By Local Opinion
South Litchfield is the beach I spend the most time at, and the beach I’ve historically spent the most time at, simply because my family has owned a house on South Litchfield for close to 50 years. Though I may be biased, it is still one of my favorite beaches, even if it does have a few shortcomings.
One of the reasons I prefer South Litchfield is that it is often the quietest beach, especially in the summer months. The South Litchfield community has the lowest housing density of any of the beaches in the area, and a result, there are fewer beachgoers and therefore less contention for nice spots on the beach. This is important in the summer months (outside of summer, there aren’t a ton of folks on any of the beaches except on holidays), and especially important on big beach days like the Fourth of July. It’s not uncommon to arrive at the beach on the Fourth to discover the tide up and almost every square foot of sand claimed by tents and chairs. Having an extra edge on days like that is crucial.
You can also walk down the beach to the more difficult-to-access Inlet Point section. While the beach itself is public, there are no public accesses beyond the gate. This means that even on peak days you can usually find a spot by accessing South Litchfield beach from the more southerly beach accesses.
Access
There are seven public beach accesses in South Litchfield. The furthest north is just south of the Litchfield Inn (you can’t miss it). This access also has, or perhaps had, handicapped access to the beach. I say had because storms in recent years have destroyed the walkovers repeatedly, and the county has been slow to rebuild them. I am currently unsure of the status of the handicap ramp.
From there, the accesses are roughly evenly spaced until you get to the most southern access, two doors up from the gate to Inlet Point. One quirk of the South Litchfield accesses, unlike the accesses at Pawleys Island and North Litchfield, there is no designated parking. Instead, you must park on the road easements. This can be VERY challenging to navigate in the summer months, and spots fill up quickly.
Please note, and this is very important: your tires need to be completely over the white line and ideally off the pavement. At peak season, the police will issue you a ticket if you are in the roadway.
Stuff to do
Like every beach, South Litchfield is a great beach for the usual entertainment: sun, sand, salt, and waves. The surfing is not as good as around the pier in Pawleys, but it’s common to see folks out on surfboards, paddleboards, kayaks, and other personal floatation devices. The smooth white sand and typically calm waves make it a great spot for families.
Searching for shells (or even better - shark teeth!) is a common pastime on South Litchfield beach. After the storm events of recent years, there was a major dredging project, where vast amounts of sand were pumped up from the seabed offshore to rebuild dunes and widen the beaches. The spoils from this dredging get washed away, especially in king tides and similar, exposing fossilized teeth and many intact shells. Though it’s died down a bit since the last storm, my friends and I all got some very nice specimens on South Litchfield in the past few years.
If you walk south from the public beach accesses, you’ll walk past the stately homes of Inlet Point. If you keep going past the last house, you’ll see some wide dunes that are habitat and nesting area to local wildlife, including many sea birds. It’s common to see interesting birds down in this area, including osprey, cormorants, anhinga, and bald eagle. If you make it this far, turn around and look back at the roof of the last house - there is often a bald eagle sitting atop the roof.
Keep going and you’ll arrive at Midway Inlet, the confluence of and outlet for the creeks of South Litchfield and Pawleys Island. The inlet is a beautiful place, with great fishing and lots of cool marine life. We’ve seen large sharks dining in the shallows of the inlet. I’ve found sea anemone in the tide pools. Every time you visit this magical place, you’ll spot something amazing, so keep your eyes open.