Center Street Beach Folly Beach SC

Beach Personality: Funky Old-Fashioned Beach Town

Center Street Beach in Folly Beach SC is a very popular beach due to its convenient access to Charleston and the many activities and amenities available. It’s also my personal favorite in the Charleston area. Why? It’s clean (both the water and the sand), it has all the amenities anyone could want making it a low preparation/low stress option, and it has lots of the beach activities I like. For example, people watching, boogie boarding, swimming, and beach walking.  Those activities only scratch the surface too, as you can see from the list below, so no matter what you’re looking for in a beach Center Street Beach probably has it.

One of the most popular activities here is surfing because Folly Beach is considered a top east coast surfing destination. “Washout” is the most well-known surfing beach on Folly Island, but surfers also like Center Street Beach. If you’ve always wanted to try surfing, there are a number of surf shops and schools in Folly Beach that offer lessons.

Beach Activities:

  • Lounging
  • People watching
  • Swimming
  • Surfing
  • Boogie boarding
  • Paddle boarding
  • Walking on the beach
  • Skim boarding
  • Jet skiing
  • Volleyball
  • Fishing (license required, may be purchased at the pier)

Beach Amenities:

  • Public bathrooms – Yes.
  • Showers – Yes.
  • Parking – Yes, for a fee.
  • Food – Yes, at Locklear’s Beach City Grill on the pier. Food is also available at the adjacent business district.
  • Lifeguard – Yes, Memorial Day to mid-August. Weekends only in May and mid-August to mid-September.
  • Dogs allowed on the beach – No.

Beach Rentals:

  • Fishing rods are available for rent at the pier.
  • Sun and Ski Rentals (843-588-0033) at 1 Center Street rents chairs, umbrellas, boogie boards, kayaks, and jet skis.
  • Summer Rental LLC (843-724-9822) rents chairs, umbrellas, sun shades, coolers, surfboards, boogie boards, baby joggers, baby strollers, and tents.
  • Rip Tide Jet Ski Rental (843-452-9911) east of the pier on the beach offers jet ski rentals.
  • Extreme Jet Ski Rental (843-270-7474) on the beach west of the condos in the 200 block of West Arctic offers jet skis for rent.
  • Ocean Surf Shop (843-588-9175) at 31 Center Street has surfboards for rent.
  • McKevlin’s Surf Shop (843-588-2247) at 8 Center Street has surfboards for rent.

To many joyful beach experiences!

— Lisa Dworkin

Photos courtesy of Lisa Dworkin. All rights reserved.

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