The Cliffs and Kiawah Island Club are both run by South Street Partners, which bought Kiawah Partners in 2013 and The Cliffs in 2019. The settings could hardly be further apart. Kiawah is one private, gated barrier island about 25 miles southwest of Charleston, with about 10 miles of beach, two Club courses and a public resort on the same island. The Cliffs is seven lake and mountain communities near Greenville and Asheville, with seven courses on one Full Golf membership. The biggest difference is how you get in. At Kiawah, the property decides: membership comes only with a qualifying home. At The Cliffs, the club decides: you apply separately, and you can own without joining. Choose Kiawah for the ocean and Charleston. Choose The Cliffs for seasons, lakes and Greenville. Neither wins outright.
Who This Is For (and Who It's Not)
Ideal for
- Kiawah Island Club: buyers who want the Atlantic at the end of the street, Charleston within reach, and a membership question that is settled the day they close on the right house.
- The Cliffs: golfers who want seven courses on one membership, buyers who want a lake or a long mountain view with real seasons, and anyone who would rather buy the house first and decide on the club later.
- Two-home households pairing a coastal house with a mountain house.
Not ideal for
- Kiawah: buyers whose main goal is playing the Ocean Course as members, anyone uneasy with hurricane season and flood insurance, and anyone hoping to join the Club without buying a qualifying property.
- The Cliffs: buyers who want salt water, a morning beach walk, or one self-contained place where the bike gets more use than the car.
Lifestyle Reality
One island against seven addresses. Kiawah is a single gated island, and daily life runs along about 10 miles of beach and roughly 30 miles of paved trails. The Cliffs spreads across Glassy in Landrum, Cliffs Valley in Travelers Rest, Mountain Park in Marietta, Walnut Cove in Arden, and Keowee Falls, Keowee Springs and Keowee Vineyards on Lake Keowee. The membership spans all seven. Your mailbox is in one.
Club golf. Kiawah Island Club, founded in 1993, owns two courses: Cassique by Tom Watson and the River Course by Tom Fazio. Cliffs Full Golf covers seven, with two by Jack Nicklaus, two by Fazio, Gary Player at Mountain Park, Tom Jackson at Glassy and Ben Wright at Cliffs Valley. Fazio is the only designer on both lists.
The famous course is not on the Club's card. The Ocean Course, Pete Dye's 1991 design that hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012 and 2021 PGA Championships, belongs to Kiawah Island Golf Resort, a separate entity from the Club. So does The Sanctuary hotel, open since 2004.
A shared island, a private club. Because the resort is public, the people on the trails and the beach are not all owners. Kiawah's privacy is drawn around Club spaces: the oceanfront Beach Club, the Sports Pavilion at Cassique and Sasanqua Spa are member-only. The Cliffs has no public resort hotel, so quiet is the default rather than something reserved for certain buildings. Both clubs list a Beach Club. Only one of them comes with an ocean.
Which city you lean on. Kiawah owners use Charleston: the peninsula, Mount Pleasant, Daniel Island. Cliffs owners use Greenville: Main Street, GSP and Prisma Health. The two cities sit about 3.5 hours apart.
Weather. Kiawah has Lowcountry summers, soft winters and hurricane season from June to November. The Cliffs has four distinct seasons, and at the mountain communities winter is something you plan your driveway around.
Real Estate Reality
| Kiawah Island Club | The Cliffs | |
|---|---|---|
| South Street Partners in charge since | 2013 | 2019 |
| Footprint | One gated barrier island near Charleston | Seven communities near Greenville and Asheville |
| Club courses | Cassique (Watson), River Course (Fazio) | Seven (Nicklaus, Fazio, Player, Jackson, Ben Wright) |
| Public resort on site | Yes, a separate entity | No |
| Path to membership | Purchase of a qualifying property only | Separate application; owning without joining allowed |
| 2026 initiation | Reported: $185,000 Golf, $160,000 Sports, $120,000 Social | $100,000 Full Golf, $50,000 Active |
| Ongoing cost | Annual dues (confirm with the club) | $1,710/month Full Golf, $850/month Active |
Kiawah does not sell membership on its own. In Cassique and The Settlement it is mandatory with purchase. Elsewhere only some properties carry a membership opportunity, and the listing should say so. The initiation figures above are reported, not published by the club, and dues are not listed, so get both from the club before you build a budget.
At The Cliffs the house and the club are two transactions. Either tier adds a one-time $3,000 home club improvement fee, and fees are due when you apply, not at closing.
One number worth noticing: Kiawah's reported Social initiation is higher than Cliffs Full Golf.
