What did Sea Pines’ gate fees total in 2023? Hilton Head tourists pay millions
Come summertime, thousands of cars line up at the Sea Pines gate to see the iconic Harbour Town Lighthouse, wind through the nature preserve or dine at restaurants.
As tourists pull up to the tan entry house on the south end of Hilton Head Island, they hand over $9 in cash to an attendant. This cash contributes to $4.3 million in “daily passes” in 2023, according to 2023 Sea Pines Community Services Associates report released in May. Those passes include daily visitor, daily commercial, weekly commercial, buses, and weekly visitor passes, according to the CSA.
The daily visitor fee increased from $8 to $9 in 2020, and the commercial daily visitor rate changed from $10 to $15 at the start of 2023. Bikes can be brought in on top of cars for an extra $1. Those who dine at any Sea Pines Resort restaurant and spend more than $30 can be reimbursed for their gate pass.
When factoring in annual decals and short-term rental passes, Sea Pines made $7.17 million in in 2023, according to the report. They issued 408,000 passes or about 1,117 passes per day.
That’s about $11,775 per day in daily passes. It’s about $19,643 per day considering annual decals and short-term rental passes.
In 2022 the Sea Pines CSA took in about $3.89 million in “daily passes,” about $394,000 less than this year, according to the report.
The fees go toward road maintenance, transportation, security, leisure trails and administration, according to the Sea Pines CSA. The fees offset the costs incurred by property owners to provide services to visitors. The Sea Pines CSA works to “protect, maintain, and enhance the resources of Sea Pines for the benefit of the Sea Pines Community.” It is separate from the Sea Pines Resort and Sea Pines Property Owners Association.
Here is a chart of how much Sea Pines made at the gate over the last seven years, broken down by fee type:
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Budget 2024 | |
Daily gate passes | $2,861,000 | $ 3,046,000 | $ 3,169,000 | $2,878,000 | $3,921,000 | $3,895,000 | $4,298,000 | $4,630,00 |
Annual decals | $815,000 | $826,000 | $843,000 | $836,000 | $923,000 | $1,021,000 | $1,286,000 | $1,285,000 |
Short-term rental passes | $759,000 | $872,000 | $1,026,000 | $ 1,110,000 | $1,449,000 | $1,376,000 | $1,221,000 | $1,277,000 |
Annual access fees from properties outside of Sea Pines and annual gate access fees for Sea Pines Country Club members that don’t own property in Sea Pines accounts for the discrepancy between the sum of the 2023 column — $6.81 million — and the $7.17 million Sea Pines reported, according to the CSA.
In 2023, Sea Pines CSA had $20.83 million in total revenue, with $7.29 million from annual assessments and $4.29 million from critical infrastructure assessments in addition to the $7.17 million total from gate fees.
The price for day-passes and decals can be viewed at: https://www.seapinesliving.com/visitors/visitor-passes/