About South Carolina Surf Travel
South Carolina is a place where the people are down-home friendly. A place where barbecue is a national dish, Wal-Mart reins supreme and signs from God can be found in front of most churches or on any honest Christian’s bumper. A place that outlaws gambling, unless it’s video poker or Baptists playing bingo. A place with beautiful, historic cities, such as Charleston, as well as the world’s most god-awful, tacky vacation town, Myrtle Beach. A place where the surf is generally crappy, but can get good as hell, and where 200 miles of varied coast can take you from the heart of paradise to the heart of darkness.
Surfers don’t need much of an excuse to surf here, and that’s a good thing, because a lot of the time, there ain’t much surf. But if you’re stuck inland and notice on the Weather Channel that a hurricane is brewing, you may get lucky here. By and large, the state is one long stretch of beachbreak, but there are some standout spots — mostly sandspits and barrier islands where the long continental shelf does not hold quite so much sway.
Before we go any further, there are a number of conceptions — and misconceptions — about East Coast states in general, and South Carolina is no exception. Here are some interesting factoids:
1. Yes, there are waves along this stretch of coast.
2. No, the land is not all urban and industrial. In fact, much of the coast here is positively beautiful.
3. No, the water is not typically polluted — even after a rain.
4. No, the water is not always freezing. In fact, it ranges from the high 40s to the mid-80s.
5. Yes, it is quite an experience to hear a group of Carolinian surfers out in the water, talking to one another with heavy Southern drawls.
South Carolina Surf Crowds:
You will find crowds at many spots in South Carolina. Any pier usually packs a crowd on a good day, and surfing-restricted areas will be crowded during summer on a hint of a swell. Pawley’s, Isle of Palms and Sullivans can all get mobbed, and, on a good hurricane swell, the Washout at Folly maxes out and every surfer from Charleston shows up. Otherwise, the southern end of the state is relatively uncrowded.
South Carolina Surf Hazards:
Sharks
You will find sharks up and down this coast year-round. Mostly, there are smaller black tips and sand sharks, but also found out here are thresher, mako, hammerhead and tiger sharks. Sharks are most common at the mouths of inter-island saltwater inlets, where they fish for dinner, and if you happen to be in the middle of a school of mullet, your foot may look very appetizing in the murky water. Sometimes victims are not bitten by sharks, but by bluefish, a predatory game fish that hunts among schooling fish. The general rule? Stay the hell away from thrashing fish and migrating schools of mullet.
Rays and Skates
Skates and stingrays also live here, and both have nasty poisonous barbs on their tails. Skates like to bury themselves in the sand and wait for someone to step on them. Shuffle your feet along the bottom in unfamiliar waters.
Jellyfish
Peak season for stinging jellyfish happens to be August, which, unfortunately, coincides with hurricane season. Strong swells can push hapless jellyfish into shore, where they make contact with your face as you duck-dive under that juicy peak. Bring Sting-eze or something similar, and beware. This coast also will have loads of generally harmless cannonball jellyfish during the spring months. They look like a cross between a clear cannonball and a head of cabbage. Man-o-wars are rarely a threat.
Hurricanes
The tropics typically start to get active in mid-July and can produce tropical storms and weather systems all the way through early November. Between three and six storms will produce surf in an average year — more in a La Nina year, less in an El Nino one. Keep an eye on the Weather Channel or the National Hurricane Center. You can usually count on getting hurricane surf on exposed parts of the coast when a storm clears or is near the Bahamas and heading north. You may find waves up to or greater than 10 feet if the storm is particularly close by, but surf in the 4- to 6-foot range is more typical. If you’re in Myrtle Beach during a hurricane swell, do yourself a favor and drive north to Long Beach, Ocean Isle or Holden Beach in North Carolina, which face south and have far more power than Myrtle. In Charleston, the Washout and Bull Island/Cape Romain are well exposed and will see the earliest energy. If you’re on a barrier island, bring a weather radio, because you may find yourself having to get the hell out of Dodge very quickly.
The kind of surf you get depends on the storm’s power and how rapidly it’s moving north. Unless it’s a real beast — more than 100mph — the swell will diminish rapidly once a storm passes north off the coast. That is, unless it decides to stall out or retrograde (move south) off of Hatteras. In that case, you may get waves for quite a while. Sometimes, if the storm comes very close without going onshore, you will get sick conditions
— offshore winds, sunny skies and grinding barrels.
South Carolina Surf Pollution:
Much of the Carolina coastline is fairly free of water pollution — even after it rains. Following a particularly heavy storm or hurricane, it may be advisable to stay out of the water in places such as the northern Grand Strand or Charleston’s beaches, especially the Isle of Palms, which has more concrete for oily runoff.
Best Surf Seasons in South Carolina:
1) Fall
During the fall, the temperatures begin to fall, averaging in the low 80s early on to the 60s toward winter. Water temps typically remain comfortable until early to mid-October, when they rapidly fall through the 60s. A strong cold front can drop water temps from the 70s to the 60s in a single day. In fall, you can get surf from hurricanes and from nor’easter weather systems. Nor’easters are strong lows that typically form off the coast of Georgia or the Carolinas. They gain energy over the ocean and spin up the coast, blowing strong 20- to 40-knot winds in a northeasterly direction, sending stormy surf southward. If they pull slowly away, they will occasionally leave solid groundswell in their wake.
2) Winter
In the winter, the weather typically alternates every day. Average temperatures are around 60 to 65, but can drop into the 30s and below on strong fronts. Water temps will drop into the low 50s, even to the high 40s, if it gets very cold. Fullsuit, booties, gloves and even a hood can make you think you’re in New York instead of the New South.
3) Spring
The spring can see good surf from passing fronts and late season nor’easters. The weather is often seriously nice, with temps ranging from the 60s to the mid-70s. Water temps will warm through the 60s into the low 70s by late spring. This is the best time to visit the barrier islands and avoid bugs.
4) Summer
Temperatures in the summer generally range from hot to freaking miserable. Averages are in the mid- to upper 80s through July, and even into the low 90s to 100 in August. Water temps start in the upper 70s at the beginning of summer, and rise to the mid-80s. This superheated water is what gives hurricanes their power. Early summer is typically the worst time to get good surf along the southeast coast. High pressure settles in off of Bermuda and tends to knock down any surf-producing weather. Sometimes, when the high gets particularly strong, and mid-afternoon heating sets in, the high will send a clockwise fetch of onshore wind along the coast, and this can kick up a little windswell — particularly on beaches that face south. In fact, sometimes just the afternoon heating alone can pick up the onshores enough to give some decent windswell late in the day that will be gone the next morning. Prevailing wind at this time of year is southeast, and mornings here are often glassy, with the onshores commencing around 10 a.m. or so. On super-hot, high-pressure days, it will simply stay flat, and there will be very little wind.