I have a good friend of mine who owns 2 acres of land  that is land locked.

Unsure of your price point, but Anna Maria Island is a great place to look. 

I know Hilton Head island very well as I grew up going there as a kid.

Living on an island, with a more limited fresh water ground source we are extremely conscience of not only well contamination but contamination into our surrounding marine environment.

Or as you have seen, that price range is landing you in less desireable areas. 

Here is the Uhaul data for 2021:https://www.uhaul.com/Articles...2021 U-HAUL GROWTH STATES1.TEXAS (2)2.FLORIDA (3)3.TENNESSEE (1)4.SOUTH CAROLINA (15)5.ARIZONA (5)6.INDIANA (12)7.COLORADO (6)8.MAINE (29)9.IDAHO (30)10.NEW MEXICO (39)11.SOUTH DAKOTA (25)12.VERMONT (26)13.WISCONSIN (13)14.OREGON (45)15.WASHINGTON (36)16.ALASKA (34)17.MINNESOTA (20)18.CONNECTICUT (43)19.NORTH CAROLINA (9)20.NEBRASKA (32)21.WYOMING (33)22.MONTANA (19)23.GEORGIA (10)24.OHIO (4)25.NEW HAMPSHIRE (23)26.WEST VIRGINIA (16)27.IOWA (24)28.UTAH (17)29.NEVADA (8)30.DELAWARE (27)31.VIRGINIA (28)32.RHODE ISLAND (35)33.NORTH DAKOTA (37)34.MARYLAND (46)35.WASHINGTON, D.C. (38)*36.NEW JERSEY (48)37.MISSISSIPPI (31)38.KENTUCKY (18)39.MISSOURI (7)40.KANSAS (21)41.ARKANSAS (11)42.MICHIGAN (40)43.LOUISIANA (44)44.OKLAHOMA (14)45.NEW YORK (42)46.ALABAMA (22)47.MASSACHUSETTS (47)48.PENNSYLVANIA (41)49.ILLINOIS (49)50.CALIFORNIA (50)2020 growth rankings in parentheses

In this barrier island community there is a difference from one side of the highway to the other.

Far southwest quiet side of Mount Desert Island (Tremont)2. 

We have family members who have owned rentals in other sections of OBX and it's not easy having positive ROI on beach houses with how high all the expenses are.I think global warming is a bigger issue for OBX and any other barrier island though.

I never pulled the trigger on any other islands because they numbers are far inferior.