Port Royal Sound  Port Royal Sound is a coastal sound, or inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the Sea Islands region, in Beaufort County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the estuary of several rivers, the largest of which is the Broad River. Port Royal Sound is located between Hilton Head Island to the south and, to the north, Port Royal Island, Saint Helena Island, Parris Island, and other smaller islands. The Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island facility is located on Parris Island. Several rivers flow into Port Royal Sound, most notably the Broad River. Other rivers that contribute to Port Royal sound include the Coosawhatchie River, Colleton River, Chechessee River, and Pocotaligo River, among others. Many waterways called rivers in the Sea Islands region are more akin to tidal straits, connecting bays and estuaries and separating islands. Port Royal Sound is connected to other coastal waterbodies via channels of this type. For example, the Beaufort River separates Port Royal Island and St Helena Island, while connecting Port Royal Sound Saint Helena Sound via Brickyard Creek and the Coosaw River. Skull Creek and Mackay Creek separate Hilton Head Island from the mainland, while connecting Port Royal Sound to Calibogue Sound. A waterway called Whale Branch separates Port Royal Island from the mainland, while connecting Port Royal Sound and the Broad River to Saint Helena Sound, via the Coosaw River. The town of Port Royal and the city of Beaufort are located on Port Royal Island. The Intracoastal Waterway passes through Port Royal Sound. Spanish explorers sent by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1521, and de Ayllón himself in 1526, were probably the first Europeans to visit Port Royal Sound, although there is debate over their exact routes. Port Royal Sound was named in 1562 by Jean Ribault, who founded a short-lived Huguenot colony at the bequest of the French admiral Gaspard de Coligny, called Charlesfort, on Parris Island. Port Royal Sound is thus the second oldest surviving French place-name in the U.S. In 1566 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded the settlement of Santa Elena in the Port Royal Sound area. It remained an important Spanish colony until about 1587. In 1663 the Province of Carolina was founded. While Charles Town became the colony's center, the Port Royal Sound area was important strategically and economically from the colony's earliest years.