Just 25 miles from downtown Charleston, Kiawah and Seabrook islands are the destinations for anyone looking to escape the bustle of the city.

These islands offer so much more than beautiful beaches. They have sports, spas, top restaurants and amazing shopping.

We’ve compiled a guide for tourists and locals drawn to the islands’ natural beauty. Whether you like fine dining or a relaxed day on the golf course or the beach, we have a guide for you.

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The two barrier islands each offer world-class golf courses that have been featured in major sporting events. Anyone looking to live out their professional golf fantasy can find a home at Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course. The resort has twice hosted the PGA Golf Championship, in 2012 and in 2021.

The resort renovated all of its courses in preparation for the 2021 tournament which brought thousands of fans to the island.

Those looking for a golf membership should also consider the Seabrook Island Club. The club’s two courses, Ocean Winds and Crooked Oaks, are open to members, group outings and events.

The two islands aren’t just for golfers; they also feature world-class beaches. Kiawah alone has 10 miles of beaches. The Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission operates Beachwalker County Park, the only beach on the island open to the public.

Seabrook’s Pelican and North beaches also offer views of the sunset and sunrise, although they are not open to the public. The rest of Kiawah’s beaches are privately owned, so those looking for a longer stay should consider all-access options.

The islands are also a great place to explore Lowcountry wildlife. Those looking to get up close to dolphins should visit the northernmost tip of North Beach during low tide at Seabrook or Captain Sam’s Inlet on Kiawah. Bottlenose dolphins are known to strand-feed there — a technique the dolphins used to trap fish and drive them onto sandbars and shorelines.

Now that we are into the month of October, the harvest theme has been popping up all around us, as our submissions show.

This week’s winner is Maude Johnson with a photo of a tool historically used in the harvest of Carolina Gold rice. The honorable mentions are Ken Schaub, with an image of a pumpkin harvest, and Elizabeth Bear, with an old photo of an Appalachian farmer.

Next week’s topic is “In the Dark,” which is fitting as the days continue to get shorter and shorter.

The rules: Send your best photo to [email protected] by noon Thursday. Include your name, town and where the photo was taken. Add your name and the topic to the file. If you want your photo to be eligible to run in the newspaper, it must be at least 1,500 pixels, not have a commercial watermark and not have been published in another publication.

On Fridays, we first announce the editors’ pick of the week at postandcourier.com/yourphotos and declare a topic for the next week. On Saturdays, we publish an online gallery.

On Sunday, the photo pick of the week will appear in this section, Life.

All photos submitted will be considered for publication in The Post and Courier’s yearly magazine, My Charleston. Some images may be selected for other editorial or noncommercial use.

We reserve the right to not publish any photo for any reason.

Get a weekly list of tips on pop-ups, last minute tickets and little-known experiences hand-selected by our newsroom in your inbox each Thursday.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD)- The Kiawah Island Community Association (KICA) teamed up with biologists to conduct their annual alligator count last week.

Town biologists reported counting 146 alligators on July 18 and 143 alligators on July 19 across the island.

“We’ve been doing these surveys every year since 2003,” Kiawah Island wildlife biologist Jim Jordan said. “And we’ve seen some ups and downs like you would expect, but overall the population has remained stable.”

The route, which covers 48 ponds and approximately 153 acres of water, is surveyed twice in order to ensure the most accurate count possible.

“We actually, we reverse it the second night, so we start at the endpoint just to try to take out some potential variability,” Jordan said.

Biologists use the count to determine the estimated density of alligators on the island, which is reported as the number of reptiles per 100 acres of water. It also is used to help determine the population size on the island, which the town estimates is between 600 and 700 alligators.

“The best use of the data is to look at trends over time and you know, again, particularly with density, but also with kind of a breakdown of size classes,” Jordan said. “So we tend to kind of look at it over a long period of time, looking for any significant upward or downward trends.”

Data shows that alligator density on Kiawah Island has remained relatively stable over the past two decades despite some fluctuations in the count. In 2003, density was reported as 134, while this year it was reported as 249.

A number of factors can contribute to the slight fluctuation, according to Jordan, including how active the alligators are at night and whether or not they are visible in a given location.

“Alligator populations typically do, you know, remain stable once they get to what we call carrying capacity,” Jordan explained. “So when there are as many alligators out there as the habitat can support, the numbers tend to remain pretty stable.”

As the team moves along the route, they also keep track of the relative size of each alligator that is counted. If an exact size cannot be determined, the animals are categorized as “unknowns” either under or over six feet in length.

“As a rule, probably 70 to 75% of the alligators that we see on the survey and are able to put into a size class are under six feet,” Jordan explained. “So most of these alligators are very small juveniles and a lot of them probably won’t make it to adulthood and that’s pretty typical for an alligator population.”

Determining the relative size of the alligators is also useful in helping biologists to track shifts in population size and density on the island, according to Jordan.

“Typically, when we see a little bit of a spike in numbers, it probably has to do with just a year where reproduction was really good and so we’ve got a lot of smaller alligators out there,” he said.

As for large alligators, which are generally considered over eight feet in length, only five were counted during the two-day survey period.

But, whether large or small, there are a few key points people should keep in mind if they encounter an alligator while living or vacationing on the island.

The town encourages people to stay at least 60 feet away from alligators whenever possible, do not swim in a body of water other than the ocean, and keep pets away from water.

“Alligators are, you know, they’re a large predator and they need to be treated with respect,” Jordan said.

One of South Carolina's favorite spots along the coast has been ranked among the top 10 beaches in the country.

Kiawah Island's Beachwalker Park in Charleston County is listed as No. 8 on the 2023 list of best U.S. beaches released this week by “Dr. Beach,” aka coastal scientist Stephen Leatherman.

(Above video is the Friday morning headlines.)

