Fact check: Is smoking allowed at Hilton Head Island beaches? What about vaping?
The list of things beachgoers can’t do on Hilton Head Island is enough to warrant multiple signs dotting the sand.
Cigarettes and vapes aren’t on them.
Tourists and islanders are allowed to smoke cigarettes and vape on beaches, despite an ordinance prohibiting them from smoking “any lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or any other lighted smoking material,” excluding vapes, in indoor areas. This includes bars and restaurants, and the town set the rule in 2009, according to Deputy Town Manager Josh Gruber.
There are exceptions. Smoking is generally allowed indoors in private residences, hotels, retail tobacco stores, religious ceremonies and theater performances with some restrictions, according to town code. The town doesn’t regulate smoking outdoors, except in places close to indoor areas, such as the doorstep of a building.
Soon, the town council may expand smoking regulations to include vapes. The ordinance passed the first reading May 21. The LowCountry Alliance for Healthy Youth brought the topic to the town council’s attention, according to Mayor Alan Perry.
“When the youth step up and start talking about health and protection you really have to listen,” he said. Since the town ban smoking in 2009, electronic cigarettes and vapes have become more prevalent. In 2021, 11% or over 1 in 10 adults aged 18-21 used e-cigarettes, according to the Center for Disease Control. For all adults, that number is around 4.5%.
