An exclusive island oasis blending world-class recreation with Lowcountry charm
Long Cove Club is a premier private community on the southern end of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Tucked between the Wexford and Shelter Cove areas, this 600-acre residential enclave combines casual elegance with a friendly, small-town feel.
Since its establishment in the early 1980s, Long Cove Club, SC, has quietly become one of the island’s most desirable neighborhoods, often praised as one of Hilton Head’s best-kept secrets for its blend of luxury and natural beauty.
Spread across moss-draped oak woodlands and tidal marshes, Long Cove Club, Hilton Head offers breathtaking Lowcountry scenery at every turn.
Nearly 80% of homes here boast views of either the championship golf course or tranquil lagoons, a testament to the community’s careful design in harmony with nature.
Residents wake up to sparkling water vistas and lush greenery in a neighborhood deliberately planned for year-round living (no short-term resort rentals) and the enjoyment of permanent residents and second-home owners.
Beyond its beauty, Long Cove Club, Hilton Head Island, SC, fosters a close-knit atmosphere: neighbors greet each other by name, meet up for golf or tennis matches, and come together for social events, creating a welcoming environment that truly feels like home.
Top-Tier Golf: A private Pete Dye-designed championship golf course consistently ranked among the nation’s best.
Water Access: A deep-water marina on Broad Creek, perfect for boating, fishing, crabbing, and kayaking adventures.
Resort-Style Amenities: Tennis center, pool, clubhouse dining, plus a community farm, playground, and even a dog park, all within the neighborhood.
Natural Beauty: Lush Lowcountry landscape of marshes, lagoons, and live oaks draped in Spanish moss, offering a tranquil coastal atmosphere. For buyers comparing Long Cove Club vs. Wexford, the surrounding environment can be just as important as golf, boating, and other amenities.
Close-Knit Community: Friendly neighbors, an active social calendar, and a true club camaraderie that make it easy to feel at home.
Life in Long Cove Club, Hilton Head Island moves at an easygoing pace while offering plenty of activities. Every property owner is a member of the Long Cove Club, which means neighbors frequently cross paths on the golf course, at the marina, or in the clubhouse, fostering a strong sense of camaraderie and community pride.
When you purchase homes for sale in Long Cove Club, Hilton Head, a typical morning might start with a round of golf or a jog under the moss-covered oaks, followed by an afternoon of boating on Broad Creek or a tennis lesson. Even those who don’t play golf embrace the club lifestyle; many residents meet up for casual dinners at the clubhouse or stroll over to the courts for a friendly match with neighbors.
Even beyond the game itself, the Long Cove golf course contributes to the scenery, social life, and relaxed atmosphere that define the community.
Overall, the lifestyle is active but unhurried. Think sunny days on the water, bike rides through quiet streets, and social gatherings that bring the community together in a laid-back, welcoming way.
The Long Cove Clubhouse is a gracious Lowcountry venue where residents enjoy both casual grill fare and elegant dining. On any given evening, the Clubhouse is the heart of Long Cove’s dining scene.
This beautifully designed clubhouse offers a formal dining room for elegant dinners as well as a casual grill and bar for laid-back lunches or post-golf refreshments. Residents often gather here for holiday events, club socials, and neighborhood celebrations. It’s truly the community’s living room as much as a dining facility. The clubhouse dining scene is just one part of Long Cove amenities and lifestyle beyond the golf, giving residents a convenient place to gather, socialize, and enjoy meals close to home.
Just outside the gates, some of Hilton Head’s most popular shops and eateries are within minutes of Long Cove Club, Hilton Head, SC. The Fresh Market Shoppes, located conveniently between the golf course and William Hilton Parkway, features the island’s only Fresh Market gourmet grocery store along with a little deli and a Southern-style seafood restaurant. Whether it’s picking up organic produce, enjoying a quick bite, or browsing the boutique gift store “Gifted” next door, day-to-day errands are a breeze.
For bigger grocery runs, residents have easy access to a large Kroger and other retailers at the nearby Shelter Cove Towne Centre as well. When it comes to dining out or leisure shopping, Long Cove Club homes for sale provide plenty of choices nearby.
