Accolades and big news defined 2025 for Pawleys Island
This past year was a positive one for Pawleys Island, with accolades, top rankings and just plain good news.
The two biggest accolades in 2025 were from USA Today, which named Pawleys Island the best beach in South Carolina for the second year in a row, and Coastal Living Magazine, which named Pawleys Island a top place to live on the coast.
Also, Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in Pawleys Island was named 4th in a national USA Today ranking. This is an award-winning local course where many visitors enjoy playing golf during their beach vacation.
Other big news included a makeover of the south end parking lot, the largest beach access and parking area on Pawleys Island; a successful design contest for the Pawleys Island July 4th Parade T-shirt; and another successful nesting year for sea turtles due to public awareness and courtesy.
Let’s revisit these important events for Pawleys Island:
Pawleys Island named, once again, Best Beach in South Carolina by a USA Today/10Best poll
For the second year in a row, Pawleys Island was named the “Best Beach in South Carolina” by a USA Today/10Best poll!
Pawleys, the oldest seaside resort in America, bested 16 other Palmetto State contenders in a 2025 Best Readers’ Choice travel awards to name the “Best Beach in South Carolina.” It was part of a series of efforts to name the best beaches in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, California, New Jersey, and Michigan.
Voting for the 2025 contest took place from April 21 through May 19. Results were announced at noon on May 28.
Coastal Living Names Pawleys Island a Top Place to Live
Thousands of families flock to Pawleys Island each year to spend time together while enjoying the beautiful scenery and relaxed atmosphere of its ocean and creeks.
That family-friendly attitude is one of many accolades that earned the historic island a spot on Coastal Living Magazine’s Top 10 “Best Places to Live on the Coast.”
The article by Tracey Minkin states when it comes to beaches, local life, climate resilience, and straight-up beauty, the list compiled the best areas that cozy up to the water’s edge, from East Coast to West, the Great Lakes to the Gulf.
In the article’s description of Pawleys Island, with the heading, “The slow life in South Carolina,” Minkin says that the island is poised between docks along its creeks and beaches lining its shores.
“Pawleys Island is all about the water from crabbing to kayaking,’ she writes. “Small and close-knit, the community turns out for town meetings, works to protect its heritage trees, and cherishes its non-commercial zeitgeist.”
Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in Pawleys Island 4th in national USA Today ranking
Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, located on the mainland and one of Pawleys Island’s most popular and most scenic golf courses, placed 4th in a national ranking of “Best Public Golf Courses” in the United States.
Caledonia Golf and Fish Club was one of 20 courses around the country chosen to compete for the title of America’s “Best Public Golf Course” in the USA Today/10 Best contest. The public was invited to vote daily until voting ended on Monday, March 24. The 10 winners were announced at noon on Wednesday, April 2.
This local golf course competed against others in Georgia, Oregon, Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, California, New York, Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina, Colorado, Alabama, and New Mexico in the contest, before being reduced to the Top 10.
Caledonia is located on the mainland of Pawleys Island and is a member of the Hammock Coast Golf Trail, a collection of 11 public courses in Georgetown County spanning from Pawleys Island to Murrells Inlet.
Largest beach access and parking area on Pawleys Island receives makeover
New visitors to Pawleys Island often have two questions for town officials: “Where can I park?” and “Where can I find public beach access?”
That’s why Georgetown County refurbished the Pawleys Island south-end parking lot, the county’s largest free parking area for beach access, with work completed in February. The 3.3-acre parking lot area has been owned and maintained by the county since 1969.
Previously, the parking lot was covered in sand and spaces were marked with railroad ties. Now the parking lot is paved, and the 75 spaces are marked clearly with white lines. A shed for a beach wheelchair donated by the Adaptive Surf Project and portable toilets are also located there.
The project also included sand fencing and a new wooden walkway for beach access. The work began in October 2024, and it was completed and opened for use in January 2025.
Georgetown County worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fund the $417,000 project. County road user fees were used for paving the lot.
(Photo courtesy of SCUTE)
Pawleys Island turtle had another successful nesting year
With more than 20 nests hatched, officials credited a caring public for another successful turtle nesting season on Pawleys Island.
The success stems, in part, because there were less “false crawls” by mother sea turtles than usual. Officials said that was partly due to renters of the beachfront houses, condos and hotels doing a good job managing their lights, noise, etc.
From mid-May to mid-October, known as turtle season, female sea turtles crawl up the beach to the dunes at night to lay their eggs, burying them in the sand. A “false crawl” signifies a failed attempt by the mother to lay eggs, and officials found less of these in 2025, which may account for the high number of nests this year.
Volunteers with South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts, or SCUTE for short, walk the Pawleys Island beach every morning in search of turtle tracks. Every second or third year, female turtles lay four or five nests a season, each containing an average of 120 ping-pong-sized eggs.
Nests that are laid in the inter-tidal zone or areas at risk for foot traffic are carefully relocated by SCUTE volunteers who have been trained and authorized by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. You can spot SCUTE-tagged sea turtle nests by their distinctive orange screening and orange signs on nest poles.
By Clayton Stairs / tourism manager for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce