Kiawah Beachwalker Park(Beachwalker Park)

Located on the southern end of Kiawah Island, Kiawah Beachwalker Park - also known simply as Beachwalker Park - is a Charleston County-managed park that has a large beach with soft white-sand. Many kinds of plants are present near the beach in Kiawah Beachwalker Park including yucca plants, pines, live oaks, and palmettos. Kiawah Beachwalker Park is the only park with a public-owned beach access on Kiawah Island. Kiawah Beachwalker Park has been named the 46th Best Beach in the Top 50 Beaches in the United States list in 2022 by Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as "Mr. Beach" – and was also named one of the 10 Best Beaches in the U.S in 2017 by Condé Nast Traveler magazine. 

Kiawah Beachwalker Park has many amenities including lifeguards (available between 10 am and 6 pm), a boardwalk, restrooms, dressing areas, a snack bar, picnic area with grills, showers, and beach chair and umbrella rental facilities. You can visit Charleston County Parks and Recreation’s website to learn more about the seasonal lifeguard deployment schedule and the timings for the snack bar and rental facilities in Kiawah Beachwalker Park. Dogs on leash are allowed in Kiawah Beachwalker Park. In addition, the park also offers accessibility to people with disabilities.

Kiawah Beachwalker Park offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, wildlife watching, picnicking, swimming, fishing, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, kayaking, canoeing, boating, surf-skiing, paddle-boarding, biking, jet-skiing, water-skiing, wakeboarding, and parasailing. The water near Kiawah Beachwalker Park is shallow and usually has manageable waves, making it ideal for beginner swimmers, kayakers, canoers, and paddleboarders. Kayakers and canoers often launch their watercraft from this beach in order to explore the amazing Charleston County shoreline around the beach - kayakers and canoers enter the clear water near the beach to explore the mouth of the Kiawah River, which is present near the park’s western end. However, if you are planning to enter the water near Kiawah Beachwalker Park, we recommend being careful as it is known to have unpredictable and dangerous rip currents. In addition, portions of the water near Kiawah Beachwalker Park are reserved for swimmers only - fishing and watercraft are not allowed within these portions. Depending on the time of the year, you can view many kinds of animals in the water near Kiawah Beachwalker Park including sea turtles, dolphins, and many kinds of fish and marine invertebrates – and at times can see dolphins use interesting strand feeding techniques to hunt their prey in the water near Kiawah Beachwalker Park. If you like birdwatching, you can also view many kinds of birds in Kiawah Beachwalker Park. In addition, you can also view many terrestrial animals including deer and bobcats in the area near the beach in Kiawah Beachwalker Park. The western part of the beach in Kiawah Beachwalker Park is a great beachcombing spot and you can find many kinds of exquisite shells here.

Getting to Kiawah Beachwalker Park is easy - the park is located near 8 Beachwalker Drive, where a paid parking lot is also present. We recommend visiting this beach early during summers as the parking lot here gets filled up quickly during this month.

There are many attractions near Kiawah Beachwalker Park within a 45-minute drive. Marsh Island Park (also known as Marsh Island Park Tower Preserve) is a park that protects a coastal hammock forest and is also home to many kinds of migratory and resident birds and animals. The park also has an observation tower, a trail, and a boardwalk. McLeod Plantation Historic Site is a 37-acre historic site which offers a unique insight into the cultural, social, and military history of South Carolina - the site has many landmarks including a riverside pavilion, a 600-year old tree named McLeod Oak, and the McLeod family home. The park also offers a unique insight into the African-American Gullah culture and the local natural history. If you are looking for another attraction near Kiawah Beachwalker Park, The Battery is a defensive seawall and promenade which gets its name from a 19th century coastal defence battery earlier present here - this promenade is currently famous among tourists for its exquisite pre-American Civil War-era mansions and it also offers amazing views of nearby iconic landmarks including Fort Sumter National Monument and Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Kiawah Beachwalker Park. Jasmine Porch at The Sanctuary serves amazing seasonal gourmet dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In addition, this restaurant has also been named "Best Downhome Cookery" by Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report. King Street Grille is a restaurant and bar that offers amazing soups, chicken wings, salads, sandwiches, burgers, poultry dishes, pork chops, pastas, seafood, and steaks. Salty Dog Cafe is a waterfront restaurant that serves amazing dishes for lunch and dinner including steaks, soups, salads, pastas, sandwiches, burgers, and seafood. 

If you are looking for a hotel near Kiawah Beachwalker Park, there are many great nearby options. The 5-Star Kiawah Island Golf Resort offers many amenities including four restaurants, a bar, a poolside grill, three pools, a spa, a gym, and tennis courts and six golf courses (available for a fee). As another upscale option, the 4-Star Kiawah Island Resort offers many amenities including a gym, multiple pools, multiple restaurants, a spa, tennis courts, golf courses, and a complimentary local shuttle service. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Charleston Kiawah Island/Andell Inn which offers many amenities including a bar, an exercise room, a bike trail, a saltwater pool, and complimentary breakfast. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Kiawah Beachwalker Park, the 3-StarBest Western Charleston Inn offers many amenities including a pool, a fitness center, complimentary breakfast, and a guest-use computer in the lobby.