A half-mile east of the community are local favorites like the Hilton Head Diner for a hearty breakfast. Meanwhile, just a mile to the west, The Village at Wexford offers an upscale open-air shopping center packed with chic boutiques and eateries. Here, one can start the day with a craft coffee or breakfast burrito at a popular spot like Java Burrito Company and later indulge in fine dining at one of the gourmet restaurants.
Additionally, the Shelter Cove Harbour area across the highway features waterfront restaurants, pubs, and seasonal festivals. In fact, many of Hilton Head’s best restaurants and shops are only a short drive away, thanks to Long Cove Club’s central island location. Whether seeking a quick cup of coffee, a fresh seafood dinner, or an afternoon of boutique shopping, residents have a wealth of options just minutes from home.
Homeowners who invest in Long Cove Club real estate never have to look far for activities. The community itself is a hub of recreation. Golf lovers have a crown jewel at their doorstep: the renowned Pete Dye course, woven through lagoons and salt marshes, which has been lauded as one of America’s top courses for decades.
While golf is a major draw, if you're wondering, "Is Long Cove right for non-golfers?", look at the marina, pool, courts, community garden, dog park, and active social calendar.
Sports enthusiasts also enjoy a first-class tennis and pickleball facility (with multiple Har-Tru courts and clinics), a junior Olympic-sized swimming pool for laps or relaxation, and even bocce and basketball on site. For boaters and anglers, the private marina provides direct access to Broad Creek’s calm waters; it’s common to see residents heading out to fish, crab, or paddle at sunrise.
There’s also a community garden for those with a green thumb and a spacious dog park where neighbors mingle as their pets play. From organized club tournaments and fitness classes to casual happy hours by the fire pit, Long Cove Club’s array of amenities ensures there’s always something fun to do within the neighborhood.
Outside the gates, Hilton Head Island’s attractions are all within easy reach. Pristine Atlantic beaches lie just about 1.5 miles from Long Cove, so a day of sunbathing or biking along the shore is only a few minutes’ drive away. The community’s close proximity to Shelter Cove means residents can enjoy Hilton Head’s lively entertainment scene without venturing far.
In the summer, Shelter Cove Harbour hosts HarbourFest, a weekly festival with live music, arts and crafts, family activities, and fireworks lighting up the Tuesday night sky. The island is also home to the acclaimed Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, a 349-seat theater showcasing plays, concerts, and cultural events year-round.
Numerous other recreational opportunities abound: miles of bike trails connect Long Cove Club, Hilton Head real estate to neighboring communities and parks, charter boats offer deep-sea fishing or dolphin-watching excursions, and the quaint shops and art galleries of nearby Bluffton make for a charming day trip.
Long Cove Club is built around a single private 18-hole course by Pete Dye, and membership comes with the home. Every owner is a member, so the golf is part of what you buy rather than a club you apply to later. Dye designed it with his wife Alice and a team that included Bobby Weed and Tom Doak. The back nine opened in November 1981 and the front nine the following spring.
It plays like a Dye course with the edges softened. You will see his railroad-tie bulkheads and the mounds that frame each hole, but the fairways are wider than on most of his designs, which keeps roughly 7,000 yards playable for the average golfer. Holes 13 and 14 run along the Broad Creek marsh, where the wind decides your club more than the yardage does.
Bobby Weed's firm restored the course in 2018, rebuilding the bulkheads to the original plans and regrassing the greens and fairways. It still ranks nationally: in 2026 Golfweek placed it No. 8 among private courses in South Carolina and No. 85 on its Top 100 Modern list. For a hole-by-hole look, read our guide to Long Cove Golf Club. Because membership is universal, the annual dues carry the cost of the course, and the fees section below shows what that means for your budget.
Long Cove Club HOA fees are $20,867 a year as of 2026, with a one-time initiation fee of $75,000. That is roughly $1,739 a month. The structure here is straightforward in a way that many club communities are not: every property owner is a member of the Long Cove Club, so there is no separate decision to make and no optional tier to weigh. The dues are the cost of owning here.
