For six years the south end of Pawleys Island kept getting longer. As Pawleys Inlet migrated south, the spit past the public parking lot stretched out with it. By this September the inlet was more than half a mile from where it sat before the town's last beach renourishment, according to the Coastal Observer. That made for a long walk with water on both sides, a quiet place to fish, and plenty of room for a dog.
That beach got a fixed length this fall. The inlet was cut back to the north in October, and it now sits inside a defined zone with a written agreement about who moves it if it drifts out. The south end used to be shaped only by tides and storms. Now a contract shapes it too.
Why the inlet moved in the first place
The Town of Pawleys Island ran a renourishment project in 2019 and 2020 that pumped offshore sand onto the beach from the southern tip to past the Pawleys Island pier, according to the town's settlement FAQ. Starting in May 2022, Prince George owners filed lawsuits claiming the project sped up the inlet's southward migration and caused erosion in front of their properties.
A settlement reached in July 2025 and formally approved by all parties as of December 2025 provided $4 million for relocating the inlet and restoring the beach. The town contributed $150,000 of that. The FAQ states that no party admitted fault.
Part of the money went to PG Inlet Partners, which bought 16.3 acres south of the parking lot for $1.3 million. That entity holds the state and federal permits for the move, the Coastal Observer reported.
A week of digging, then a storm test
Coastal Science and Engineering designed the project, and the Robert Collins Co. did the work. Collins also worked on the island after Hurricane Ian in 2022. The plan called for cutting a channel across the south end, using the excavated sand to build a dike between the spit and Prince George so the water would flow into the new channel, and then moving the equipment over to rebuild the Prince George dune.
On the first morning a row of 46-ton dump trucks lined up on the south end. As the work started, Pawleys Island Police Chief Mike Fanning drove down to tell anglers and dog walkers they might end up on the Prince George side of the inlet. Several told the Coastal Observer they hadn't heard about the project.
One of those walkers was Reed Goodman, an environmental archaeologist at Clemson University's Baruch Institute on Hobcaw Barony, who was out with his two rescue dogs. He described the spot to the Coastal Observer as "a fantastic way to get away from the crowd and to be between the waters," and took the long view: "That's part of a dynamic coast line. These places have to move."
The new channel was cut a week before a weekend storm and spring tide washed over the beach and the creek, and it held. Steven Traynum, president of Coastal Science and Engineering, told the town that a new recurved spit was already growing into the channel, with no sign of the channel shifting north, the Coastal Observer reported on Oct. 16. People started exploring the north side of the new inlet right after it opened. Some were looking for shells, some were fishing, and some just came to see it. "Lord almighty, that is so cool," said Edward Richardson.
As of mid-October, about 90,000 of the 225,000 cubic yards planned for Prince George had been moved, and that work was expected to finish in early November. The permit sets a Nov. 30 deadline to protect shorebirds and marine life. Any work left unfinished by then has to stop and pick up again next summer.
The measured beach
The settlement turned the south end into a defined area called the Inlet Management Zone. It works like this, according to the town's FAQ:
| Piece of the south end | What the agreement says |
|---|---|
| Northern boundary of the zone | 800 feet south of the south end parking lot |
| Southern boundary of the zone | 750 feet beyond the northern boundary |
| Inlet drifts past the northern boundary | The town moves it back |
| Inlet drifts past the southern boundary | Prince George moves it back, unless it happens within 4½ years after a significant town renourishment, in which case the town does |
| Hard armoring such as riprap | Not used; state rules generally prohibit it on active beaches |
The last row matters for anyone who walks here regularly. Nothing will pin the inlet in place. It will keep shifting the way it always has, and the agreement only kicks in when it leaves the 750-foot zone.
The FAQ also addresses a question many south-end regulars have asked, which is why a longer spit the public enjoyed would be taken away. The town's answer is that the new location is close to where the inlet has sat over the last several decades. At one point it was just south of the parking lot, with very little beach beyond it.
The walk from the lot, in order
Taken from north to south, the south end now breaks into distinct pieces:
- The parking lot. The town lists the south-end access lot as a free Georgetown County lot at the south end of Springs Avenue. Public beach-access parking is not allowed from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. according to the town's parking page. Before the work started, Town Administrator Dan Newquist said the project shouldn't close the lot.
- The stretch between the lot and the zone. According to the FAQ, this part of the spit remains in separate ownership.
- The Inlet Management Zone. As part of the settlement, the town is getting an express easement for public use of the zone on the Pawleys Island side.
- The new inlet. The Coastal Observer placed it about 750 feet south of the parking lot. It was designed to widen to about 300 feet, with water about 5 feet deep at low tide.
- The old point. Sand from the spit was used to rebuild the beach at Prince George, and the fishing spot people knew is now on the Prince George side of the inlet.
The water at the new inlet is where the town's attention is now. Traynum recommended limiting public access to the new inlet for about a week after the channel was dug, as a safety precaution. At the town's Oct. 12 council meeting, Mayor Brian Henry gave an update on the project, and Council Member Mark Hawn raised concerns about the current, according to the Post and Courier. "It's unnerving to watch. The water's moving through there fast. Everybody's ignoring the signage," Hawn told the Coastal Observer. "They're a foot or two away and not paying attention." The storm washed a smaller warning sign into the beach grass. The town said it planned a rip current sign at the inlet like the ones it put up on the north end last year.
Bringing the dog in November
The south end has long been a dog walker's beach, and the off-season rules give dogs more room than summer does. Under the town's dog policy, dogs are allowed on the beach year-round as long as the handler has a leash in hand, keeps the dog under voice control, and cleans up after it. From May 1 to Sept. 30, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., dogs have to be leashed and under complete control, including in the water. A November walk falls under the year-round rule, but a dog under voice control still needs a handler who can call it back from moving water.
What the next three years hold
This fall's dig is meant to be followed up. The permit requires annual monitoring for three years to track how the inlet reacts, with reports covering beach width, dune condition and changes in sand volume. The permits are valid for five years.
The settlement also gives the island something it didn't have before. The town can dig up to 100,000 cubic yards of sand from the inlet each year when it needs it for renourishment, and Prince George owners have agreed not to object to future renourishment projects on the island, the Coastal Observer reported. If the inlet moves too far south toward Prince George, the agreement calls for moving it again.
Town Council meets on second Mondays at 5 p.m. at Town Hall, 323 Myrtle Ave., and that is where future updates on the south end will be given. This post is general information about town rules and a public settlement, not legal advice, so check the Town of Pawleys Island or the right professional for anything that affects your own plans.
If you own on the Waccamaw Neck and wonder how changes like this south-end agreement come up when a home sells, Kirk Stalvey can walk you through what he's seeing in Pawleys Island transactions. Book an appointment and bring your questions.
