Ranking Charleston's Top Beaches
Charleston is a unique city for many reasons including its geographical layout and the access to world class beaches surrounding the historical and happening downtown peninsula. In a perfect world we would recommend visiting every one of the beaches listed below; however, if we were forced to pick our favorite our list would be as follows.
This is what a perfect fall evening on Folly Beach looks like!
#1 Folly Beach, the best all around beach to visit and top surfing beach in South Carolina.
How can Folly Beach not come in as the top beach in Charleston? Folly is a quick 15 to 20 minute drive from downtown and has something to offer for just about everyone. For surfers or those looking to take surf lessons, Folly Beach is a no brainer. The six mile island includes South Carolina’s top surfing spot, The Washout, as well as numerous other sand bars that are great for long boarding or learning. Our location at 3rd West Street on Folly boasts one of the best long boarding/learning sandbars on the island.
Folly has plenty of great post surf eats like Taco Boy, Lost Dog Cafe, Berts, and Jack of Cups to name a few. Along with the great surfing and food, there are plenty of unique vacation rentals for you and your crew to stay at. The beautiful thing about visiting Folly Beach is there is something for everyone. Surfers, foodies, all day beach goers, nature lovers, fisherman, and night owls. Our favorite part about this stretch of sand is the ability to enjoy the amenities on the island while still being able to go to either end of the island to enjoy a secluded nature walk. On the west end you have the county park and on the east end you have Morris Island and the lighthouse. These are both great little nature adventures, especially in the morning and evening hours.
#2 Sullivan’s Beach, the best non-activity based beach for a day trip or romantic getaway.
Sullivan’s Island boasts the most beautiful beach and real estate in Charleston; however, it lacks consistent waves due to the harbor jetty blocking most swell. This means no water sports, which is a big issue for us. While most of our time is spent on Folly Beach surfing and teaching lessons at our main location, we love coming to Sullivans for an evening walk followed by dinner and a cocktail. It is a much quieter scene and is home to some of our favorite restaurants like The Obstinate Daughter. We highly recommend visiting this beautiful little beach town for a day trip or a romantic evening, but because there are not many places to stay on the island we wouldn’t recommend it for your vacation.
#3 Isle of Palms, the best choice for golfers and those looking to relax at one of the many vacation rentals available on the island.
We love Isle of Palms and actually just opened our second surf lesson location on 8th Avenue on the island. We’ve had many good days of surfing at IOP and working with travel groups from Warrior Surf Foundation, but it is a little more out of the way. Isle of Palms is about a 40 minute drive from downtown Charleston and while the beach has decent waves, some fun restaurants, and plenty of vacation rentals, it lacks the quirky charm and energy of Folly. We would still highly recommend IOP for your vacation especially if you’re looking to do a lot of golfing and hanging at the house.
Bonus Beach! Morris Island, a convenient and fun way to see Charleston from a different perspective and to feed your adventurous side.
If you have access to a boat we would recommend visiting Morris Island for the day. It’s a fun island to explore and even surf depending the swell. The trip to Morris is a fantastic way to see Charleston from a different perspective and to better orient yourself with the geography of the low country. You’ll pass by Fort Sumter as well as some massive cargo ships headed up the Cooper River which is always a sight. On the quick boat trip to the island you will have a great vantage point of the Charleston Peninsula, James Island, Mount Pleasant, Sullivans Island, and the Ravanel Bridge. After this trip you will have a whole new sense and appreciation for the layout of Charleston. Once on the island you can pull up with the other boats and enjoy music and some beverages or you can walk the island for shark teeth and explore the beauty of this untouched stretch of beach.