Isle of Palms Rebuilt Its Beach From the North. The Breach Inlet End Spends Winter Catching Up.

Walk the beach at Wild Dunes this week and the sand in front of the Ocean Club has been in place since summer, and the city expects its new dunes to be planted before November ends. Walk south past Grand Pavilion and the sand there was pumped in during the first week of November. Keep going toward Breach Inlet and the dredge pipeline is just being moved into place.

That is one beach renourishment project, the first time Isle of Palms has brought in offshore sand since 2018, according to the Post and Courier. The work has been moving down the island in sections all year. Because it started at the north end, the south end gets its sand last and its dune grass last. This winter, the stretch between Breach Inlet and the Pier will be the newest and least settled beach on the island. It is also the stretch the city is now studying for its next erosion project.

Three Reaches, Three Stages

The city split the project into three sections, which it calls reaches. Each one is a separate piece of beach, and each is at a different stage this month.

All together, the plan calls for up to 2.5 million cubic yards of sand along 19,200 linear feet of beach. That breaks down to 1.7 million cubic yards in Wild Dunes and 800,000 on the south end. The sand comes from an offshore borrow site about 2 miles southeast of the Island Pier. In a June 24, 2026 presentation to City Council, Coastal Science & Engineering put the cost at $21.47 million.

The North End Went Fast. The Middle Went Slow.

Reach 1 was quick. Pumping began July 27. The Post and Courier reported that contractor Marinex finished the section from the far north end to Mariner's Walk in 35 days, ending Aug. 30, even with a pause for equipment repairs. That came in well under the 50 days planned, and the paper noted it was done in time for Labor Day. In the same article, city Public Information Officer Josh Uys described the result in front of one of the island's best-known buildings:

"The Ocean Club building has a lot more sand out in front of it, and we're very happy with the quality of sand."

Reach 2 had about 100,000 fewer cubic yards of sand to place, but it took much longer. Pumping started Sept. 1, and the schedule allowed 45 days. Then fall weather set in. On Oct. 14, crews had to install 2,000 feet of new pipeline to replace a damaged section before pumping could resume. By Oct. 19, rough seas had sent the dredge into Charleston Harbor to wait it out. On Oct. 29, the city reported that nor'easter conditions would bring at least another week of delays, with about 1,000 feet of beach still to go between 57th Avenue and Grand Pavilion. Marinex kept its equipment in a small area of the beach in the meantime to stay out of beachgoers' way. The city announced Reach 2 complete as of Nov. 7.

Those two months of delays changed the plan for the south end.

Why Reach 3 Starts at Breach Inlet

The original plan had Marinex start Reach 3 at 6th Avenue and work south. After the Reach 2 delays, the city announced a change. To meet an approaching dredging deadline set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, crews will now start at the southern tip of the island near Breach Inlet and work north.

As of the city's Nov. 8 update, crews were moving the underwater pipeline and equipment toward Breach Inlet, and Marinex expected to start pumping within the next few days. The city's tentative schedule gives Reach 3 about 45 days of pumping, which puts the work on the south end into late December.

So the Breach Inlet end gets its sand first within Reach 3, and it gets that sand in late fall. The dune grass comes later. Earth Balance, the city's planting contractor, will plant Reach 3's new dunes in spring 2027. The north end's dunes are scheduled for planting in the weeks right after pumping ended. The south end's dunes will stay bare sand through the winter.

What Changes on a Walk Between Now and Spring

The beach stays open throughout the project except right around active work. The city's project page describes how that works day to day:

• Crews work in sections of roughly 300 yards, and people can generally walk around the fenced work zones.
• Passage may be restricted for short periods while dunes are being built.
• Sand ramps carry foot traffic over the dredge pipeline.

On the north end, the newer change is on the dunes. In mid-October, the city said Earth Balance planned to start planting Reaches 1 and 2 on Oct. 26, expected the job to take about six days, and would put up sand fencing once the materials arrived. The city's Oct. 29 update said planting in both reaches would be finished before the end of November. The city is also ordering custom "Keep Off the Dunes" signs based on a South Carolina Department of Environmental Services design. The update explains that walking on dunes can damage the plants and contribute to erosion. The city's beach rules already treat dunes as protected and send people to the designated access paths.

On the south end, there will be pipeline, ramps and freshly pumped sand through the end of the year, then bare dunes until the spring planting.

The City Is Already Studying How to Keep the South End's Sand

On Oct. 13, the city's Ways and Means Committee took a step toward a possible terminal groin near Breach Inlet, as ABC News 4 reported. A terminal groin is a structure, usually made of rock, that runs from the beach into the water and slows the movement of sand along the shore. City leaders asked the coastal engineering firm Foth to come back with detailed proposals for two projects: a groin on the south end and a shoal management project on the north end. The proposals were to include costs, timelines and the work needed for permits. ABC News 4 reported they were due Nov. 5, ahead of a Nov. 10 meeting where city leaders could decide whether to move on to the next phase.

Mayor Phillip Pounds told the station that the step was about getting estimates, not approving construction:

"The only thing that changed tonight is really to take the next step, get an estimate on what it would take to permit a groin and kind of a design, if you will, and a timeframe."

Foth's final Beach Management Alternatives Analysis, sent to City Administrator Douglas Kerr on Oct. 19, 2026, is posted on the city's site for anyone who wants the engineering detail. As ABC News 4 described it, the goal of a groin would be to hold more of the newly placed sand in place and possibly reduce the need for future dredging.

Two Dates on the Calendar

On the marsh side of the island, the city is holding a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, at Waterway Boulevard and Forest Trail. It marks the completion of Phase 2 of the Waterway Boulevard project and the opening of its new multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists. Parts of the path are raised, and the sidewalk is about eight feet wide in most places. Live 5 has described the project as a decade-long effort along the corridor from 21st to 41st Avenue, with an overall cost of about $7 million.

Then on Saturday, Dec. 5, the city's Holiday Street Festival takes over Front Beach from 2 to 7 p.m. There will be food and craft vendors, children's activities and Santa, and the tree lighting is at 5:30 p.m. If the tentative schedule holds, Reach 3 pumping between Breach Inlet and the Pier will still be underway on festival day. The city posts real-time progress on its beach restoration project page, which is the place to check for where the pipeline is before an afternoon walk toward Breach Inlet.

If you have questions about how this year's beach work fits into your plans on the island, whether you're staying put, settling in or thinking about what comes next, Erin and the team at Ever Haus Properties are glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.