Shipyard Plantation Villas

The honest review

Shipyard Plantation is a gated, mid-island villa community that sits between Sea Pines and Palmetto Dunes in both geography and price. It has real credentials of its own — the Van Der Meer Racquet Club is a nationally known tennis facility, and three nine-hole golf courses give golfing parents easy access without needing to book Harbour Town-level tee times.

Every villa community within Shipyard maintains its own swimming pool and sits within walking or biking distance of the beach via the Shipyard Beach Club, which functions similarly to Sea Pines' beach club but with less crowding and a lower-key feel. Shaded bike paths connect the community's residential sections to the beach club and to Coligny Plaza's shops and restaurants nearby.

The practical trade-off versus Sea Pines and Palmetto Dunes is unit size: Shipyard villas generally run 2-3 bedrooms, without the larger stand-alone homes those other resorts offer for bigger multi-generational groups. Families of 6-10 will likely need to book two villas rather than one larger unit. Shipyard also has a more modest kid-specific amenity list — no pony rides, no dedicated kids' club — making it better suited to families with elementary-age and older kids who'll enjoy the tennis, golf, and beach rather than families needing structured kid programming.

Pricing is genuinely the community's strongest selling point: villas average $217-299/night, meaningfully below Sea Pines' $537+ average and generally below Palmetto Dunes' as well, for a comparable gated, amenity-rich setting.