The spirited island hamlet south of Charleston shakes off mainland sophistication in favor of flip-flops and cash-only dive bars.

It's only twelve miles south of Charleston's historic homes and manicured window boxes, but the salty little town of Folly Beach ditches the Holy City's refinement in favor of an easygoing, barefoot sensibility that feels a bit more California than Carolina. Known to locals as the Edge of America, Folly is everything a beach town should be. Surf shops line the main drag; cover-ups count as appropriate lunch attire; and nobody takes themselves too seriously (they drop a pair of LED-lit flip flops to celebrate New Year's Eve). Here's where to stay, eat, and play in South Carolina's super chill surf town.

Every single room at The Tides Hotel comes with an ocean view. Perched at the end of Center Street, the town's main thoroughfare, the hotel is steps from both the beach and an array of local shops and eateries. For families looking to stretch out a bit more, there are a boatload of rentals to choose from: Opt for ocean-front properties that will sleep a crowd or cozy cottages with marsh and Folly River views. And for people who wouldn't dream of traveling without their four-legged companions, there are plenty of pet-friendly rentals too.

You won't go hungry on this island. Lost Dog Café is a local staple, serving coffee and all-day breakfast; don't miss the eggs Benedict, which they top with fried green tomatoes. Fish tacos, Vietnamese-inspired lettuce wraps, and Cuban sandwiches all have a place on the colorful menu at Chico Feo, where the vibe is equally colorful. Don't let the easygoing atmosphere fool you: Rita's Seaside Grille is serious about their food … and their cocktails. Try one of their Signature Crushes, fruity sippers with flavored liquors that pack a punch. End the night at Sand Dollar Social Club, a dive bar where you're invited to come as you are, so long as you're a member; membership costs $1, and bring your cash (you won't find a credit card machine here).

The island's six miles of beachfront are its main attraction, and it'd be easy to while away a week with no plans beyond putting your toes in the sand. But for those looking to build an action-packed itinerary, there are plenty of activities that highlight the destination's natural beauty: Book a guided kayak or standup paddleboard tour to explore the tidal creeks; stop by McKevlin's Surf Shop, South Carolina's oldest surfing outfitter, before catching some of the area's best waves at The Washout; and plan to make a return trip with your fishing poles to Folly in spring of 2023, when the beloved pier is set to reopen after extensive renovations.

Folly Beach has contracted a team of engineers to design a plan for more accessibility on Arctic Avenue, the beachfront road that Center Street runs into.

Published: Fri May 12 2023|Updated: Sat May 13 2023

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - The city of Folly Beach has contracted a team of engineers to design a plan for more accessibility on Arctic Avenue, the beachfront road that Center Street runs into.

The engineers who were hired by the city are in the initial planning period to find ways to better accommodate all users of what the city says is a busy road.

Officials say that includes pedestrians, bicyclists, golf carts and cars.

A. Morton Thomas and Associates INC., the contracted firm, is looking to find solutions to what they have identified as a crowded area.

South Carolina Program Services Lead and Project Manager Richard Turner says the goal is to find a way to better utilize the space available so that everyone can enjoy it and do so safely.

“You think about Arctic Avenue, and you’ve got parking for the most part up and down both sides of the road, so pedestrians during the summer tend to walk in the road where your automobiles are, or your golf carts, or your bikes are, so they’re all trying to use the same space,” Turner says.

They want more separation between motor vehicles and other forms of transportation, striving to make things flow smoother on the one-way road and decrease traffic incidents.

“We do have a lot of close calls on a daily basis,” Director of Public Works for the city of Folly Beach Eric Lutz said. “We have reports very recently from residents on Arctic that said people are going the wrong way down the street.”

Lutz says it’s a project that is long overdue.

“It is actually something we’ve been talking about for probably 20 years, and it feels good to see that we’re getting close to make something happen,” he said. “It won’t happen overnight; we hope this year we get the plans figured out and get a concept that we can work toward.”

Walking inspections on Arctic Avenue with several experts will start next week to collaborate on ideas for this plan to come.

Turner says they expect to have a public meeting at the end of June to present the community with the different options for this project.

He expects there to be an additional meeting in October or November to nail down a final plan with the public.