On price, Kiawah homes trade on beach, marsh and golf views, and on whether membership comes with the house. Cliffs homes trade on lake frontage and the length of the mountain view.
Insider Perspective: What Most Buyers Miss
The property decides at Kiawah. The club decides at The Cliffs. On Kiawah, eligibility is a feature of the house. At The Cliffs, it is a feature of you, through an application the club approves.
Read the membership line before the square footage. Two Kiawah homes with similar size and view can be different assets if only one carries a membership opportunity. Comps that ignore it mislead. Ask for written confirmation of the opportunity, not a verbal assurance at a showing.
Mandatory means the dues come with the deed. In Cassique and The Settlement, membership is part of the purchase, so the club is a carrying cost even in a year you barely play. At The Cliffs you can close first and apply later, but because fees are due with the application, plan the cash for when you apply.
Buying for the Ocean Course is buying the wrong thing. The Club's golf is Cassique and the River Course. If championship-venue golf is the draw, ask the resort how access works rather than assuming a Club membership answers it.
Inside the gate is not inside the club. Resort guests share Kiawah's beach and trails. If privacy is the priority, judge the island by the member-only spaces, not by the gatehouse.
Only one house gets the 4%. South Carolina assesses an owner-occupied legal residence at 4% and second homes at 6%, you must apply for the lower ratio, and a married couple can claim one. Own on Kiawah and at Glassy, and one of them is a 6% house. Walnut Cove is the exception: it sits in North Carolina, which assesses all property at full market value under county rates, so it does not use your SC 4% slot. Confirm with a CPA and the county assessor.
Three trade-offs worth sitting with
- Certainty versus flexibility. At Kiawah the right house settles membership. At The Cliffs you can own first and decide later, but approval is the club's call.
- Ocean and Charleston versus seasons and Greenville. Beach, Lowcountry heat and the peninsula, or lakes, mountain winters and GSP.
- A shared island versus a quieter club. Resort life and championship golf next door, or no public resort and seven courses across two states.
Related Insights
The same owner runs a Lowcountry version of this choice, covered in The Cliffs vs Palmetto Bluff. For the mountain side, read what a Cliffs membership actually covers and whether living in The Cliffs is worth the cost, and if the plan is one of each, start with owning a beach house and a mountain home. Before signing at either club, review the mistakes buyers make in private club communities.
A Local, Advisory Perspective
Damian Hall Group works The Cliffs from Greenville, and coastal owners often ask us how it compares with Kiawah. On the island side, we treat the listing language and the club's own documents as the authority, and we encourage buyers to do the same. Our advice is simple. Settle how you will get into the club before you fall for a house. At Kiawah that answer is in the listing. At The Cliffs it is in an application, and it is worth reading both before anyone talks about price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Kiawah Island Club own the Ocean Course?
No, the Ocean Course belongs to Kiawah Island Golf Resort, a separate entity from Kiawah Island Club. The Club's courses are Cassique by Tom Watson and the River Course by Tom Fazio. Buyers who want Ocean Course access should ask the resort how it works rather than assume a Club membership covers it.
Can you join Kiawah Island Club without buying a home there?
No, Kiawah Island Club membership is available only through the purchase of a qualifying property. In Cassique and The Settlement it is mandatory with purchase, and elsewhere only some properties carry a membership opportunity, which the listing should state. The Cliffs works the other way: you apply separately and can own without joining.
How much does it cost to join Kiawah Island Club compared with The Cliffs?
Reported 2026 initiation figures for Kiawah Island Club are $185,000 Golf, $160,000 Sports and $120,000 Social, compared with $100,000 Full Golf and $50,000 Active at The Cliffs. Kiawah also charges annual dues, which should be confirmed with the club. Cliffs Full Golf adds $1,710 a month and Active $850 a month, plus a one-time $3,000 home club improvement fee.
Is The Cliffs run by the same company as Kiawah Island Club?
Yes, South Street Partners operates both, having bought Kiawah Partners in 2013 and The Cliffs in 2019. The shared operator does not make them alike: one is a single barrier island near Charleston, the other is seven lake and mountain communities near Greenville and Asheville. Their membership rules differ as well.
Can I get the 4% property tax assessment on both a Kiawah home and a Cliffs home?
No, a married couple can claim only one South Carolina legal residence at the 4% assessment ratio, and a second SC home is assessed at 6%. The exception is Walnut Cove, which is in North Carolina and does not use the SC 4% slot. Confirm the details with a CPA and the county assessor before deciding which home is your legal residence.
Thinking of selling? A written valuation, with the reasoning, from the team that holds the records. Buying? The Quiet List hears first.
