How Large is Hilton Head Island?
Hilton Head is the second largest barrier island on the East Coast, the largest being Long Island in New York. The overall length of the Island is about 12 miles and the width at the widest point is approximately 5 miles. The shape of the Island actually resembles a shoe with the “heel” on the north, where Port Royal Sound exits to the Atlantic Ocean, carrying the sand and silt that the prevailing currents carry south and deposit along the beaches and the sand bars just off the coast. The coastline is, literally, a river of sand, slowly building to the south.
