2026 Isle of Palms Beach Nourishment Project

Important Beach Update for Guests Staying in Reach One – Isle of Palms Beach Restoration Project

Dear Guests,

We wanted to share an important update regarding the upcoming beach restoration project on the Isle of Palms, particularly for guests staying in Reach One near the north end of the island around Wild Dunes.

The City of Isle of Palms will begin its long-planned beach renourishment project in mid-July, with active sand pumping scheduled to begin July 17. This project will restore sand to areas affected by erosion and help protect the shoreline for years to come.

The Most Important News: The Beach Will Remain Open

Even while construction is underway, the beach will remain open for guests to enjoy.

Only a relatively small section of beach—approximately 300 yards at a time—will be fenced off where crews are actively working. Guests will still be able to:

•Access the beach

•Walk along the shoreline

•Reach the ocean for swimming and beach activities

Temporary ramps will be placed over construction pipes so beachgoers can move safely around work areas.

Why This Project Is Needed

One helpful way to picture the erosion problem is with a pizza analogy.

If the beach in Wild Dunes were shaped like a slice of pizza, Beach Club would be the crust—wide and healthy, with plenty of beach between the dunes and the ocean. Ocean Club would be the tip of the slice, where severe erosion has caused the beach to narrow dramatically, and at high tide the ocean can come very close to the buildings.

The goal of this project is essentially to make the tip of the pizza as wide as the crust by restoring sand to the most eroded sections of shoreline.

This analogy also helps explain the pace of construction. Since the project begins near the crust of the pizza, where the beach is already relatively wide, less sand is needed, so crews should move through the early sections more quickly. As construction progresses toward the tip of the pizza near Ocean Club, the beach becomes much narrower and more severely eroded, meaning significantly more sand is required. Because of this, the project is expected to slow down as crews move south, spending more time in the most damaged areas.

What to Expect in Reach One

Construction equipment will begin arriving shortly after the July 4 holiday, with sand placement beginning around July 17.

Crews will work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while they are actively in front of a property.

Guests staying directly oceanfront may notice:

•Bulldozers moving sand

•Backup beeping from equipment

•Continuous machinery noise, including overnight hours

•Temporary fenced construction zones on the beach

The good news is that the construction crew moves steadily south, so the most noticeable activity in front of any one location is typically temporary.

Expected Duration

Reach One is expected to take approximately 50 days to complete.

Once crews finish the northern section, they will continue southward toward Beachwood East and eventually the Front Beach/Breach Inlet area later this fall.

Long-Term Benefit

This beach restoration will place approximately 2.5 million cubic yards of new sand along the shoreline—enough material to dramatically widen and strengthen the beach.

City leaders expect the benefits of this project to last approximately 8–10 years, helping preserve the beautiful beaches that make the Isle of Palms so special.

Our Recommendation

If you are staying in Reach One, we recommend arriving with the mindset that:

•You will still have beach access

•Construction may be visible or audible at times

•Conditions can change daily as crews move south

For guests who enjoy seeing major engineering projects up close, this may actually be fascinating to watch.

Here is a link to the City of Isle of Palms Beach Restoration Projects:  https://www.isleofpalms.gov/city-managed-beach-restoration-projects

If you have questions about how this may impact a specific property or travel date, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re always happy to help guide you.

We will continue monitoring the city’s real-time project map and will keep guests informed if anything changes before your arrival.

Warm regards,
Michael Long
Lowcountry Vacation Properties