Discover CharlestonThe Allure of Palmetto Bluff – Just 90 Minutes from Charleston

Two hours from Charleston gets you down Hwy 17 to Savannah, up Hwy 17 to Myrtle Beach or west via i-26 to Columbia. For those “in the know ” it’s an open secret that 90 quick minutes down Hwy 17 gets you to Palmetto Bluff, or “The Bluff ” as it’s affectionately known.  Charlestonians have their getaway places. In the Summer it’s often the Highlands in the NC mountains, in the fall there is no better place to be than The Bluff, located in Bluffton SC. This lowcountry getaway just drips old southern charm, hospitality and cuisine. 

Palmetto Bluff is 20,000 or so acres of old southern woodland stand, deer hunting tracks and timberland turned in to a resort and a surrounding planned community.  Like many of the exclusive resort communities along the coastal Carolinas it has its mix of permanent residents, returning vacation home owners and transients in a similar manner to many of the Barrier Island communities.  Kiawah without the opulence or the traffic, Defuski with more polish.  It also has its own resort within the development operated by Montage luxury hotels group and providing a superb range of amenities.  The whole place is on a physical bluff some 20 feet above the May River almost guaranteeing a steady pleasant breeze even in mid-summer.

Running a business is never easy and occasionally it’s good to just stop and take time to play with your loved ones, play with your children and set your mind free for a while.  If that can be achieved without endless airport delays, Homeland Security checks, traffic congestion and you all arrive in a good mood not long after you would ordinarily arrive at home well then what better start to a mini-break.  We have been coming here for a few years and bought a building lot last year in their new Moreland Village development. We have plans to make that an investment play as part of our vacation rental portfolio – currently though, that project has sat idle awaiting the amenities to be developed – in the meantime, we return as community members but stay at the Cottages in the Montage resort.  We sleep late, play with the children, and bicycle everywhere.  We eat breakfast late, swim, read, converse and contemplate.  Roast s’mores at sunset and listen to live music play until bedtime, gaze at the stars and listen to the frogs. Ah yes, and no rules about a few drinks and being in charge of a bicycle!  

The staff is attentive and the grounds are pristine and immaculately kept. Following the winds of Tropical Storm Hermine we noticed the grounds crew worked 18 hours straight cleaning up – and now it’s as if it all never happened.  There are old ruins to explore, nature trails, guided tours, golf courses, shooting classes, gyms and craft lessons. You can cruise the river into Bluffton proper or Savannah a little further off, kayak the river with the dolphins or for those seeking a bigger thrill kayak the lakes with a not insignificant number of alligators.  Fish just about everywhere or watch enormous Blue Herons fishing for themselves or Ergret colonies roosting at sunset.  

NOTE: As if all of that wasn’t enough, last month Montage opened what I can only describe as a really beautiful new inn of true southern style from the piazza’s and columns to the standing seam roof to the hospitality within. For your own investment property or to call Palmetto Bluff home, we invite you to start searching now, we’re here to help when you’re ready!