Roofer in Folly Beach, SC

The clear float of a Man-o-war jellyfish rests on the sand after it was left stranded high and dry by the high tide. (Photo: National Park Service/Nathaniel Pinson)

0

LOWCOUNTRY, S.C. (WCIV) — If you've been for a stroll along some Lowcountry beaches in recent weeks, you may have come across a few jellyfish washed up on shore. Most of the jellyfish you see in South Carolina are harmless, but some should be left alone.

Officials with the Lowcountry's local beach communities want locals and visitors alike to know what to look out for when heading out into the ocean.

The Charleston area starts to see a larger amount of Cannonball jellyfish in the spring, which are the most common jelly in South Carolina -and least venomous.

“Cannonballs are largely harmless to humans and they're a favorite food of leatherback sea turtles," Erin Weeks with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources explained. "Typically, when cannonballs appear, we know leatherbacks are not far behind. Like other jellies, cannonballs are poor swimmers that follow where ocean currents push them; thus, they often wash ashore, especially after offshore storms.”

READ MORE | "South Carolina Aquarium brings Octonauts to life in educational family event"

Jellyfish glide through the currents and end up washing up on shore. Some are more notorious than others.

Portuguese man o’ wars look like jellyfish, but they are actually just a relative, are bit more complex, and can be more harmful.

“Portuguese man o' wars are less frequently seen in the warmer months but merit greater caution," Weeks said. "These animals are easily distinguished by a bright blue, inflated 'float' that rests on the surface of the water, and they should be avoided both on the beach and in the water. Man o' wars can trail long tentacles that cause a very painful sting.”

Man o' wars tend to drift through the Gulf Stream up to the waters off the coast of the Palmetto State.

To prevent getting stung, avoid touching washed up Man o’ wars, as they are still venomous. If you are stung seek medical help immediately.

For more information on jellyfish from the SCDNR, click here.

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

Officials said reporting sightings of jellyfish help prevent stings. To report a jellyfish sighting contact the Folly Beach Fire Department at 843-588-2433 on Folly Beach, the Sullivan's Island Fire Department at 843-883-9944 on Sullivan's Island, or the Isle of Palms Fire Department at 843-886-4410 on Isle of Palms.

Amid inland South Carolina's year-round bliss – in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville – the state’s shoreline particularly pops during the summertime.

South of Myrtle Beach and stretching to the Georgia state line where Savannah awaits, you’ll find South Carolina's Sea Islands, a stretch of islands each with their own unique ambiance and summer flair.

Your options include the family-friendly and golf haven of Hilton Head, the historic downtown of Beaufort and more secluded options for bird-watching and fishing galore. As you finalize your Palmetto State summer itinerary, there are some key logistical must-knows to truly soak it all in. Here’s the scoop on South Carolina's Sea Islands.

Step 1: Pick a home base

Vibes: Consider this your island destination for staying occupied yet tranquil. Hilton Head is renowned for white-sand bliss, a small-town core and big-time resorts. This is the best option for a family vacation, too, with plenty of quirky activities spanning zip-lining its marshes to go-kart tracks.

Do: Hilton Head is a golfing destination with nearly 30 courses island-wide. Sea Pines Resort is a top pick, with three courses within its confines, including Harbour Town, which hosts the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage tournament. Otherwise, plop on a beach – Coligny Beach is fully equipped with restrooms, gazebos, and benches for a seamless experience.

Stay: The Sweetgrass Inn at Hilton Head Health puts wellness front and center with daily health retreats, nutrition workshops, and, for longer stays, a weight loss track, if desired. Beach House is laid-back, with an on-site tiki hut and renovated pool.

Eat: Hit Skull Creek Boathouse for a sunset and, within its on-site Dive Bar space, fresh sushi selections. Nectar Farm Kitchen has southern coastal fare down to an art, with sweet potato pancakes and hearty-portioned chicken and waffles.

Vibes: A 20-minute drive south of Charleston, this is where residents of “the Holy City” head to unwind in the summer. The southern hospitality and general friendliness of Charleston oozes into its beachy neighbor, where locals trade in their bowties and pastel dresses for swim trunks and swimsuits. Its ocean’s edge is dotted with surf shops – like McKevlin’s and Ocean Surf Shop – with a spot known as the Washout being where veteran surfers flock for swells.

