Practical Guide to the Best Charleston, SC Beaches

Charleston, SC Beaches Overview and Quick Tips

I’ll go into lots more details in the longer sections below, but if you’re in a hurry, I’ll briefly touch on all the best beaches in Charleston, SC here.

First, let me say that if you’re considering only one destination in South Carolina, Charleston is my top recommendation.

There’s so much great charm, history, shopping, and dining in the city, and there are 3 great beaches close to Charleston that can be reached in about half an hour’s drive from the city.

So, whether you want a beach vacation with access to a great city or just a slice of beach to go with a visit to one of the US’s most charming cities, perhaps while staying at one of Charleston’s best luxury hotels, you can get them both!

I spent a brunt of my formative years in Charleston attending the College of Charleston and grew up not so far away in Columbia.

So, I know the city and the beaches of Charleston well.

Each of the 3 main Charleston beaches also offers a slightly different vibe.

Folly Beach is my personal overall favorite Charleston beach. The beach is a bit skinnier than the other two best beaches near Charleston and it can get crowded, but there are some good restaurants here and it has a nice, unpretentious vibe.

I think Isle of Palms is the nicest and widest beach, and the Isle of Palms County Park has nice public beach facilities, making it the most family friendly of the beaches near Charleston, SC. There are some cool little beach bars and restaurants in its “downtown” area too.

Finally, Sullivan’s Island is often the least crowded, has a great beach, is home to one of the city’s most under appreciated historic sites, and has some solid restaurants too. The only downside is it isn’t as accessible as Folly and Isle of Palms because it doesn’t have much public parking, many places to stay, or any public facilities.

The truth is, each of these Charleston, South Carolina beaches has its pros and cons but you can’t really go wrong!

I’ll go into much more detail on each, including covering who they are the best fit for, tips on getting there, parking and beach rules, places to stay, and places to eat in the sections below.

I’ll also suggest and give you the juicy, sandy details on a few more beaches close to Charleston if you’re willing to go a little further from the city.

Folly Beach: My Favorite Charleston Beach

You know you’ve found a good beach when it’s popular with the college kids, popular with the young beach bums who live here seasonally, popular with families, and popular with the retired crowd!

Folly Beach is my pick for the top choice among the best Charleston, South Carolina beaches since it offers a little bit of everything for everybody.

It also happens to the the closest beach to Charleston, SC.

Shoot across the bridges from Spring Street (Highway 17) or Calhoun Street (Highway 30) onto James Island, then hang a left on Folly Road (Highway 171) and follow it to Folly Island, the beach, and, the sea.

You’ll arrive right in Folly’s tiny, few block radius downtown.

Here, you’ll find a cluster of good restaurants.

Nearly all of them have a casual, laid back beach bar kind of vibe and most are located along Center Street or a within a block of the main strip.

Our personal favorite is Taco Boy, but Coconut Joes, Rita’s and Woody’s are all also standouts. Truth is places don’t survive if they aren’t good, so you can’t really go wrong.

There’s a small handful of typical beach supply and souvenir shops on Center Street too.

Meanwhile, you can find the one stop corner store style shop of Bert’s Market with an adjacent liquor store a block off Center Street on the corner of East Ashley and 2nd Street.

There are several larger supermarkets on Folly Road on the way over to Folly too, by the way, which you might want to hit to get supplies on the way if you’re coming to stay in a rental.

At the end of Center Street, you’ll find the pier.

It’s free to access, and there are public bathrooms and showers. There is a fee to park in the pier’s parking lot and to fish, and there is also a restaurant, little bar, and snacks like ice cream here.

More info on the Folly Beach pier here.

One important tip: there is lots of free on street parking both along the beach front road and back roads, but you have to make sure your tires are all the way off the pavement.

Also, be sure you are not blocking a driveway.

They hand out tickets about as fast as that SC summer sun will turn you into a lobster!

Parking along Center Street is also free, and there are some paid parking spaces via little kiosks at a lot of the public beach accesses.

Learn more about parking on Folly here.

The central area here around the pier is where you’ll find some of the wider sections of beach in this best beach town near Charleston, but also the largest crowds.

I would still recommend this area for most Charleston beach day trippers and even those renting houses nearby that aren’t beach front as you have easy access to the public bathrooms by the pier and all the restaurants here since there isn’t really much else besides homes and rental houses on the rest of the island.

