Why Pawleys Keeps Winning
When family members gather chairs, buckets, and cool beverages at the beach on Pawleys Island, they are recreating a scene that has transpired for hundreds of years. As one of the oldest seaside resorts, Pawleys Island has welcomed visitors to its simple, sandy shores to escape the heat, to rest, renew, and revel in simple pleasures.
Holding on to Traditions
The same rituals rice planters’ families once enjoyed still persist today as visitors from all over the United States and Canada now visit this small Atlantic barrier island, less than two hours north of Charleston, South Carolina. The day’s schedule is dictated by sunrise and sunset, by high tide and low tide, whether the fish are running, and when the crab trap is full. Visitors today may seek activities on the water, golf, and shopping on the mainland, or rest in a Pawleys Island Original Rope Hammock and swing, read, or nap, as visitors have enjoyed since the 18th century.
Pawleys Island still holds to the traditions of its first vacationers, from grandparents, parents, and children, and to newcomers seeking a vacation like no other. For many generations, beach houses on Pawleys were built of pine and cypress behind the dunes with iconic steep roofs and wraparound porches. Many of these 19th-century houses were never sold, just handed down to sons and daughters, continuing the strong connections to this “Blessed Isle.” State historic markers at the houses and at South Carolina’s oldest man-made causeway, still in use, help explain the island’s history and size — less than 4 miles long and a ¼-mile wide, at most.
Because of the centuries of Pawleys Island vacationers, the community has sought to protect the cultural and natural history of the area. Access to the beach, the creek, and the nearby Waccamaw River ensures opportunities to see the various environments; public tours and education programs involve residents and visitors; and an enduring sense of “keeping Pawleys as it is” has created an understanding that this coastal retreat is different and desirable.
Isle of Appreciation
Proof of this understanding is the abundance of local, regional, and national awards and accolades from USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice naming Pawleys the best beach in South Carolina in 2024 and 2025; Coastal Living Magazine’s list of Best Places To Live; and continued coverage in Southern Living and Travel + Leisure magazines. Even in the National Trust’s Preservation Magazine, an article described an African American couple’s stay at Pelican Inn as they searched for their families’ roots on the Waccamaw River Plantations.
These awards and feature stories represent the work of all who promote and enjoy the island’s laid-back reputation, where “doing nothing” may include surfing, cycling, fishing, kayaking, or walking the entire island along the ocean edge and coming back by the road adjacent to the salt marsh. Some people prefer to spend all day collecting sharks’ teeth or finding seashells such as whelks, lettered olives, sand dollars, and the lucky and elusive “Pawleys Island shell,” a small Imperial Venus that’s regarded as a charm by those who love this paradise called Pawleys. You can certainly take the advice of Southern Living magazineand follow their collection of The 13 Best Things to Do on Pawleys Island.
Mainland Meanderings
On the mainland, rentals of bikes, kayaks, and fishing boats are available from small businesses. Independent and local restaurants cater to renters and year-round residents. The former Marlow’s Store (once with the only phone in the area!) has been remodeled by a former grocery clerk and named Frank’s for Frank Marlow, the proprietor of the store that ran credit, stocked local caviar, and sold country hams. Popular mainland restaurants and the hot dogs and boiled peanuts from the oldest hardware store at Pawleys Island keep hunger at bay between fishing trips … or naps!
Small business owners mingle with customers, often calling them by name, and asking, “How’s your Mama doing?” Pawleys Island visitors and residents relish these unhurried exchanges and offer everyone a sense of belonging. Many visit just once a year, but have continued to do so for the last 50 years – or longer! Those multi-generational families are still buying from a shrimper set up in his truck with ice and scales who may sell you a few pounds of fresh shrimp and throw in an extra handful — a lagniappe — because he remembers your family.
Also on the Pawleys mainland are several golf courses created on former rice plantations, which are full of challenges and breathtaking views of old rice fields on the Waccamaw River, live oaks, and longleaf pines. Golf course communities, clubhouses, and tournaments keep locals and visitors playing and competing on nationally known courses designed by golf’s great champions. But even on the greens, that laid-back Pawleys tone is felt when golfers stop to admire a bald eagle, a myriad of native hawks, a huge fox squirrel slowly making its way from acorn to acorn, or an alligator thinking a golf ball is an egg. After all, these creatures were here first.
Retail therapy abounds at The Hammock Shops Village. From the Pawleys Island Original Rope Hammocks, local art, pottery, and sweetgrass baskets to gifts, foods, and stylish attire, this collection of shops resides within historic plantation buildings and replica structures made with reclaimed lumber and old bricks.
Returning from a shopping and dining spree with at least one book and one sand shovel, Pawleys Island vacationers are ready to relax and engage in building sandcastles, reading, and napping in a hammock on the porch overlooking the ocean. Pawleys people are not looking for arcades and carnival rides; instead, they prefer to listen to the waves crashing and the birds feeding. There is an understanding that the feeling of history and ecology on Pawleys Island is history repeating itself, bringing the same joy of simple pleasures to natives, locals, and visitors as it has for 250 years.
History does repeat itself, and Pawleys Island is still “a perfect joy.”
Lee Brockington is an author and historian who first discovered Pawleys Island in 1969. She is the author of several books, “Plantation Between the Water: A Brief History of Hobcaw Barony,” “Pawleys Island: Stories from the Porch,” and “Pawleys Island,” an Images of America pictorial collection. She leads history tours of the greater area around Pawleys Island, known as the Hammock Coast, with Capt. Paul Kenny, a former marine scientist, aboard Imagine, a five-person passenger pontoon boat. You can book a tour at Storehousetours.com.
