Summer in Georgetown: How To Do a Coastal Town in July

Summer on the South Carolina coast is not subtle. Here’s how to have a great time in it anyway.

Front-load the day. Everything worth doing outdoors happens before eleven. Walk the Harborwalk at sunrise, tour the historic district in the morning, get on the water early. By noon you want to be somewhere with air conditioning.

Let the museums be your midday. This is the real advantage of a town with five of them. When the heat peaks, you have several hours of indoor history within a few blocks — and unlike a beach town, you’re not choosing between sunburn and a hotel room.

Get on the water. A boat moving across open water makes its own breeze, and the temperature difference between a dock and the middle of the bay is remarkable. Kayaking the tidal creeks in the early morning is the coolest you’ll be all day.

Respect the afternoon storm. Lowcountry summers run on a schedule: hot morning, building clouds, a hard thunderstorm around mid-afternoon, then a washed-clean evening. Plan around it rather than being surprised by it. The hour after the storm is often the best light of the day.

Dinner is an outdoor activity again. Once the sun drops, waterfront tables come back into play. Evening on the Harborwalk in July, after the heat breaks, is genuinely pleasant.

What to bring. Water, sunscreen, a hat with a brim, insect repellent for the marsh at dusk, and shoes you can walk in for hours. Humidity here is not optional; dress for it.

One upside nobody mentions. Summer evenings are long. You get an extra two hours of usable daylight at the end of the day, and most visitors sleep through the best part of the morning. Take both.