There are also beach chair and umbrella rentals around the pier.

If you do have you own beach gear with you or just need a good towel and don’t plan to have lunch or drinks somewhere, you can head either direction where there are public beach access points every couple blocks.

To the right side facing the pier, you’ll also usually find a bit more family friendly beach areas with a crowd made up mostly of people renting houses on this side of the island.

The beach here is pretty wide and generally nice too, and the crowd is usually pretty thin.

If you want a rental on the river inlet, this is the best area for it, in my opinion too, by the way.

Finally, if you head all the way down to the right you’ll find Folly Beach County Park, where there is a very large beach area that curls around to the mouth of the river.

This is also a good spot for day trippers, especially families.

You do have to pay to park and enter the park, but there are good changing and bathroom facilities, and you can leave to go get lunch downtown and reenter without paying again, which is a nice perk.

Learn more about Folly Beach County Park here.

If you head left when facing the pier, the crowds do thin out a bit as you get farther away from downtown. I would say this end of the beach is still usually more crowded than the other side of the pier though.

The beach also thins out a bit for a while before getting wider again as you get closer to the end the island.

I feel like back in my CofC days, we tended to usually end up on the beach not far past where the beachfront road of East Arctic Ave ends past 12th street, usually doing our best to hide our beers from the beach patrol.

Yes, be aware that on Folly, not to mention the rest of the best beaches in Charleston and most of the beaches in SC, alcohol is technically forbidden, as are glass containers.

You’re likely to see plenty of people, of all ages, not just college kids, with red solo cups though!

Farther up, you’ll find “the washout,” a stretch of beach in front of a section of homes that were destroyed by Hurricane Hugo.

Unimpeded winds coming from inland and over the inlet creeks out to the sea are responsible for this being the best spot to surf on Folly.

Beyond the washout, there’s some but not a ton of development.

Eventually, you reach a little inlet between Folly and the undeveloped Morris Island, where you can see the Morris Island Lighthouse on an often nearly deserted beach.

Overall, I really believe Folly makes for the overall best Charleston beach, and it has a come one, come all non-pretentious vibe, which contrasts it a bit with the other two beaches near Charleston, SC I’ll discuss below.

Where to Stay on Folly Beach

There are just a handful of hotels on Folly Beach.

The Tides is a long running all around solid spot just by the pier and public beach. You really can’t beat the location with the best restaurants and bars here just a few minutes walk away. The hotel is probably a bit outdated and is more ok than great, but you can’t beat the location.

The Hotel Folly has just been recently renovated and is a gorgeous little property with a great view of the inter-coastal waterway. It is a few blocks from the beach, although it is on the main avenue where most of the restaurants are located and within an easy walk to the pier and beach.

The Boutique Vera Hotel is also located on the main strip a few blocks from the beach, and has a neat colorful and modern design.

Water’s Edge Inn is a lovely little adult only bed and breakfast style lodge located near the heart of town near the marshes of the inter-coastal waterway. Perhaps even better is the Regatta Inn, also adults only, located near the southern tip of the island close to the county park.

Of course, there are slews of great rental properties on Folly as well.

There’s also a bit more range in terms of size and budget (well, relatively speaking, anyways!), even with some smaller, cottage style homes here, which are almost nonexistent on the other main Charleston beaches.

Click here to search for vacation rentals on Folly on Booking.com or click here to search for Folly Beach rentals on VRBO.

Isle of Palms – Most Extensive Beach in Charleston

Next up is Isle of Palms, a barrier island off of Mt. Pleasant, north of Charleston.

I remember spending lots of fun times here in high school and college at a friend’s family beach house.

I would sometimes come out here while at CofC on my own too.

One of the things I’ve always loved about Isle of Palms is the beach here is really wide.

There’s normally even a pretty decent sliver of beach left at high tide.

It is a bit further from downtown Charleston than the other two best beaches in Charleston though.

You can get to Isle of Palms two ways.

First, you can head across the Ravenel Bridge on 17 N, staying to the left when exiting the bridge to stay on 17 though Mount Pleasant. Then turn right onto the Isle of Palms Connector to take you out to the island.

Or, you can head to Sullivan’s Island (see section below on it, by the way), then cross Breach Inlet on the north end of the island over to Isle of Palms.

That will bring you right into Isle of Palms’s downtown. To be honest, I prefer this route, especially during rush hour when the traffic through Mount Pleasant can be bad.

