Host to golf's Ryder Cup in 1991, Kiawah Island is more than just one of the top locales in America for golfing. A mere 30 minutes from Charleston, South Carolina, the barrier island boasts ten miles of sublime Atlantic beachfront bordered by sweetgrass and dunes. Families can spend hours walking the sand to scour for seashells or swim in the warm waters and maybe catch a glance of dolphins cavorting offshore. Wildlife on land includes alligators in the surrounding marshland and

Host to golf's Ryder Cup in 1991, Kiawah Island is more than just one of the top locales in America for golfing. A mere 30 minutes from Charleston, South Carolina, the barrier island boasts ten miles of sublime Atlantic beachfront bordered by sweetgrass and dunes. Families can spend hours walking the sand to scour for seashells or swim in the warm waters and maybe catch a glance of dolphins cavorting offshore. Wildlife on land includes alligators in the surrounding marshland and loggerhead turtles that use the beach as a nesting ground. Add a tennis facility that Tennis magazine ranked as the fourth best in the country in 2008, biking on uncongested roads, sea kayaking, and golfing at five courses, and you have a Southeastern destination that caters to all.

The Kiawah Island Golf Resort is comprised of 600 villas and private luxury homes scattered across the island plus a luxury hotel, the Sanctuary, which made its debut in 2004. Ninety percent of the hotel's 255 rooms have ocean views. On the second floor, walk through a Southern-style porch and garden to reach a spa that features such regional fare as a mint julep facial and a Low Country verbena body polish. The Sanctuary also offers two oceanfront restaurants, a casual seaside grill, and pools for children and adults. No doubt, you'll be spending most of your time outdoors on this island playground.

Golf courses designed by Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Gary Player, and Clyde Johnston are open to all guests and instruction is available for all ages. Indeed, children can start learning the game as early as age four in the Tiny Tots program. The tennis club is made up of 23 clay courts and five hard courts and the program is run by Roy Barth, a former professional who competed against Borg, McEnroe, and other tennis greats. Once again, children as young as four years old can join adults and participate in clinics, round-robins, and games of doubles.

An on-property nature center is staffed with naturalists who love to show off their collection of lizards, turtles, and young alligators. Better yet, head out with a guide on a nature walk, a canoe jaunt through the marsh, or on a sea-kayaking adventure. There's nothing quite like seeing wildlife when you're being active outdoors. Bike rentals are also available for an early morning or a late-afternoon cruise around the island, when the sun is not so hot.

Eventually, you'll be back on the beach, strolling, swimming, lounging, and listening to the waves lap the shore. Never crowded, this peaceful retreat is the ideal place at which to reconnect with the family as you build sandcastles, search for wildlife, and play a game or two.