“That’s where we will provide a number of options for the citizens to come in and look at and kind of give us feedback on what they like and what they dislike,” Turner said. “That will really help us understand what their desires, needs, or concerns are and how we can best move forward to find the best fit for Folly.”

From there, official plans will be presented to the city at the beginning of 2024.

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FOLLY BEACH – Those looking to book their future vacations on Folly Beach may need to start planning ahead after a recent vote capping the number of short-term rental properties on the barrier island.

Folly Beach residents voted “yes” on Tuesday to enact a cap on short-term rentals at 800 units.

The results came in 656-579. The vote is expected to change the course of Folly rentals, similar to what’s happening statewide as cities and counties react to an increase in short-term rentals.

Folly Beach residents have been divided for years on whether to cap short-term rentals.

The beaches of Charleston, including Folly, are largely responsible for the masses of tourists that visit the area each year.

Folly is a popular destination for Upstate, Midlands and Lowcountry folks looking for a weekend escape on the six-mile stretch of a barrier island.

“Tourism, in general, is crucial to Folly,” said Vince Perna, a sign-carrying Folly resident who encouraged people to vote “no” the morning of the vote.

Folly is not the first to see a change in rules and regulations.

The Town of Mount Pleasant capped short-term rental permits at 414 for 2023, half as many as Folly.

The City of North Charleston allows eight guests maximum at any rental, while the city of Charleston allows only four adults at a time in a short-term rental.

The South Carolina Policy Council, an unaffiliated think tank, studied short-term rentals across the state during the summer of 2022.

Folly Beach was included as a “positive example of short-term rental policy,” according to the study.

“The kind of general messaging that we’ve been trying to push to some municipalities is actually to look at the specific problem that your municipality has, and make regulations accordingly,” said Bryce Fielder, senior policy analyst for the Policy Council.

Some residents of Folly and surrounding areas had been campaigning on either side long before the Feb. 7 vote.

Yard signs were scattered across Folly and parts of James Island in support of either “Folly United” or “Save Folly’s Future.”

Before the vote, Folly real estate agent Carrie Rosen wanted the short-term rental cap to be greater than 800.

“If we start a cap north of the amount we have right now, I think we would be able to agree a lot more,” Rosen said. “We wouldn’t have such a divide.”

Rosen helped organize “Folly United,” which argued the cap on short-term rentals hadn’t been fully thought through and feared it would impact Folly’s businesses, taxes and property values.

The other side of the vote was “Save Folly’s Future.”

Its successful mission was to “save a disappearing community and way of life by reversing the island’s population decline,” as said on its website.

A group of residents about a year ago banded together to help create the Folly Beach Residents Association, which supported “Save Folly’s Future.”

The residents association was looking for a compromise, said Ann Peets, who helped the association with its marketing and communications.

“We’re not trying to push people off the island,” Peets said. “It’s a tourist island – everybody gets that. We’re really working together to strive for community balance and quality of life.”

Even though Folly residents have voted “yes” to limiting the number of short-term rentals, that doesn’t mean the issue is settled.

The 1,157 short-term rental licenses held can remain in use until there’s a change of ownership for those properties.

I love living in Charleston because of its history, but I also love it because I’m a beach bum.

For me, summer 2023 will officially begin May 5, when Charleston County Parks and Recreation kicks off the first of its Moonlight Mixers at the recently reopened Edwin S. Taylor Fishing Pier. I look forward to making a little history myself that evening by being among the first to dance on Folly Beach’s new pier.

Crowds flocked to Folly’s first pavilion, built in 1925, then expanded six years later to include a pier, boardwalk and oceanfront hotel.

Sharply dressed couples twirled under the sparkling dance floor ball to the jazz riffs of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. The open-air structure included an arcade, soda shop, grill, and bathhouse with changing rooms and showers.

Wooden ramps allowed classic Buicks and Packards to cross over the dunes onto the beach, where more than one had to be pushed out of the soft sand when left unattended as the tide inevitably came back in.

Among the pavilion’s patrons was composer George Gershwin, who spent several months at Folly in 1934 collaborating with DuBose and Dorothy Heyward on the first opera ever composed in America, “Porgy and Bess.” A local celebrity, Gershwin judged beauty contests at the pavilion, as some of the biggest names of the day played big band, swing and jazz — Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Fats Domino among them.