One thing that is nice about Isle of Palms, especially if you’re planning to rent a beach house, is there is an actual supermarket on the island.

The little downtown has a handful of good restaurants and beach bars too.

There’s a Coconut Joe’s here too, and we enjoyed Lawrence’s Seafood Company on a recent trip here. There’s a pizza place, a Mexican place, and several other options, all with a pretty laid back vibe.

The Windjammer often has live music and usually has a decent nightlife crowd.

At the park, you’ll find a playground, grills, beach umbrella and chair rentals, changing areas, bathrooms, and outdoor showers to wash off from the beach.

The park is why I consider this to be the best public beach near Charleston. You can learn more about the park in my guide to the Isle of Palms County Park.

Unlike the park on Folly, it’s within easy walking distance to the restaurants and shops on Isle of Palms.

There is a good sized parking lot at the park, although it can fill up on summer weekends.

Speaking of parking, there is also paid parking at little kiosks on the street in this little downtown district.

Parking is free on the street, with all 4 wheels off the pavement, in only some areas of the island, mostly along the main Palm Boulevard.

Meanwhile, other areas require a permit or having your license plate registered as a resident of the island.

You can learn more about parking on the island in this practical guide to Isle of Palms parking.

Next to the park is the Isle of Palms pier, and the area just south of it is known as Front Beach.

There are umbrella and chair rentals here, and several of the restaurants can be accessed by paths up from the beach.

In fact, one of the other things I like about Isle of Palms is this whole little beachfront downtown area is more pedestrian friendly than Folly or Sullivan’s Island.

The pier itself is private and not accessible to the public, although if you stay at one of the Oceanside Villas or Sea Cabin rentals, you can access it.

Places to Stay on Isle of Palms

Next to the pier and with easy access to the mini-strip of restaurants on the island you’ll find the Palms Oceanfront Hotel.

Next door, you’ll find the smaller Seaside Inn.

Farther up the island, you’ll find mostly rental properties and there aren’t any other public facilities, but the beach is great and usually not too crowded.

There are also public beach access points on nearly every block, although parking can be tricky with the permit rules (see above for info).

Much of the northern edge of the island after about 45th street is part of Wild Dunes, a sort of combo of a gated community, golf club, and resort area.

Inside of Wild Dunes, you can stay at the gorgeous Sweetgrass Inn and Boardwalk Inn that has lovely pools and amenities.

There are also hotel style rooms at the Residences at Sweetgrass, and there are vacation home rentals inside of Wild Dunes too.

This can be a good option for those who want some hotel and resort style amenities but also the privacy and peace and quiet of a family style beach rental.

Remember, if you’d like access to the pier to fish, you can get it by staying at one of the Oceanside Villa or Sea Cabin units, which are also located near all the restaurants in the beachfront downtown area.

Of course, you’ll find tons of other great beach rental options all over Isle of Palms.

Click here to check out vacation rentals on Isle of Palms listed on Booking.com or click here to check out Isle of Palms rental listings on VRBO.

Sullivan’s Island: Relaxed but Not as Accessible

Sullivan’s Island is a bit of a place of contradictions in my opinion, but I also think it’s an underrated Charleston beach.

I got to know Sullivan’s Island well when I worked at Fort Sumter National Monument in a sweet college gig I probably didn’t appreciate enough at the time.

The headquarters of Fort Sumter is here on Sullivan’s at Fort Moultrie.

Honestly, I consider Fort Moultrie to possibly be be Charleston’s most unappreciated historic site, site of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island and the historic origin of Carolina Day and the design of the South Carolina state flag.

So, if you like history, be sure to include a visit to Fort Moultrie during your time in Charleston, and you can hit the beach afterwards.

Even if you don’t want to see the fort I would still say you should consider Sullivan’s if you’re looking for a relaxed beach day and can live without a lot of public facilities.

To get to Sullivan’s Island from Charleston, head across the Ravenel bridge on Highway 17 N and exit the bridge in the two right hand lanes to get onto West Coleman Blvd, Highway 703.

You’ll cross Shem Creek, which has some great restaurants, by the way, before eventually heading across the tiny swing bridge that connects to Sullivan’s Island.

You’ll arrive to the little downtown where you’ll find a gas station and the cluster of restaurants and shops on the island immediately to the right.

