Folly Beach

Folly Beach and County Park is beautifully located between the Atlantic and the Folly River on a 12-square-mile barrier island south of Charleston, South Carolina.

There are six miles of sandy beaches for surfing, kayaking, swimming and walking and the sunsets are breathtaking. The family-friendly beaches are wild and unspoilt with access points on every block. This gorgeous sandy beach has lifeguards, a boardwalk and wheelchair-accessible ramp. Visitors can rent chairs and umbrellas and make use of the restrooms, dressing rooms and a snack bar. You can also rent jet skis and boogie boards from the Tiki Bar.

Open 8am to sunset, Folly Beach County Park has a fee for parking of $5 to $10, depending on the season. Parking is limited so it’s advisable to arrive early.

There’s a 1,045-footlong fishing pier (second longest on the US Eastern Seaboard) that stands about 23 feet above the waves. It’s great for surf fishing and offers superb coastal views including the lighthouse. If you’re surfing. Keep well away from the pier which creates a wicked undertow.

Close to the beach there are shops, snack bars and beach shops along with seafood restaurants. Look out for historic Porgy House where pianist George Gershwin wrote his opera “Porgy and Bess’ in the 1930s. He was staying in a beach cabin near the house which was owned by his author friends Dubose and Dorothy Heyward.

At the west end of Folly Island is Skimmer Flats with its significant rookery of Eastern Brown Pelicans that skim effortlessly above the waves before diving for fish.