Do: For surfing newbies, take a lesson with local mainstays like Isla Surf School or Shaka Surf School, the latter of which hosts kids' summer camps and a surf and yoga class for women. Folly Beach has a unique saltwater creek and coastal marsh landscape – you can learn all about it and hunt for some shark teeth along the way with a Charleston Outdoor Adventures eco tour.

Stay: For views, each room at the Tides Folly Beach comes with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. Its on-site BLU Beach Bar & Grill has a tiki bar and one-of-a-kind vistas of the Folly Beach Pier, which juts into the ocean next door. Regatta Inn is the island’s luxe bed-and-breakfast option, with a daily breakfast spread and golf cart shuttle to the beach.

Eat: Folly Beach is loaded with beach bars with fare and booze that run the full spectrum of no-frills to fancy. Lowlife Bar has a daily brunch from 10am to 3pm with a memorable Maryland-style crab cake, chicken and waffles, and a pimento cheese plate. Three blocks off the beach, Jack of Cup Saloons serves up craft brews and sake with a variety of Indian and Asian-inspired dishes.

Vibes: Approximately 50 miles southeast of Charleston, this island is dotted with beachside rentals on stilts, stately plantation abodes, and stunning beaches. This is a more relaxed vibe compared to Hilton Head or Folly Beach, with plenty of quirky entertaining things to keep you occupied. An example – and not for the faint of heart – is the Edisto Island Serpentarium, with habitats for a variety of snakes, alligators, and turtles.

Do: Edisto Beach State Park is arguably the hot spot for collecting shells in the state. Botany Bay is a marshy, bird-watching paradise where shorebirds, wild turkeys, and egrets abound. This is a quiet spot for a sunset cruise, too, with Botany Bay Ecotours being a go-to operator.

Stay: Vacation rentals are the norm here. A conglomerate of rentals owned by Wyndham on the southwestern tip of the island offers the most options in a singular place. For golfers, there is a course – the Plantation Course – in the middle of the complex.

Eat: Cute and homegrown are the general culinary vibes on the island. McConkey’s Jungle Shack serves up wings, burgers, wild rum punch concoctions, and a famed local sweet tea. Sea Cow Eatery is an intimate diner that’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (minus Monday, when it closes at 2pm). Regardless of what time of day it is, keep an eye on its ever-changing homemade pie selections.

Step 2: Book your accommodations

Vacation rentals abound along South Carolina’s coast. In general, individual owners or operating entities open up summer reservations either a year in advance or six months in advance, though it may vary. VRBO, Airbnb and HomeToGo are statewide favorites for rentals. Additionally, you may want to check the state’s tourism website for additional sanctioned options as well as local chambers of commerce.

Across the board on South Carolina’s sea islands, there are options for plopping at a resort, within a vacation home, or at a bed and breakfast and making memories solely on-property. If you’re looking to keep antsy guests or kids occupied, Hilton Head boasts the most things to do. Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort is perhaps the best of all worlds – quietly tucked on the northern edge of the island, exuding a casual vibe with a water slide and within minutes of shopping at Shelter Cove Harbour.

Step 3: Plan your days

Hilton Head is considered a fishing utopia, where spot-tailed trout, flounder, grouper, and even sharks abound. Hilton Head is one of the largest breeding grounds for sharks on the East Coast, and yes, you can fish for them, too. You’ll need to charter a fishing boat – ideally with a captain, too, to make it seamless – and for that FishingBooker is trusted and up-to-date.

Beyond the islands, three city visits may be easily pinned to any South Carolina sea islands itinerary. Savannah, Georgia, is within a 45-minute drive of Hilton Head Island – sauntering through its brick public squares and along its boutique-filled main drag, Broughton Street, is a must. Charleston – closest to Folly Beach – is a cobblestone street wonderland, with a waterfront park overlooking Charleston Harbor and Fort Sumter making for a city-meets-tranquil reprieve. Beaufort – located between Hilton Head and Edisto – is on Port Royal Island and has a historic district worthy of a day trip. Its museum selections span the quirky (check out the Kazoobie Kazoo Factory) to the reflective – the Beaufort History Museum showcases more than 500 years of history with exhibits on plantation culture, the Spanish American War, and more.

