SOUTH CAROLINA · LOWCOUNTRY
Charleston County beaches
Choose a town beach, a county park with its own visitor facilities, or a protected island reached by boat. Each guide keeps the exact arrival, local rules and current-source limitations separate.
START WITH YOUR DAY
Find your fit in Charleston County
10 published guides in this county. Start with restrooms (4 qualifying beaches) or dogs allowed (2 qualifying beaches), then compare the named entrances. 2 guides have boat-only arrival: plan transport and the lawful landing separately. Feature counts describe documented routes, not all beaches or every entrance in the county.
Use the verified route features below to choose where to begin. Counts refer to beaches with a qualifying named entrance, not every entrance. These are planning details, not current opening or guard duty.
A few places to start
Starting points ranked by verified entrance facilities; these are not a county-wide quality ranking.
Isle of Palms County Park
Entrance: Enter the county park at 1 14th Avenue. Municipal beach paths form a separate arrival network.
Restrooms
Parking & entry: Parking & entry details
Check before going: Check the entrance-specific route and equipment details below before planning your visit.
See entrance details →Kiawah Beachwalker Park
Entrance: Use the park entrance at 8 Beachwalker Drive. Residential and resort gates do not establish an ordinary nonresident arrival route.
Restrooms
Parking & entry: Parking & entry details
Check before going: Check the entrance-specific route and equipment details below before planning your visit.
See entrance details →Folly Beach County Park
Entrance: Enter the county park at 1100 West Ashley Avenue. Its designated ocean swimming area is separate from the adjacent river and inlet.
Restrooms
Parking & entry: Parking & entry details
Check before going: Check the entrance-specific route and equipment details below before planning your visit.
See entrance details →Choose the right beach day
Folly Beach and Isle of Palms have town approaches and separately managed county parks. Sullivan’s Island has its own dog schedules and permit rules. Beachwalker is a public county-park arrival on Kiawah Island; nearby resort or private-island lodging does not grant beach access.
Lighthouse Inlet is a coastal walking and wildlife destination where swimming and wading are prohibited. Botany Bay’s protected shore has different collection and operating rules. Capers and Bulls require separate boat planning; destination map references are not landing or navigation waypoints.
Every beach guide in Charleston County
Folly Beach
Folly Island's municipal beach offers public street-end arrivals, the Washout surfing area and a town center near the pier. The separate west-end county park and Lighthouse Inlet preserve have their own facilities and rules.
Folly Beach County Park
A managed west-end Folly Island destination with dune boardwalks, restrooms, outdoor showers and seasonal beach services beside the Atlantic and Folly River.
Isle of Palms County Park
The county-managed 14th Avenue beach park provides a designated seasonal swimming section, dune boardwalk, dressing rooms and beach-day facilities.
Kiawah Beachwalker Park
Kiawah's named public beach park on the island's west end offers ocean access via dune boardwalks with facilities and seasonal rental and guard services.
Isle of Palms Beach
The municipal beach includes Front Beach and a wider public access-path network. The named 14th Avenue county park is a separate managed destination with its own fees and facilities.
Sullivan's Island Beach
A town beach reached by numbered station paths, with selected ADA routes and a quiet residential setting near maritime historic sites.
Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve
A protected northeast Folly Island coast for walking, birdwatching and licensed shore fishing, with views toward Morris Island Lighthouse. Swimming and wading are prohibited.
Botany Bay Beach
Charleston County's Botany Bay preserve beach is a protected shell and driftwood shore reached by a tide-dependent walking route. It is distinct from Colleton County's Edisto Town and state-park beaches.
Capers Island
A boat-only heritage preserve with natural trails, marsh wildlife and an eroding tree-lined beach. Visitors must be self-sufficient and heed tides and posted protections.
Bulls Island
A boat-access Cape Romain refuge island with trails, maritime forest, wildlife and a long Atlantic beach including the Boneyard landscape. Access and transport are separate from swimming permission.
Plan around the exact entrance
County-park dog rules do not inherit municipal off-leash windows. Lifeguard coverage is seasonal and limited to designated areas; a published summer schedule does not promise a guard on duty today. Parking payment windows, gate schedules and shoreline access are separate.
Read the guide’s named route for restrooms, rinse stations, wheelchair equipment, mat endpoints and remaining sand gaps. A boardwalk or beach wheelchair alone does not establish continuous access to the water.
Research scope and photographs
The October 9, 2026 desk review covers 10 qualified guides and forty-five research categories per guide. It is not an exhaustive shoreline survey, on-site inspection or same-day safety check. Held identities and unresolved exact landings remain in the private research queue.
Only individually verified, reusable photographs depict named beaches. Archival photographs do not establish current facilities or opening; a pending photograph never uses a different beach as a substitute.