality management.

-- Offers the Audubon Newhall Preserve, a 50-acre forest where native plant life and bird species are identified.

--Kayaking and canoeing - an ecofriendly way to see the island: http://www.hiltonheadisland.org/see-and-do/water-sports/kayaking/

-- Want to row or sail: http://www.islandpacket.com/2014/09/08/3302122_sailing-rowing-center-to-open.html?sp=/99/100/&rh=1

--Is a short drive from the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, a fantastic drive through wildlife preserve with gators a big as your car and birds, birds, birds.

-- Looking for other great things to do?  http://www.hiltonheadisland.org/see-and-do/outdoors-and-nature/

One of the latest things?  Electric bike rentals:  http://www.islandpacket.com/2015/04/09/3690841_uzip-electric-bike-rentals-now.html?rh=1

Hilton Head named Top Ten Island to Visit 2017 by Fodor: 

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/article130556689.html