Fee | Amount | How often | What it applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
Annual dues | $20,867 | Per year | All owners |
Same dues, quarterly equivalent | $5,216.75 | Per quarter | All owners |
Same dues, monthly equivalent | $1,738.92 | Per month | All owners |
Initiation fee | $75,000 | Once, at purchase | All buyers |
Town of Hilton Head Island transfer fee | 0.25% of the sale price | Once, at closing | All island purchases |
All figures as of 2026.
Long Cove does not publish an itemised breakdown of the dues, so here is what the community maintains across its 600 acres. The question of exactly what sits inside the dues is on the verification list below.
A private Pete Dye championship course. Consistently ranked among the nation's best.
A deep-water marina on Broad Creek. For boating, fishing, crabbing and kayaking.
The tennis center and pool. Along with clubhouse dining.
A community farm, playground and dog park.
The gated community itself. Roads, grounds and common areas across 600 acres, where nearly 80 percent of properties have golf course or lagoon views.
Two charges land when you buy, and only one of them is a Long Cove fee.
The initiation fee - $75,000. Paid once at purchase, separate from the price of the home.
The Town of Hilton Head Island transfer fee - 0.25% of the sale price. A municipal charge that applies to every purchase on the island, not a Long Cove fee. On a $2M purchase that is $5,000.
Dues are set annually by the club. Because membership at Long Cove is universal rather than optional, the dues carry the full cost of the golf course, the marina and the rest of the facilities between roughly the same group of owners each year. That makes the trend worth looking at: ask for the last three to five years rather than just the current figure.
Before you write an offer, here is what I would want confirmed in writing:
What the annual dues cover, and which facilities carry additional charges such as cart fees or slip fees
The current initiation fee and whether any portion is refundable when you sell
Marina slip availability and cost, if boating is part of why you are looking here
The last three to five years of dues
Whether any special assessment has been levied recently or is under discussion
Whether a vacant lot carries a different assessment
What are the current HOA fees at Long Cove Club?
Long Cove Club dues are $20,867 a year as of 2026, which is about $1,739 a month or $5,216.75 a quarter.
Is membership required at Long Cove Club?
Yes. Every property owner is a member of the Long Cove Club. There is no optional tier and no separate decision to make, which means the dues figure is the genuine cost of ownership rather than a starting point.
What do Long Cove Club fees include?
The community maintains a private Pete Dye championship course, a deep-water marina on Broad Creek, a tennis center, pool and clubhouse dining, plus a community farm, playground and dog park across 600 acres. The club does not publish an itemised breakdown.
What is the Long Cove Club initiation fee?
The initiation fee is $75,000 as of 2026, paid once at purchase and separate from the price of the home.
Are there one-time fees when buying at Long Cove Club?
Yes. The $75,000 initiation fee, plus the Town of Hilton Head Island transfer fee of 0.25% of the sale price, which applies to every purchase on the island. On a $2M purchase that municipal fee is $5,000.
Can Long Cove Club fees increase?
Yes. Dues are set annually. The $20,867 figure above is the 2026 amount.
Long Cove is one of the more straightforward communities on the island to budget for, because membership is universal and there are no optional tiers to weigh. Call me and I will walk you through the full first-year cost for the property you have in mind.
856 people live in Long Cove, where the median age is 63 and the average individual income is $132,171. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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There's plenty to do around Long Cove, including shopping, dining, nightlife, parks, and more. Data provided by Walk Score and Yelp.
Explore popular things to do in the area, including Pizza Hut, Affordables Apparel, and Fresh Market Shoppes.
| Name | Category | Distance | Reviews |
Ratings by
Yelp
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | 0.53 miles | 22 reviews | 1.9/5 stars | |
| Shopping | 0.53 miles | 3 reviews | 3.7/5 stars | |
| Shopping | 0.54 miles | 1 review | 3/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 0.05 miles | 12 reviews | 3.7/5 stars | |
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Long Cove has 429 households, with an average household size of 2. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Here’s what the people living in Long Cove do for work — and how long it takes them to get there. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. 856 people call Long Cove home. The population density is 1,129 and the largest age group is Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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