Street parking is free on Sullivan’s, but you must have all 4 tires off the pavement and make sure you don’t block any driveways.

Some of the beach access points, called stations, do have parking as well.

There are a few beach access points to the north of town, but there isn’t a ton of beach or much to see there.

You can arrive to Breach Inlet, site of important fighting during the battle of Sullivan’s Island and even cross over to Isle of Palms here.

The area just past the historic Sullivan’s Island lighthouse, just south of “downtown” is where you’ll find the widest beach area since it sits on sort of a curved point where there is a lot of sand built up.

Further down, towards the southern end of the island is where you’ll find Fort Moultrie. You can also get good views of Fort Sumter from this end of the beach.

The catch with Sullivan’s Island is I always got the impression that most of the locals would prefer that the place just be a private beach.

There are definitely some pretty sweet homes here that I imagine cost a pretty penny, so I guess I get it.

In fact, supposedly Bill Murray, Reese Witherspoon, Stephen Colbert, and Judge Judy all own homes on the island!

But as I said, there are also some contradictions.

I always found the handful of little restaurants right as you come onto Sullivan’s Island to be pretty non-pretentious and reasonably priced.

Poe’s Tavern, named in honor of Edgar Allan Poe who was stationed for a time at Moultrie and wrote his short story “The Gold Bug” based on the island, has really good burgers.

Dunleavy’s Pub has decent food and decent prices for a cold beer.

Finally, Home Team BBQ has great barbecue, and there are a few other places to eat here.

The Obstinate Daughter, which opened up after I moved away from Charleston and probably the most upscale of any restaurant at the Charleston, South Carolina beaches.

There are not any public bathrooms, showers, or other facilities anywhere on Sullivan’s Island though.

I would say though, while technically not public, no one is likely to bother you if you use the bathrooms at the Fort Moultrie headquarters. The entrance fee is relatively nominal though, and the little museum and fort are totally worth touring though!

The downside the beach closest to the fort is ho hum and you have to cross a big field in front to reach a nicer section.

So, overall, well, once again a place of contradictions, while Sullivan’s is very family friendly in terms of not having big crowds or rowdiness on the beach, there aren’t any public facilities or things like umbrella rentals.

It works well for a beach day trip if you can live with peeing in the ocean and bring all your own beach gear.

Places to Stay on Sullivan’s Island

There aren’t any hotels on Sullivan’s Island at all.

There used to be practically no rentals either. Nowadays, there are some rentals, but still not a ton of them.

This is why I consider Sullivan’s to be more a day trip option, but if you find a good looking rental, you can have a relaxing vacation here with fewer crowds than at the other top Charleston beaches.

Plus, you can usually get in and out of the city quicker from here.

Well, unless you get caught by the bridge.

Yeah, trust me, that bridge could be frustrating when all I wanted was to get home and shower after a full day out in the sticky humidity and sweltering sun at Fort Sumter!

You can click here to see Sullivan’s Island rentals on Booking.com or click here to see Sullivan’s Island rentals on VRBO.

A Few Other Beaches to Consider Near Charleston

Truthfully, you can’t go wrong with any of the best beaches in South Carolina near Charleston discussed above.

So, I’d encourage most people to stick to those 3 best Charleston beaches if your goal is to stay in Charleston and day trip to the beach or stay at the beach while having easy access to the city.

However, If you’re willing to drive a bit longer for a day trip, want a longer beach stay and will only go into the city for a day, or not care about going to the city at all, you might check out these other good beaches near Charleston, SC.

Beaches North of Charleston: Pawleys and Litchfield

North of Isle of Palms, you’ll find mostly undeveloped marshland and preserved barrier islands that really aren’t all that accessible until you get to Pawley’s Island.

Just north of that and usually closely associated with it is Litchfield by the Sea.

Pawley’s is about an hour and a half away from Charleston, so I think it’s pushing the distance I’d want to go for a day trip but it is very highly regarded and is a popular place for family vacation rentals especially.

We spent a few nights on Pawley’s with my aunt recently and really liked it.

The town feels a bit stuck in time, nice, quiet, and relaxed, and the beach is really nice.

The only thing I wasn’t crazy about is there aren’t any restaurants on the island itself and you have to drive to the nearby town to go out and do much.

I was a little underwhelmed by the seafood options too, especially compared to the places to eat at the beaches closer to Charleston.

