Coligny Beach Park

After visiting on a chilly February weekend, I look forward to returning to Coligny Beach in the summer. Free parking (when we visited in February), walking distance to lots of restaurants and shops and a great «wet park» i.e. boardwalk area (with bathrooms, showers, changing rooms, rocking chairs, hammocks and more). The sand was hard and cold on our visit, but it was ‘winter’ season. The long beach houses plenty of bike racks and free wifi so you can play music all day! I can’t wait to return.

Coligny Beach Park is a beautiful, nice, clean beach to visit in Hilton Head. The City of Hilton Head keeps this seaside beach park vey well-​maintained. The showers, bathrooms, and rinse stations are almost always clean. There was plenty of free public parking, which was a pleasant surprise. Parking shouldn’t be an issue in the evenings but plan to come early if you want to visit during the daytime. Free wifi is also available for those wanting to lounge around and surf the Internet.
We arrived there just in time to enjoy a beautiful and relaxing stroll along the beach as the sun began to set on a summer evening. There is a rubber mat walkway extension of the wooden boardwalk onto the beach, which is great to avoid having to walk on the hot sand carrying stuff to/​from the car. (Watch out for the jellyfishes that wash up along the shoreline. We almost tripped on a couple of them). I loved the convenience of having everything within walking distance. The nearby boardwalk area has a variety of restaurants, bars, and shops to choose from. It was nice to be able to relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Atlantic Ocean.
The park is perfect for a beach get together. There are many lounge/​sitting areas, swings, and shaded areas. You can rent chairs and umbrellas if you don’t want to hassle with bringing them yourself. The beach offers endless miles to ride your bike or even run/​jog. The dancing water fountain is a fun area for kids or even adults (who says you can’t re-​live your fun childhood days splashing in the fountain?!). Even on a crowded day, you won’t feel like a can of packed sardines because there are plenty of wide, open spaces along the beach.
When visiting Hilton Head Island, be sure to visit the family-​friendly and beautiful Coligny Beach Park. Coligny Beach Park can get very busy with tourists/​parking during peak seasons, but don’t let that stop you from visiting. This is one of the most beautiful beaches on the East coast that you should visit at least once!

Coligny Beach Park is great. First tip for planning a beach day is to try to arrive before 10am if you are planning to park. Speaking of parking, it is completely free, which is rare for a public beach. There are plenty of little restaurants and shops around the boardwalk to peruse. If you drink alcohol, go ahead and prepare yourself to stop into Frosty Frog’s, a great little restaurant that has almost 30 flavored of frozen alcoholic slushies on the wall. Once you head over to the boardwalk you will find plenty of clean bathrooms, changing areas, swings, a splashpad for kids to play in as well as showers and feet rinsers. There is a really hard mat that allows you to easily roll your beach stuff out to the soft sand where you will find plenty of rental chairs and umbrellas you can rent, a life guard on duty, and beach control staying on top of their game. We got to watch shrimping boats! I will definitely continue to visit Coligny Beach.

I gotta say, this beach was way crappier than I thought it would be based on the incredible reviews. Maybe it’s the time of year we went (mid October) but we only stayed for about 15 minutes before heading on to other things.
The sand is hard packed and uncomfortable to sit on. There are no waves at all and barely any shells. In addition to this, the beach is coated with some weird biological phenomenon that looks like little sprinkles everywhere which stick to your feet like mud but don’t come off. My theory is clam poop.
The facilities were great and the parking was free but I come to a beach to enjoy it and this was not something up my alley.
THAT BEING SAID: if you like biking on a beach, or camping with chairs instead of sitting in the sand, and swimming in calm water with no shells you will probably like this place.

Great beach! Lifeguards on duty until 5:00 even though it is after Labor Day.
Parking is free and beach chairs with umbrellas are available to rent by the day. They are a little pricey day 1, but the price goes down quite a bit for subsequent days.
The grounds surrounding the beach area itself are lovely. There are bathrooms, changing huts and areas of seating with wooden chairs under cover to get out of the sun if needed. There is an area with sprinklers the children were loving to run thru at the entrance. Also, there are wooden swings for 2 along the sides of the walkway that looked so inviting and would be nice to sit in to get away from the beach itself.
The water was at a great temp for me — 85 degrees which is unheard of in NH!
There were some jelly fish, but they weren’t keeping anyone from enjoying the very calm water in this area.
Shops and many eating places are nearby.

The beach is extremely crowded but it is worth the free parking. We never had a problem finding a parking spot surprisingly. The only real problem I had besides the beach being extremely crowded compared to the others on the island is that it was also nasty. There was trash everywhere on the beach. But I guess it was ok for being free.

Best beach I have ever been to!
Free parking – never had a problem finding a spot after 4 or so
Surprisingly not as crowded as you would expect
Lots of flat hard sand for setting up camp
Restrooms are about as clean as you can get for being at a beach
Water stations for rinsing off your feet
Outdoor showers
Changing stations
Swings on the boardwalk
Plethora of trashcans
A ramp over the soft sand directly to the flat packed hard sand
Water feature fountain thingy that shoots water from the ground for kids (and adults :)
Overall park is very well maintained
DOGS ARE ALLOWED!!! Here are the rules from the website
«Are not permitted — Between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Must be on a leash: Between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. April 1 through Thursday before Memorial Day.
Must be on a leash: Between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday after Labor Day through September 30.
Must be on leash or under positive voice control at all other times.»

