On Sea Island, the holiday season has long meant Christmas week, with its 95 trees, 2,800 feet of garland and more than 100,000 outdoor lights spread across the property. In 2026 the season starts earlier and runs longer. On Saturday, November 28, a new walk-through called The Holiday Palais: Jewel of Memory opens on The Cloister North Patio. It stays open most evenings until Christmas Day.
Count the nights and the season looks different. Christmas at Sea Island runs eight days, December 19 through 26. The Palais is open 23 evenings. Most of them fall in the stretch Sea Island calls the "holiday between the holidays," the weeks that used to feel like a pause between Thanksgiving and Christmas week.
Golf clears the calendar first
The holiday programming starts as the golf calendar winds down, and the timing isn't a coincidence. The RSM Classic is scheduled for November 16 through 22 on the Seaside and Plantation courses. Spectators park at St. Simons Airport, and the shuttle is included in the ticket. Grounds passes for Thursday through Sunday are listed at $65 per day on the official ticket page.
The weeks around the tournament are booked solid on the Sea Island course schedule:
- Seaside is cart-path-only through November 23, and Plantation is cart-path-only November 1 through 23.
- Tournament preparation and play close the courses November 10 through 12 and November 16 through 22.
- Plantation closes for fairway overseeding November 23 through 26 and again November 30 through December 2.
- Seaside closes for the Mariner's Chalice November 29 through December 2.
- Seaside and Plantation both close for the Georgia PGA Pro-Pro December 6 through 8.
Travel Dreams Magazine reported that Seaside reopened on October 19 after its restoration, which added 152 yards to the course. For anyone hoping to play it in late November and early December, the open dates are scattered. The holiday calendar fills the evenings over those same weeks.
The first holiday-season date arrives before the pros do. "A Toast to the Season," a complimentary holiday wine tasting at The Inn by Sea Island, runs November 12 from 5 to 7 p.m., and the wines are for sale at The Market.
Friday, November 27, in order
Thanksgiving week runs November 24 through 29 on Sea Island's calendar. The Thanksgiving Day 5K at 8:30 a.m. on November 26 is already listed as sold out. The day after Thanksgiving is when the season visibly switches on, and it happens in a tight afternoon-to-evening sequence:
- 3 to 3:30 p.m., The Cloister Solarium. The life-size gingerbread house is revealed.
- 5 p.m., The Cloister Colonial Lounge. Live music begins for the annual tree lighting.
- 5:45 p.m. The tree is lit, with Santa hosting.
- 6 to 9 p.m., the Spanish Lounge. Santa photos follow the lighting, and a cash bar stays open until 9.
The tree lighting is complimentary and doesn't take reservations, so arrival time is the only planning lever. Families out shopping that weekend can also stop at the Sea Island Kids' Shop. An embroidery vendor there monograms items bought in the shop, from noon to 5 p.m. on November 27 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 28, with no reservation needed.
What the Palais adds, and when it's dark
The next afternoon the Palais opens, and it changes the shape of the season. Sea Island describes it as a new interactive walk-through inspired by a larger-than-life jewelry box, with holiday displays, hidden details and small surprises throughout. Mulled wine, roasted chestnuts and a cash bar are sold à la carte on the North Patio. Admission is complimentary.
The hours are simple. It's open daily from 4 to 9 p.m., November 28 through December 25. The closed dates take more planning, because the Palais is dark on five evenings:
- Tuesday, December 1
- Saturday, December 5
- Monday, December 7
- Wednesday, December 9
- Wednesday, December 16
Four of those five fall in the first half of December, so the first two weeks of the month are where a planned visit can miss. December 5 is a Saturday, which is the weekend night many people would pick for an evening walk-through with visiting family. From December 17 through Christmas Day the Palais runs every evening without a break.
The 4 p.m. opening time matters too. By early December the island is dark by early evening, so the 4 to 9 window covers the hours when the property's lights are on. A visit can start in daylight and end under the lights.
The weeks between, filled in
The Palais anchors the evenings. The rest of Sea Island's Month of Merry Magic, December 1 through 18, fills the days around it. The month-long features include the gingerbread house on view daily in The Cloister Solarium, a mailbox in The Cloister Colonial Lounge for letters to Santa, and live music on various nights in the Colonial Lounge and The Lodge Living Room.
The first week alone shows how full the calendar is. On Tuesday, December 1, the same evening the Palais is closed, the day's schedule includes a Christmas Decor Tour with Sea Island Event Design in the Solarium at 10 a.m., Raptor Rangers on Rainbow Island at 11 a.m., the Gingerbread Sweet Shop opening at 11 a.m., and Sea Island Sidekicks at Sea Island Kids at 3:30 p.m. The decor tour comes back on Thursday, December 3, at 10 a.m.
The Gingerbread Sweet Shop runs December 1 through 25 in the Solarium, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Items are priced à la carte, plus a 25% service charge. The posted menu works as a short list of host gifts:
- Holiday Cookie Tins, $32 for one pound
- Pumpkin Streusel Loaf, $28
- Assorted Parisian Macaron Boxes, $26 for six
- Art of Chocolate Collection Bar, $24
- Sea Island Reindeer Chow, $22
- Hot Cocoa Mix, $18
The quieter weeks also bring the most specialized events of the season. WhistlePig Chief Blender Meghan Ireland hosts a tasting in the Cloister Wine Cellar on Friday, December 4, from 3 to 5 p.m., pouring 21-, 25- and 30-year single malts. It costs $100 per person plus a 25% service charge and is capped at 20 guests. The next evening, December 5, she hosts a dinner in the Georgian Rooms Orangery from 6 to 9 p.m. featuring Sea Island's single-barrel selections and The Boss Hog release, at $250 per person plus a 25% service charge. That dinner falls on one of the Palais's dark nights, so the two don't compete for the same evening.
December 23 closes it out
By the time Christmas at Sea Island begins on December 19, the Palais has been open for three weeks. It stays open every evening from December 19 through Christmas Day, and the Christmas program lists more than 30 events, including the Yule Log Ceremony, carolers and Santa visits.
Wednesday, December 23, is the busiest single afternoon of the week. The 24th Annual Reindog Parade runs from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Beach Club. Guests' and members' dogs of all sizes take the stage in Christmas outfits. The event is complimentary, and reservations are requested by phone at (855) 572-4975. Half an hour after the parade ends, the Christmas Holiday Reception starts at 5:30 in The Cloister Colonial Lounge and Black Banks Terrace and runs until 7. It's a complimentary gathering for Sea Island Club Members and Resort Guests with live music, hors d'oeuvres and drinks, and reservations are requested. The Palais is open from 4 to 9 that same evening, so there's time to walk through it after the reception.
Sea Island's holiday programming is listed for its guests and members. Before planning a visit, check access and reservations with Sea Island directly, especially for events that ask for a reservation.
At Ganten Kirby, we keep track of how Sea Island's calendar moves through the year, from the week the RSM Classic closes the courses to the evenings the North Patio fills up. If you'd like to know what your Sea Island home is worth heading into the new year, start with a complimentary home valuation.