The pavilion served as the center of local social life over the next 25 years until April 1957, when the pier, pavilion and hotel all went up in flames so high they could be seen from Charleston’s Battery.

Within three years, a new Ocean Plaza was built on the site, featuring a new pier with a 1,700-foot boardwalk. Exciting new additions included a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, carousel, bumper cars, spinning swings, shops, and concession stands for cotton candy, snowballs and ice cream. Each spring, the town would put up a giant sign across Center Street proclaiming “Welcome to Folly’s Playground!”

With the new pavilion came new musical genres and dances: R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and beach music. The list of bands that played the Folly pavilion reads like a Who’s Who in Music in mid-20th century America: Otis Redding, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, The Temptations, The Tams, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, The Swinging Medallions, The Drifters, Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, Pat Boone and Wolfman Jack.

The elegant dance attire of the 1930s was replaced with poodle skirts, saddle oxfords and T-shirts, later giving way to bare feet, short shorts and halter tops, as headliners included Grand Funk Railroad, The Marshall Tucker Band and the Allman Brothers.

Other aspects of Folly Beach were changing also. Shipping jetties placed within Charleston Harbor began causing Folly’s beach to erode, diminishing the wide sandy beaches available for swimmers and sunbathers. Cars were banned beyond the dune line.

By the end of the ’60s, crowds began thinning. The carnival rides packed up and moved on. Bands played less frequently. Fishing became the pier’s primary use. Some community events were still held there and the pavilion was available for rent, but the magic was gone.

The pier burned down again in 1977. Though arson was suspected, no charges were ever brought. A Holiday Inn (now The Tides) was built on the site in 1985, but nearly a generation passed before a new pier was completed near the original pavilion site in 1995. It was named for Edwin S. Taylor, who had owned the iconic Atlantic House restaurant that was tragically lost in Hurricane Hugo.

As that pier reached its expected 25-year lifespan and succumbed to hungry shipworms about two years ago, the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission closed the site and began building a new pier, which opened briefly in December and fully in February. Come May 5, I look forward to being among the next generation to make memories on the Folly pier’s dance floor.

I remember back in the day when my big sisters would wear bell bottoms. Now they are coming back in style thanks to Lainey Wilson;) It used to be the jeans of choice for hippies when my sisters wore them. According to the website, Thrillist, this is the most hippie town in South Carolina.

Thrillist found the most hippie towns in all fifty states. So what do we mean by hippie? It used to be all about VW buses, flower power, free love and the smell of patchouli. But now all things hippie are coming back in style. Asheville of course was named the most hippie city in North Carolina. Where can we find it in the Palmetto State? According to Thrillist the honors go to Folly Beach!

I can believe it! Our former sales manager, our beloved Billy Grooms, retired there a few years ago and he went from suits to board shorts, growing his hair to his shoulders and generally feeling a little more “free” to be himself. Folly Beach is just a few miles from nearby Charleston and is home to “Bert’s Market”. It is a 24 hours store where their motto is “We may doze but we never close”. Love it. To learn more about the most hippie towns in all fifty states, get all the details from Thrillist right here.

Folly Beach is also one of the most beautiful beaches in South Carolina. Picture compliments of my friend Billy.

This South Carolina Beach Is One Of The "Greatest Beach Towns In America"

If you grew up in the Carolinas chances are you have a favorite beach town you grew up going to. Or one you take your family to now. We have no shortage of fantastic seaside escapes. Even growing up in North Carolina I have to admit I’m typically a South Carolina beach person. While I tend to go to the general vicinity of the Myrtle Beach area (thanks to friends who have houses and free is for me). I’ve already read quite a lot of these types of articles and now have several other SC beaches on my must-visit list. Just need to find the time to get to them! Recently I came across yet another publication naming some of the best beach vacation spots. And my interest peaked like always. And of course, somewhere in South Carolina was included when Thrillist created a list of “The 20 Greatest Beach Towns In America”. But with so many fantastic destinations, which made the cut to be recognized?

The list compiled by writers at Thrillist details 20 of the nation’s beach towns in a variety of states. In addition to a general summary of the destination, they also make sure to let you know the must-eat spots and what you can’t leave without. You can read their full article here. Or keep reading to see which South Carolina town was named one of the 20 Greatest Beach Towns In America! And a couple of others that stuck out to me as personal favorites of mine or bucket list destinations!