There is a Hampton Inn on Pawley’s as well as the Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort. There are also a good number of rental properties here in addition to a few other hotels.

Click here to see vacation rentals on Pawley’s listed on Booking.com or click here to see vacation rentals listed on VRBO.

Beaches South of Charleston

Turning south, you will find more additional options for good beaches close to Charleston, SC, all of which are actually closer than Pawley’s.

Kiawah Island

First, you’ll find Kiawah Island, located just past Folly.

Much of Kiawah is privately owned or part of the whopping 7 golf courses on the island.

Yes, you read that right, there are 7 golf courses on Kiawah!

These include courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player among others. Kiawah Island Golf Resort owns 5 of these and the other two are owned by Kiawah Island Club.

So, for those who want their Charleston beach vacation to be primarily spent on the golf course, or possibly those whose families want a good beach and relatively easy access to the city while they golf, Kiawah might actually be their ideal choice for the best Charleston beach.

Since so much of the island is either privately owned or part of the golf resorts, there isn’t a ton of public beach access points or parking on Kiawah, which makes it a bit too much trouble for a day trip, in my opinion.

There is a public beach at the Kiawah Beachwalker Park. It has bathrooms, showers, and changing room facilities as well as lifeguards. If you’re coming here for a day trip, this is the best place to do it.

There are also some vacation rentals in addition to the golf resorts on the island. Click here to see vacation rentals on Kiawah on Booking.com or click here to see Kiawah rentals on VRBO.

Seabrook Island

Just south of Kiawah, you’ll find Seabrook Island.

Some of this island is owned by the Audubon Society and there is also a golf course here. There is no public beach here, but there are some vacation rentals.

Since much of the island is protected land and undeveloped, it’s a good choice for those who want to experience a bit of nature at the beach.

In fact, there are some nice nature trails on the island. Lots of birds and even deer can be seen in the protected areas.

Lots of people claim they can see dolphins in the water off the coast too!

Click here to see rentals on Seabrook Island on Booking.com or click here to see rentals on VRBO.

You can also stay at the Andell Inn, a lovely property along the inter-coastal waterway between Kiawah and Seabrook.

Edisto Island

South of Seabrook, you’ll find Edisto Island, the last place we’ll discuss in this section on other best beach towns near Charleston, SC.

A good friend’s family had a beach house here growing up, and I remember going with them and really enjoying this beach one summer.

Although, I did somehow manage to get stung by jellyfish for the first time ever, twice, as a matter of fact, that week!

For what it’s worth, meat tenderizer seemed to help more than peeing on it.

I loved that the beach was not very crowded. There is a nice, extensive and wide beach here too.

It’s a good beach for seashell hunting too.

Much of the land around Edisto is protected, leaving it largely pristine and undeveloped.

Similar to Kiawah and Seabrook, there aren’t a ton of restaurants and the like here.

However, it also isn’t quite as exclusive as those places either.

There is a state park and even camp grounds here, making it fairly accessible to all types of travelers.

There’s a neat serpentarium on the way to the beach too.

There’s usually not much of a crowd here and the area is overall very family friendly. I remember riding our bikes all over the island as kids and there being very little traffic.

This is also one of the better places to stay at the beach near Charleston if you want to do some fishing too.

There’s even a golf course here.

There are a few hotels on Edisto, including the Club Wyndham Ocean Ridge.

There are also a lot of great vacation rental options available on the island. Click here to see Booking.com listings for rentals on Edisto or click here to see Edisto rental listings on VRBO.

At just about an hour away from Charleston, it’s doable as a day trip too and not a crazy distance to go into Charleston for a day or two if you’re doing a longer stay at the beach.

There are some nice beaches south of Edisto, but they are really too far away to consider them to be “Charleston beaches,” so I’m leaving them to discuss in another place.

Which are your favorite Charleston beaches?

Now you’ve got an in depth and practical guide to the best beaches in Charleston, SC.

You’ve got just about everything you need to know about the 3 main Charleston beaches, and even a bit of info on 4 more good beaches near Charleston.

Which is the best beach in Charleston for you is going to depend a bit on what you’re looking for, but I hope this guide helped you decide which Charleston beach or Charleston beaches you’ll visit.

I’d love to know which is your favorite Charleston beach and any tips you’d give other travelers in the comments below!

Cheers and Happy Exploring Beach Bummin’!