The resort has three pools (heated in winter), including two at the main resort and another 1.5 miles away at the 13,000-square-foot Disney's Beach House, which faces three miles of Atlantic Ocean beach. The main-resort pool complex is composed of a long, irregularly shaped pool with a spiraling, 70-foot-long waterslide; a large toddlers' pool; and a 25-person spa tub. On the second floor above the pool complex, an air-conditioned Community Hall contains a big-screen TV and features activities such as bingo. Complimentary shuttles zip guests to the 3.5-acre Disney's Beach House complex, which includes a 50-foot-long, H-shaped pool; a toddlers' area with a soft floor and water-spurting beach balls; and a Coast Guard–themed clubhouse with a big-screen TV and table games, a small room with coin-operated video games, and a covered area with ping-pong and foosball tables.
Fishing and crab netting is available off the end of a long, weathered-wood dock that juts out over a marsh to Broad Creek, the estuary running through Hilton Head Island. (Rental gear is available and no license is required.) The resort's naturalist leads complimentary tours of the marsh and also offers bird-watching excursions and after-dark astronomy lessons. Shuffleboard, horseshoes, and bocce are available at the main resort. In addition, the resort also rents out adult, child, and adult-child tandem bicycles with fat tires suitable for the beach and the island's hundreds of miles of bike paths. Rental kayaks are available for use on Broad Creek and nearby lagoons. At Disney's Beach House, an independent operator on the beach rents chairs, umbrellas, and boogie boards as well as ocean kayaks, AquaBikes, sailboats, and low-slung three-wheel beach buggies.
The 2,000-acre Palmetto Dunes residential/resort community, of which Disney's Beach House is a part, features three golf courses: the Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront, the George Fazio, and the Arthur Hills. Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center offers 23 clay and two Nova ProBounce courts (eight are lighted for night play). Instruction is available. A half-mile away on Broad Creek, the Mediterranean village–style Shelter Cove Harbour offers deep-sea and inshore fishing charters, sport crabbing, sailboat and power-boat rentals, sightseeing and nature excursions, and dinner cruises.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or near the resort; fees may apply.
- Golf - miniature nearby
- Golf - driving range nearby
- Golfing nearby
- Personal motorized watercraft on site
- Sailing nearby
- Water skiing nearby
- Motor boating nearby
- Boat launch nearby
- Yoga classes/instruction nearby
- Aerobics nearby
- Tennis nearby
- Running track/path nearby
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Horse riding/rental nearby
- Parasailing nearby
- Bicycle rentals on site
- Bird watching on site
- Fishing on site
- Playground on site
- Rowing or canoeing on site
- Surfing/boogie boarding on site
- Swimming on site