This SC island was just voted best in the US by Condé Nast — for the 7th time

Sarah Claire McDonald
·2 min read

Hilton Head Island has been named as the best island in the United States for the seventh time in a row by popular luxury and lifestyle travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler.

The ranking, which was released on Oct. 3, shared the 15 best islands in the U.S. and other countries worldwide as they were chosen in this year’s Condé Nast Traveler Readers Choice rankings.

Hilton Head Island earned its winning spot by scoring a total of 95.60 by readers.

Harbour Town Yacht Basin seemed full during the 2023 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing. The Harbour Town Lighthouse can also be seen in the background on this cloudy day.
Harbour Town Yacht Basin seemed full during the 2023 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing. The Harbour Town Lighthouse can also be seen in the background on this cloudy day.

The island has been selected as the #1 island in the nation so many times in a row that last year, after its sixth consecutive win at the time, Condé Naste Traveler’s Deputy Global Editorial Director Jesse Ashlock decided to discover Hilton Head Island for himself.

Also a repeat ranking on the list, Kiawah Island, another South Carolina Lowcountry destination, is no stranger to its second-place spot or its position on the ranking overall.

This year, Kiawah Island received an overall score of 95.11 to maintain a second-place accolade.

Readers of Condé Naste Traveler made the selections by participating in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards survey, which garnered hundreds of thousands of respondents who submitted ratings during the sweepstakes period of April 1 through June 30, 2023, resulting in this year’s award recipients.

As for the scores that determine the placements, candidates are judged on a set of criteria relevant to their category, based on a standard five-point scale converted to a percentage: excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor. The average of these ratings is what determines the final score based on four decimal points, with two decimal points being the score that is published, detailed the travel magazine on their methodology.

This year, the 15 best island’s in the U.S. and their scores, according to the 2023 Condé Nast Traveler Readers Choice rankings, include:

  1. Hilton Head Island, South Carolina: 95.60

  2. Kiawah Island, South Carolina: 95.11

  3. Amelia Island, Florida: 93.76

  4. Maui, Hawaii: 92.19

  5. Nantucket, Massachusetts: 91.32

  6. Sanibel Island, Florida: 90.69

  7. Oahu, Hawaii 89.28

  8. Mackinac Island, Michigan: 89.08

  9. Kauai, Hawaii 89.06

  10. Big Island, Hawaii 89.01

  11. Block Island, Rhode Island: 86.83

  12. Marco Island, Florida: 86.08

  13. Lanai, Hawaii: 85.77

  14. Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts: 85.12

  15. Key West, Florida: 84.44