When was the last time Sea Pines changed this much in one twelve-month stretch? Harbour Town Golf Links has been rebuilt and reopened. A new mile of trail now runs through the Forest Preserve. New buildings are going up at South Beach Marina. Plans for the Inn & Club at Harbour Town would remove all 20 clay courts at the Sea Pines Racquet Club. The fall calendar is still the familiar one: oyster roasts, Halloween on the Harbour, the Bonfire, Harbour Town Lights. What has changed is the setting. Most of these events now take place in places that were just finished, are being built, or are scheduled to be rebuilt.
Taken in order, the changes show why this fall stands apart.
The Change That's Already Done: Harbour Town Golf Links
Start with the project that's finished. Harbour Town Golf Links went through a full restoration in 2025, led by Davis Love III, the five-time RBC Heritage champion who also serves as the resort's player consultant. Work ran from May to November. The course reopened November 11, 2025, with rebuilt greens, bunkers and bulkheads. The 2026 RBC Heritage was the first time the tour field played the restored layout.
So this is the course's first full fall since the restoration. The tournament has now tested the new greens, and the resort has published a hole-by-hole video in which Love walks through what changed and why. If you haven't played it since the reopening, the video shows you the differences before you tee off.
The restoration also sets the pattern for what follows: a well-known Sea Pines venue closes, gets rebuilt to a higher standard, and returns. That process is now underway at South Beach.
The Change That's Underway: South Beach Marina
The South Beach Marina redevelopment calls for two new buildings totaling about 10,000 square feet, with restaurant and retail space and room for outdoor gatherings. Jake's Cargo will take one building and the Salty Dog Cafe the other. When the Island Packet visited the site in March 2026, the Jake's Cargo building had walls and a roof, and vertical construction on the Salty Dog building hadn't started. That's the most recent dated progress report, and no opening date has been announced for either building.
In the meantime, South Beach is still open. Salty Dog's construction page says the Cafe, General Store, T-shirt Shop, Ice Cream and Bluewater Tackleshop are unaffected and advertises construction specials, with the Salty Dog open every day. Posted hours as of this fall:
- Salty Dog Cafe: daily, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- South Beach General Store: daily, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- South Beach T-shirt Shop: daily, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Blue Water Bait and Tackle: daily, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with charter bookings
- Jake's Cargo: currently listed in Salty Dog's directory as operating at Land's End Tavern
Salty Dog Cruises still leave from South Beach Marina. The cruise FAQ says you can park in any vehicle space in South Beach Marina Village and buy walk-up tickets at the dock near the Cafe. If you've been using the trolley to get between Harbour Town and South Beach, the 2026 Green Route schedule covered May 16 through September 7, so that season is over and the trip is back to a bike or car ride.
The beach in front of the marina was also worked on this year. The Town of Hilton Head Island's renourishment timeline lists the South Island and South Beach phase as complete, with work running from April 2026 through May 31, 2026. The islandwide project is now marked complete as well.
The Quiet Addition: Miner's Mile
One change this year was simply an addition. Sea Pines Community Services Associates opened the Miner's Mile Leisure Trail in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve on Friday, May 8, 2026. The trail is one mile long and dedicated to Charles "Charlie" Miner. At the opening, attendees gathered at Fish Island and walked to the trailhead together.
The trail opened in late spring, so this is its first fall. That matters because the Forest Preserve hosts two of the season's events, the Bonfire and the Fishing Tournament at Fish Island. Both now come with a new trail nearby.
The Change That's Coming: The Inn & Club at Harbour Town
This is the project that makes fall 2026 different from the falls that follow.
On May 19, Cliff McMackin, Director of Resort Development for The Sea Pines Resort, presented plans for the Inn & Club at Harbour Town to the Sea Pines Community Services Associates Board of Directors. According to his presentation and the preliminary site plans filed with the Town, the main pieces are:
| Element | Today | Under the preliminary plans |
|---|---|---|
| Racquet facilities | 20 clay courts at the Sea Pines Racquet Club | 2 tennis, 4 pickleball and 2 padel courts |
| Resort pool | Existing pool | Demolished; new pool built next to the courts, with a poolside bar and restaurant |
| Guest rooms | 60 rooms | All 60 gutted and renovated, 3 converted to suites |
| New lodging | None | Harbour Town Residences: 48 studios with kitchenettes and 6 multi-bedroom units in four buildings |
| Main vehicle entrance | Lighthouse Lane | Moved to Lighthouse Road, with separate entry and exit lanes |
The plans also include major work on the lobby and lobby bar, a larger fitness and wellness space, and a separate inn pool within the new residential village. The Harbour Town Residences would sit where the inn's front entrance area is now, with lawns and gardens between the buildings. "These improvements are going to put us at the highest category of luxury travel in the world," McMackin told the board.
McMackin said planning will take about a year. Construction is expected to start sometime in 2027 and finish in late 2028 or early 2029. These are preliminary plans, and the details could change. Based on that schedule, though, this fall is expected to be the last one before construction reaches Harbour Town. The clay courts, the current resort pool and the Lighthouse Lane entrance all remain in place for now.
The Calendar, Mapped Against the Changes
The fall events still follow their usual schedule. For 2026, here is each one, where it takes place, and what's happening nearby. Harbour Town Fall Fest already took place on September 27.
Coast's Oyster Roasts run every Saturday from October 10, 2026, through February 27, 2027, with local oysters, shrimp and live music at Coast, weather permitting. The resort lists the hours as 1 to 4 p.m.
Halloween on the Harbour is Sunday, October 25, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. It includes trick-or-treating and activities around Harbour Town, plus a costume fashion show at the Liberty Oak at 2:30 p.m. It's the first major event of the season held in the part of Sea Pines facing the 2027 construction.
The Forest Preserve Foundation's 15th Annual Bonfire is November 13, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale in October, and the resort says proceeds go toward capital replacement projects in the Forest Preserve, the same preserve that just added Miner's Mile.
The Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt takes place at Harbour Town on November 26 and 27. Reservations are due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25.
The 23rd Annual Fishing Tournament is Friday, November 27, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Fish Island in the Forest Preserve, with bass, bream and catfish. Fish Island is where the Miner's Mile opening began in May.
Harbour Town Lights runs daily from November 27, 2026, through January 1, 2027. On the evening of November 27, the tree lighting comes before Gregg Russell's 7:30 p.m. concert. That means the same Friday has the fishing tournament in the morning and the tree lighting at night.
For more on the rest of the island's fall schedule, see our locals' guide to fall 2026 on Hilton Head Island. For how Sea Pines' governance works behind projects like these, read our explainer on HOA vs. POA in Sea Pines.
What a Resident Can Take From the Timeline
Put in order, the year looks like this. The Harbour Town course was rebuilt and reopened in November 2025. The south beach was renourished by the end of May 2026. Miner's Mile opened in May. Construction at South Beach has continued without a published opening date. The Inn project is expected to start construction in 2027. The Bonfire on November 13 and the tree lighting on November 27 are the last big gatherings of 2026 at the two ends of the plantation that are changing most. By the 2027 calendar, at least one of those settings is expected to look different.
If the Harbour Town plans have you considering when to sell in Sea Pines, The Melton Group at Luxe Lowcountry can show you how the 2027 construction schedule lines up with your own plans. Request a Complimentary Home Valuation and we'll start with your street and how close it is to the work.