At Moreland Landing, an open-air pavilion sits on the bank of Cauley's Creek under string lights and Spanish moss, with palms and pines around it. The five-story treehouse stands just across the water. From 5 to 8 p.m. on a few fall and winter evenings, the pavilion serves steamed oysters and a Lowcountry boil to resort guests and the local community. This season there are three of those evenings: November 27, December 24 and December 30, 2026.
Palmetto Bluff's own oyster guide says the season runs from October through March. South Carolina's recreational harvest goes on longer, to May 15, 2027. So the property's public roast calendar ends roughly ten weeks before the season it celebrates, and four and a half months before the harvest closes. A resident who wants oysters from January on has to find them somewhere else, and most of that calendar is already posted.
Three Roasts in Five Weeks, Then Nothing on the Calendar
The Moreland dates line up with when families visit. November 27 is the day after Thanksgiving, December 24 is Christmas Eve, and December 30 falls in the quiet stretch before New Year's. Montage's activity listing schedules a Moreland Southern Supper & Oyster Roast for the same November 27 evening, the night after its Thanksgiving Brunch in Wilson Ballroom. If you're planning around guests, the Moreland Oyster Roasts fit holiday weeks well.
After December 30, oysters on property come from the dining rooms instead of the creek bank. Members can order them at Canoe Club on the May River, on the screened porch at Cole's overlooking the marsh, or by the fireplace at May River Grill beside the May River Golf Course. In Wilson Village, Buffalos gives residents who haven't joined the Club a table with a view of the river. These are good options, but they are a plate of oysters with dinner. The outdoor roast with a band, folding tables and a shucking knife at every seat moves off property after the holidays.
Bluffton Road Picks Up Where Moreland Leaves Off
Nectar Farm Kitchen has posted a roast series that begins before the Moreland dates and ends well after them. Each date on its calendar comes with a named band, and the series runs once a month into March. The first one, on Saturday, November 14, is at Nectar's Old Town Bluffton location at 207 Bluffton Road, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Here is how the outdoor roast calendar around Palmetto Bluff looks from publication day forward:
| Date | Roast | Where | Music or supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Nectar Farm Kitchen Oyster Roast | 207 Bluffton Road, Old Town Bluffton | Vanna & The Rump Shakers |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Moreland Oyster Roast | Moreland Landing, Palmetto Bluff | Steamed oysters and Lowcountry boil |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Nectar Farm Kitchen Oyster Roast | Nectar calendar | The Lucky Ones |
| Thu., Dec. 24 | Moreland Oyster Roast | Moreland Landing, Palmetto Bluff | Steamed oysters and Lowcountry boil |
| Wed., Dec. 30 | Moreland Oyster Roast | Moreland Landing, Palmetto Bluff | Final Moreland date of the season |
| Sat., Jan. 16 | Nectar Farm Kitchen Oyster Roast | Nectar calendar | Retroroxx |
| Sat., Feb. 20 | Nectar Farm Kitchen Oyster Roast | Nectar calendar | Feels Good, Inc |
| Sat., Mar. 13 | Nectar Farm Kitchen Oyster Roast | Nectar calendar | Soul Remedy |
The table shows a gap. Between December 30 and March 13, there are no scheduled roasts on Bluffton's side of the bridges apart from Nectar's January and February dates. One more weekly roast fills the Saturday afternoons in between, and it's on Hilton Head.
Sea Pines Runs Every Saturday Through February
Coast Oceanfront Dining at the Sea Pines Beach Club, 87 N. Sea Pines Drive, holds an oyster roast every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., weather permitting. The series started November 7, 2026 and runs through February 27, 2027. From November 14 through the finale, that's 16 Saturdays. They come with live music from Mark Husbands, drink specials, and peel-and-eat shrimp sold by the half pound or pound, according to the Hilton Head Island visitor bureau listing.
The listing also names where the oysters come from: Maggioni Oyster Company on St. Helena Island, roasted on site. That supplier detail matters because the Sea Pines series is the steady weekly roast that covers January and February, after Moreland is done and before Nectar's March date. An afternoon start also lets a Palmetto Bluff household drive to the beach for lunch and be home before dark.
The River Season Outlasts Every Roast
After Nectar's March 13 date, the harvest keeps going for another two months. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources opened recreational shellfish harvest at one-half hour before sunrise on October 1, 2026, and plans to keep it open through May 15, 2027, unless conditions require a change.
Under the SCDNR season announcement, the rules are:
- A Saltwater Recreational Fishing License is required.
- The limit is two bushels of oysters per day, on no more than two days in any seven.
- No boat or vehicle may carry more than three personal limits.
- Harvest is allowed only on Public and State Shellfish Grounds whose mapped waters are open.
SCDNR publishes those grounds on its interactive shellfish maps. It notes that closures can follow storms or spills and directs harvesters to the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services and its closure hotline, 1-800-285-1618. This is general information about a state rule, not legal advice. Anyone planning to harvest should check current licensing and closures with SCDNR and SCDES before going out.
Wharf Street and the Home Roast
For the months when no roast is scheduled, the May River's own oyster house is about a short drive from the Palmetto Bluff gate. In its May 2025 roundup of local seafood markets, the Island Packet listed Bluffton Oyster Co. at 63 Wharf Street, open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and selling fresh May River oysters. LOCAL Life describes Larry Toomer as the owner and calls the company South Carolina's last oyster-shucking factory. Market hours can change from one season to the next, so call ahead before you drive over for a bushel.
Closer to home, RT's Market in Wilson Village is part general store and part gourmet market. It carries fresh seafood, wine and the other things a backyard roast needs. With the river open into May and a market in the village, a resident can host a roast long after every public series has ended.
Where the Shells Go After
A home roast leaves a pile of shells, and the state wants them back. Through its SCORE program, SCDNR collects used oyster shells and uses them to restore coastal shellfish grounds. Its season announcement gives 843-953-9397 as the number to call for the nearest drop-off. The Island Packet counted seven drop-off bins in Beaufort County as of May 2025. They included a Bluffton bin at Trask Landing and a Hilton Head bin at the Coastal Discovery Museum. SCDNR's Beaufort County bin list names the same two sites, along with Beaufort County Public Works, Sands Beach Boat Landing, Edgar Glenn Boat Landing on Lemon Island, Russ Point on Hunting Island, and St. Helena and Lady's Island.
Trask Landing is the closest bin for a Palmetto Bluff household. Shells dropped there after a Christmas Eve roast at Moreland, or a February bushel from Wharf Street, become reef material in the same coastal waters the oysters came from.
Hosting the family roast is part of what makes a house on the May River feel like home, and knowing how a property is set up for gatherings like that is part of what makes it valuable. If you're wondering what your Palmetto Bluff home would bring this season, BOWES properties is glad to talk it through. Request a Private Valuation.