Exclusive interview with ‘Today’ show anchors about their impressions of Hilton Head

“Oh my God, are we liking it? We’re loving it,” said Craig Melvin about being on Hilton Head Island.

Melvin, a South Carolina native, has vacationed on Hilton Head Island in the past, as one might expect since he’s from the Palmetto State. More surprisingly, so has co-anchor Sheinelle Jones, who joyfully added she has vacationed here a couple of times as well.

“This place is so beautiful. The food is so great and the people are so warm,” said Jones about the island’s welcoming atmosphere.

When asked what they had done so far since their arrival to Hilton Head, the co-anchors packed a lot into their short visit this week.

“We went fishing,” said Al Roker. “Craig caught a fish. It was fantastic.”

“We got really lucky,” Melvin said.

“In like 10 minutes, Craig all of a sudden, everyone’s ragging on him ‘like oh you’re not going to catch anything. It just happened,” Jones said. “It was incredible.”

The group also saw dolphins while boating through the bay.

After a busy day, the co-anchors were able to fit in a visit to the newly refurbished Quarterdeck on Thursday evening, which reopened just last month on April 6.

“It was unbelievable. I had the best corn that I’ve ever had in my life,” said Dylan Dreyer, a “Today” show co-anchor.

Melvin was celebrating his 43rd birthday Friday, which began at the live-broadcast event.

He said he began the day “with some of my dearest friends,” implying his co-anchors, to which co-anchor Roker rebutted “who’s coming,” as they all laughed along to the joke.

After filming, Melvin’s brother and friends plan to take a ‘guy’s trip’ for the weekend.

In relation to Hilton Head Island, “We’re coming back in July for a full week. The group plans to spend the time the same way they had on Thursday which consisted of fishing, dolphin watching, and walking the beach,” Melvin said.

Speaking about wishing to return to the island, Dreyer commented, “I’ve already texted my mother-in-law. I told her about this house. You can rent these houses. They are just right on the beach. There’s a pool, the beach, everything you need. You can go boating. I said I got to meet some amazing people here who can point us in the right direction of things to do. She already wrote ‘Great! Let’s do it.’”

“I’ve got three young boys. I’ve gotten to do so much here with my friends, that I’m like I really want to do this with my boys,” Dreyer said. “I think that they’d love to see the dolphins on the bay. They’d love to go fishing. The turtles. We got a chance to look for some nests. We found a rare green turtle nest, which there have only been six in the last 30 years that have been found on this beach. I mean there is just so much I want to share with my family now after learning all that there is to do.”

The crew traveled to Hilton Head for a live-filming event, which was broadcast on one of the island’s white sand beaches at a Vrbo luxury, beachfront home.