The pristine beach is on the west end of Kiawah Island, and gives visitors ocean and river views, according to the Charleston County Parks website.

Charleston County Parks

Beachwalker is also the only public beach access on Kiawah Island, which is a 45-minute drive south of Charleston between Folly and Edisto beaches.

The park is operated through a cooperative agreement among Kiawah Development Partners, Charleston County Council, and the Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission.

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No. 1 Georgia loses Bowers early, scores 27 straight to beat Vandy 37-20

North Carolina's Lighthouse Beach, in Buxton on the Outer Banks, came in at No. 5 on the list.

Located along Highway 12, Lighthouse Beach is about a six-hour drive from Myrtle Beach.

National Parks Service

Once the site of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the beach is convenient and renowned for its good shelling and great waves, according to the National Parks Service.

Florida’s St. George Island State Park earned the top slot on the best beach list.

The barrier island park offers nine miles of pristine beaches along the Gulf Coast.

With nature trails for biking and hiking, plus birding, fishing, boating and camping, St. George offers excellent swimming and sunbathing and is also a prime spot for stargazing with limited light pollution, the list says.

Leatherman has been ranking America’s best beaches since 1991.

He uses 50 criteria to evaluate hundreds of public beaches in the United States. The criteria include beach width, sand softness, water temperature and color, wildlife and more.

Half of the top 10 beaches in the United States for 2023 are in Florida and Hawaii.

None of Florida’s Atlantic beaches appear in the 2023 top 10; Leatherman pointed out that the Atlantic coastline is being affected this year by sargassum seaweed.

Top 10 U.S. Beaches for 2023

Charleston, June 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Charleston, South Carolina -

Selling Kiawah is a leading real estate agent for luxury properties set in the pristine natural beauty of South Carolina.

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Selling Kiawah is the leading provider of luxury properties in these sought-after coastal destinations of South Carolina. The company has a stunning collection of exclusive Kiawah Island Real Estate offerings nestled along the picturesque shores of the coastline. Homes are available on Kiawah Island, Johns Island, Isle of Palms, Seabrook Island, and Sullivan’s Island—renowned for their unparalleled beauty, world-class facilities, and exceptional quality of life. An added attraction of Lowcountry life is its proximity to the enchanting historical Charleston city and five championship golf courses designed by leading architects.

The agency’s portfolio of extraordinary properties can meet the desires of any discerning buyer. Whether seeking a spacious oceanfront estate, a charming cottage surrounded by lush greenery, an appealing apartment, or a contemporary villa with sweeping views, there is an option to suit every budget, taste, and preference.

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is the premier provider of luxury properties on the islands of South Carolina’s shoreline, including Kiawah, Johns, Seabrook, Isle of Palms, and Sullivan’s Islands. With a commitment to exceptional quality and service, Selling Kiawah offers an unparalleled collection of oceanfront properties, charming cottages, lovely apartments, and contemporary villas designed to exceed the expectations of even the most discerning buyers. The properties are available for sale in various sizes and budgets to suit the needs and preferences of every client.

As we wade through the peak of South Carolina’s beach season, we urge state lawmakers and the conservation community to find a way to protect one of the most beautiful and sensitive parts of our coast: Captain Sams Spit at the southern tip of Kiawah Island.

This is one of our state’s few remaining pristine, publicly accessible sandy beaches (the others being Hunting Island and Huntington Beach state parks), but it won’t be spared from development forever unless it is placed in the public’s hands.

During the past 15 years, we’ve lamented several attempts by Captain Sams’ private owners to obtain permits for the infrastructure work needed to build luxury homes on the beautiful but fragile spit of sand just south of Charleston County’s popular Kiawah Beachwalker Park.

We applaud the environmentalists and their lawyers who successfully challenged and beat back these attempts. A year after their most recent victory before the S.C. Supreme Court, the developer’s preliminary plat has expired, so the most recent appeal now seems moot and might be dismissed, forcing developers back to square one.

But even if that takes place, it’s naive to think the developers will give up and go away, so we urge the state to secure public ownership. As we’ve said before, South Carolina’s growth and prosperity should lead to more, not less, access to our pristine beaches: Allowing development on Captain Sams Spit would be the ultimate example of sacrificing a public resource to maximize private gain.

Striking a deal for the state to purchase Captain Sams Spit not only would ensure this land continues to be available for all of our enjoyment, but also would ward off a potentially disastrous outcome if it eventually were developed, which almost certainly would involve building a new road between the spit’s high ground and the rest of Kiawah. The new structural walls that would be needed to secure that road have been at the heart of much of the legal wrangling so far. The teardrop-shaped spit is only tentatively attached to the larger island, and storms have severed its link a few times.

We should be building less along our dynamic, fragile coast, not more, especially at a time when temperatures and the sea level are rising. The privately owned Captain Sams abuts — and for visitors, is virtually indistinguishable from — Beachwalker, one of our region’s most popular beach parks, where parking spots fill up quickly on summer weekend mornings. As Johns Island, Charleston County and our whole state continue to grow, we need to protect these special places for public enjoyment.

However, it’s important to recall a U.S. Supreme Court precedent that was set in a case involving a barrier island just a few islands north of Kiawah (Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council), which makes it clear that if government restricts all potential use of a piece of private property, that is considered a taking — and the property owner is owed compensation. So hoping to keep the island pristine forever by simply rejecting future development attempts, no matter how ill-considered or environmentally destructive they might be, is not a winning strategy.

It’s great that environmental groups and their able allies at the South Carolina Environmental Law Project have chalked up important wins for 15 years against such attempts, but we can’t place all our hopes in their continued success in court.

It will take political leadership and probably a not-insignificant amount of public money to secure the proper future for Captain Sams Spit, but South Carolina deserves nothing less.

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