Step 4: Choose the best places to eat in South Carolina’s Sea Islands

In Hilton Head, the blue crab reigns supreme – crack some at Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks, with vistas of Port Royal Sound and periodic live music. Otherwise, fresh seafood is the way to go along the coast with shrimp and grits, a Lowcountry boil and seafood salad being menu norms.

The island towns are also home to some memorable mom-and-pop grocery stores with curated, South Carolina-bred items. Bert’s Market on Folly Beach has it all; stop by for pimento cheese, boiled peanuts, and a visit to the deli counter. Palmetto Dunes General Store on Hilton Head Island is a haven for fresh fried chicken and soft-serve ice cream, among other grocery staples.

Step 5: Getting there

Two international airports serve as home bases for journeys to these parts. Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is within a 45-minute drive of Hilton Head and more remote adventures in Daufuskie Island. Charleston International Airport is within 30 minutes of Folly Beach and approximately 2 hours north of Hilton Head. Hilton Head Island Airport also offers select domestic flights.

For train travel, Amtrak has a major station in Charleston, with a smaller operation in Yemassee, South Carolina – a taxi ride from the train station to the islands is the seamless option from there.

Step 6: What to pack

Check ahead of time to see what your hotel or vacation rental supplies in terms of beach items – they can vary drastically. Depending on what is provided and how much you’d like to pack, it may be wise to bring a cooler, snorkeling gear, goggles, water sports gear, and water floats with you. Otherwise, during the summer months, count on using sunscreen, sunglasses, sun protective clothing, sandals and – in swampy areas – insect repellant, daily. Souvenir shops sell all of the aforementioned, but count on paying a premium.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Folly Beach has narrowed down some potential affordable housing options for those who work in or for the city.

Folly Beach city leaders have been working over the past year to evaluate the issue of affordable housing through community surveys and research, and have come up with some possible recommendations.

Officials say one of the recommendations is to increase and expand housing stipends for Folly Beach workers to help offset housing costs for those living on Folly Beach or James Island.

Folly Beach City Councilmember Katherine Houghton says that historically they have provided these stipends for public safety so they can respond more efficiently, but they are considering expanding this initiative to other workers in the city and increasing the dollar amount.

“Right now, it’s for emergency services. So, right now it’s for public safety and they presently already do have a stipend if they live on Folly or James Island. Right now, they are looking to increase that and expand the spots, as well as look at other city employees, not just public safety,” Houghton says.

The current housing stipend in place for public safety workers is $600 a month if they live on Folly Beach and $300 a month if they live on James Island.

Another recommendation the city is considering is the “Lease to Locals” program. Houghton says this initiative would offer incentives to homeowners who currently do short-term rentals and provide them with a financial offset amount to encourage them to do long-term rentals to locals.

“If you do the math, someone who has short-term rentals during a peak season makes a certain amount of money, so therefore what we realize is we’d have to give a financial incentive to be able to subsidize the loss in short-term rentals and offset it with a long term renter that is affiliated or with the city or working locally,” Houghton says.

Another potential recommendation that will be discussed at the next planning commission meeting is accessory dwelling units. These are small living spaces that are located on the same lot as main residences.

“The issue with attainable housing all around not just Folly, Charleston, things of that nature, you will have employees that need to work in those cities and then it’s a question of what the city does to respond to get them either living more local, which is why the strength of the public safety we’ve been doing that for years,” Houghton says. “And recently what’s happened is the question has been posed by business owners and folks that work on Folly, could you do more? Could you push out that program beyond public safety?”

The discussion of affordable housing is great news for Folly Beach worker Sydney Macek. She says that she has been eyeing affordable housing options on the island, but when one does become available she says there is a line of people wanting it as well.

“So a lot of people who work down here live 45 minutes to an hour and a half away and commute down here every day for work and I think that contributes to the restaurants and bars down here being understaffed sometimes. It would really help the local businesses down here if their workers had affordable housing and were able to live down here,” Macek says.

Houghton says that these recommendations are being brought up as the city approaches budget season and whatever options are chosen will have to be evaluated for inclusion in their budget.

The housing stipends and “Lease to Locals” program will be brought to the city council in April. The accessory dwelling units were supposed to be discussed at the planning commission meeting on March 3 but got postponed to the next meeting in April.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.