Monthly Vacation Rentals Kiawah Island SC

The Stay Holy City Regional Guide

The Stay Holy City Guide to Kiawah Island

Resort polish, wild edges

Kiawah Island is Charleston's luxury bookend — a gated barrier island thirty miles south of downtown where championship golf courses thread between maritime forest and ten miles of pristine beach. The Sanctuary hotel anchors the resort core, but the island's real character lives in the bike paths under the oaks, the alligators sunning on lagoon banks, and the dolphins that hunt the tidal creeks at dawn.

Beachwalker Park at the island's west end is consistently ranked among America's top beaches — wide, shell-strewn, and uncrowded even in peak summer because the gate limits access.

Golf, dining, and the outdoors

The Ocean Course hosted the 2021 PGA Championship and remains one of the country's most dramatic coastal layouts — every hole plays along or over the dunes. Off the links, thirty miles of paved bike trails wind through the forest, and the Kiawah River offers kayak routes into undeveloped marsh.

Dining leans upscale: The Ocean Room for steaks behind The Sanctuary's grand doors, Jasmine Porch for Southern brunch, and Freshfields Village (the commercial hub just outside the gate) for casual pizza and coffee.

Staying here

Our Kiawah homes offer the resort experience without the resort price — private pools, marsh views, and bike-to-beach convenience. Filter by pool or beach front, or join the guest list and we'll match you to the right villa.