Great beach with tons of space to lay out, throw a football, walk around, etc. but holy hell is parking a nightmare. People were literally fighting over parking spots. And it’s pretty stupid that there’s no available parking on any of the roads around it either. Good beach with lots to eat around it, but absolutely atrocious parking.

Beautiful beach park areas to change wash off feet of sand swings and an amazing beach that is not crowded at all! Can ride bikes on to the beach any time of day.

ok beach. Nothing spectacular. Old school changing rooms. Really really cute. Free parking nearby.

This was my first time visiting Hilton Head Island and it has won the honor of becoming my new vacation spot quickly! Coligny Beach is a beautiful, clean, and easily accessible. Free parking is very close by. The restrooms, showers and changing area was very well maintained for a public beach area. The wooden boardwalk extends via a rubber mat onto the beach itself. This was wonderful since my mother was traveling with us and she uses a wheelchair. I could’ve spent all day soaking in the sun and serenity of this expansive beach. The only reason we left was to explore the rest of the island.

Coligny Beach Park is beautiful! At first glance, this place looks massively overcrowded. However, once you get to the sand you realize that in addition to the beach being miles wide, it is also incredibly deep! There is enough room on this beach to be ten people deep toward the water without any overcrowding. The water is warm, the people are nice, and the beach is sandy and clean. Nothing bad to say!
**Helpful Hint: Signs all over the place say no alcohol is allowed. I wouldn’t worry about the signs…

We spent two days at Coligny Beach Park during our trip to Hilton Head. It was off season so the beach was empty for the most part and we were able to get great spots.
The beach is clean and has plenty of chairs and umbrellas for rent. Everything was spotless. The changing rooms and showers are well-​maintained and very convenient. This will be our go to beach in the area.

Great beach. Has a walkway to the waterfront which is helpful if you are carrying a bunch and don’t want burnt feet from hot sand. Several lifeguards and plenty of umbrellas to rent. Clean, soft sand and clean water.
The entrance way is very pretty. There are several covered seating areas and four rinse stations. There are also cute changing rooms and a relatively clean restroom.
The only reason I am taking a star away is because there are so many people there its overcrowded. I went for labor day weekend, so that could be a factor. After searching for a spot, I set our stuff down and went directly into the water. When I returned, my stuff had been moved by other beach goers who apparently wanted my spot. Other than the crowd, this place was great.
Side note, I would definitely recommend visiting this beach at night, possibly for a date. The atmosphere is very romantic and it is a great place to lay and watch the stars! There is a tiki bar right behind the beach that provides music and fire torch accents.

I love this beach! They keep it very clean. There’s free parking and the beach is big enough so you don’t feel like you’re laying on top of each other. It’s a perfect walking beach too! We’ll be back on our next trip this way. :)

Super soft sand. That was the first thing I noticed. Nice water, very warm and a soft bottom to walk out on. Free parking right next door. Plenty of room,

Coligny Beach Park is love at true sight. My family and I rented some bikes and were riding around town and bumped into a fella who mentioned this beach, we visited it and then realized it was only about a 15 minute bike ride away from our resort.
[ Getting there ]
Just take Pope Avenue all the way to it ends, there the road circles around, walk up Coligny Circle and you are at the beach.
[ Beach Info ]
This beach is well maintained by the town of Hilton Head Island with its various buildings (dressing rooms, showers, bathrooms, lounging areas) and it attracts a lot of visitors. This place is easy to find in a car or on bike. They have metered parking on some side streets and beach parking here that requires a beach parking pass (requires annual $ 30 permit) in reserved places, and some places are free, but they are all based on a first-​come-​first-​service basis. I highly recommend riding a bike here if possible and just to use their bike racks. The beach also has numerous of security cameras for those who worry about their safety; these can be viewed throughout the boardwalk, which is covered in decorative artwork of animals made from copper (turtle, dolphin, etc.).
For those who are interested, this beach even has free WiFi for those who want to lounge around and surf the internet.
Hours: Monday through Sunday from 6AM to 9pm (summer) and 6AM-​6PM (winter season).
Once visitors walk towards the beach, they will notice the sand here is extremely soft near the shore, but hard like Daytona near the sand dunes, making it perfect for jogging or riding a bike. This public beach does have several lifeguards as well.
For those who want to sit in shade, they have umbrellas for rent throughout the beach, each bleu umbrella comes with two chairs.
When leaving the beach, the board-​walks have outside shower stations to remove sand off guests who wish to do so.
I highly recommend visiting this beach for anyone who is staying on Hilton Head Island. It is well worth checking it out.
[Review #190]

Are you kidding … what’s not to love about this place? Gorgeous, clean beach … Comfy chairs and an umbrella. This is heaven … seriously!
If that wasn’t enough, this beach has spotless changing ruins and bathrooms. There are rows of beautiful comfortable chairs and bench swings in the shade … complete with free wifi … for nerds like me to chill and read, while the family swims.
You want to come here … time for my nap … Zzzzzzzzz

While driving by on I-​95, I begged my husband to make a quick stop at Hilton Head. When I stumbled upon Coligny Beach’s incredible reviews on Unilocal,I knew this was the beach that we needed to check out! The beach has a beautiful little boardwalk, six adorable swings, and squeaky clean bathrooms. It was a quick walk from the (free) public parking lot to the beach. We loved our brief stop here so much that we are already tentatively planning a trip here in the future!

The amenities right off the beach are fabulous! Changing stalls, swings, a bathroom, fountain and more! And it looks so cute… I know, how can changing stalls look cute? but really, they do.
We were there on the off season, so I can’t speak for how crowded it gets, but we will definitely be going back when the weather warms up.