Why these tourists keep choosing Hilton Head — even after more than 3 decades

Evidently, Hilton Head Island leaves a lasting impression.

Last year, a record 2.74 million people visited the island.

According to the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Visitor and Convention Bureau, 88.5 percent of the island’s visitors have visited before.

Wes and Barbara Snyder are among them. The Pittsburgh couple has come to Hilton Head 34 years in a row.

Their first visit was in 1984 — a year after the island was incorporated as a town.

What draws them back year after year?

Maybe it’s the bicycle paths or the beaches. Maybe it’s the food or Gregg Russell singing for the kids at Harbor Town.

One thing is sure: once the Snyders tasted the salty air, they never looked back.

‘The backyard effect’

Kelli Brunson, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce research and digital marketing coordinator, said Friday that the island’s repeat visitors ☆ tend to stay in the same areas they did the first time.

“It’s something they’re familiar with,” Brunson said. “It’s almost like a backyard.”

The Snyders’ son, Gary, was 12 when the family first got their timeshare at Marriott’s Monarch at Sea Pines resort, the now 84-year-old Wes said.

“ ... And this is ours?!” the boy had asked in wonder.

Barbara, now 80, wanted what any mother wants on vacation: a “family-oriented” atmosphere.

“Our children were young,” she said Friday. “The beaches were beautiful ... the waters were calm ... I think that it was well cared for, always.”

For Wes, a big draw was the sailing.

Through the 1980s, the family would trailer their sailboat all the way from Pittsburgh to the island. You knew the vacation was in full swing when Wes went out and sailed from South Forest Beach to Georgia’s Tybee Island and back.

Earlier this year, world-traveling blogger Drew Binsky declared the island to be the nation’s “best hidden gem.”

“It’s a magical little island that has a very clean and safe atmosphere,” he said Friday. “I really hope to be back soon.”

Accidental friends

For the Snyders, some of the island’s early “magic” came from an accidental meeting.

One morning, a stranger showed an interest in Wes’s sailboat.

He offered that stranger a quick ride, which she accepted and the rest of the Synders were soon out to meet Wes and watch as the stranger headed “up to this huge house on the beach.”

Someone soon told them that the stranger was Ann Yarborough, wife of Richard Riley, then-governor of South Carolina.

Later, the family — Wes, Barbara, their son, daughter, niece and nephew — were sitting on the beach together, Barbara said. “And (Riley’s) son came up to us and said, ‘My mother would like you all to come up to the veranda for lunch.”

They happily joined the state’s chief executive and his family for lunch and a tour of the beach home.

“That was a treat,” Barbara said.

Up-close wildlife

The Hilton Head Hospital emergency room sees more than 200 patients a year for stingray injuries.

Other stings are treated on the beach.

In 2010, Barbara stepped on one of the Lowcountry creatures.

A lifeguard came to assist as the couple’s daughter quickly searched Google for ways to remedy the injury to her mom’s foot, which was successfully treated with hot water.

Literally stumbling upon marine or amphibian wildlife just doesn’t happen where they’re from, Barbara said, so being able to see it is just another reason to stay a while on Hilton Head.

She is especially fond of alligators.

“They’re so ugly,” she said as Wes chuckled in the background.

“But charming at the same time.”

What’s changed?

Looking at the trees that softly shade the subtly-colored structures, or the lighthouse that stands as a symbol of Harbour Town, or the island’s calm, family-filled beaches, much of what the Snyders — and many of the island’s other return visitors — love about Hilton Head hasn’t changed a bit.

But over the three-plus decades he’s been visiting, Wes said, “the word got out.”

Traffic getting on and off the island has gotten heavier since the 1980s, Wes said.

Another tourist season record was broken in April when 72,389 vehicles crossed the bridge onto the island in a single day.

And the increase in property values over the same time period is “unimaginable,” Wes said.

His one regret is that he didn’t buy a piece of land instead of a timeshare.

They’ll be back

A sailboat isn’t the only thing giving Hilton Head’s visitors a good time.

The Snyders were only on their second year when dolphin cruises came to town.

Bike rides, Daufuskie Island tours, parasailing, you name it — Wes, Barbara and their family have seen and done it here for years now.

“Another thing we enjoy about Hilton Head, besides the bike riding, is the restaurants,” Wes said Monday.

Blogger Binsky agrees.

“I can’t stop thinking about those low hanging trees over the streets,” Binsky said. “And the southern food is as good as it gets.”

Wes also said Gregg Russell, who’s known for bringing a guitar and plenty of children’s songs to Harbour Town for summer evening shows, is probably the main attraction that keeps him coming back. Especially when the Snyders’ children were younger, Barbara said, Russell was part of the “family-oriented” vibe she wanted.

“Are you from Cleveland or Pittsburgh?” the singer would jokingly ask children, knowing both metropolitan areas send tourists to the island in large numbers.

The Snyders’ children are all grown now, so the family doesn’t go parasailing or listen to kids’ music as much as they used to.

You might see Wes and Barbara around the island this summer.

But if not, they’ll be back — “next June,” Wes said — to enjoy the island’s beaches and bike paths.

“And the sunsets,” Barbara said. “Don’t forget the sunsets.”

This story was originally published July 16, 2018 at 1:46 PM.