If you have orders to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, shortlist the address by drive time to the one public road that reaches the front gate, then by what homes in that time band have sold for. Without traffic, the October 10, 2026 routing puts Shell Point at 4 to 7 minutes and Port Royal Town Hall at 7 to 8. Burton and the Sams Point Road end of Lady's Island land at 10 to 12 minutes. Downtown Beaufort is 13 to 16. Gate rules, the full drive table, 2026 BAH, and a buy-versus-rent worksheet are on the Parris Island housing guide. This post is the cut we would make before a house-hunting trip.
Here is what we would do. Pick a maximum one-way drive and drop every place outside it. Set that place's sale median next to your BAH, check the flood map and, near the air station, the aircraft-noise map, then drive the house at your report time. The table is a map point. Your driveway will differ.
Why does every commute end on the same ramp?
The depot says there is only one road on and off Parris Island. From the north, its directions take Route 21 south toward Beaufort, then a right onto Route 280 shortly after Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. After about 6 miles, Route 280 turns into Route 802. The Parris Island sign is there, and the off-ramp on the right goes to the front gate. From the south, the same page comes up SC-802 to that same off-ramp. Quoted from Coming to Parris Island via the Internet Archive capture of January 14, 2026.
The same page says getting onto the base on a family day Thursday or graduation Friday can take up to 45 minutes. That line is on the ramp for everyone, including a Shell Point address. Add those days on top of the free-flow time.
Military OneSource lists the installation at 521 Blvd de France, Building 283, Parris Island, SC 29905 (read October 23, 2026). That building is inside the gate. The times below stop where the public road ends, the point the housing guide calls Malecon Drive, OSM node 3499832875.
How long is the drive from each place?
Free-flow estimates from October 10, 2026, using OSRM and Valhalla on OpenStreetMap data. Where the engines differed, the range is what we published. Traffic, a school zone, a bridge opening, and the wait at the gate are all extra. The same runs are the drive table on the housing guide.
| From | Distance | Drive time, no traffic |
|---|
| Shell Point, Gateway point to the center | 2.3–3.2 mi | 4–7 min |
| Port Royal Town Hall | 3.9 mi | 7–8 min |
| Burton, Broad River Boulevard to the center | 6.3–6.9 mi | 10–12 min |
| Lady's Island, Sea Island Parkway at Sams Point Road | 6.8 mi | 10–12 min |
| Downtown Beaufort, Waterfront Park | 7.5–8.7 mi | 13–16 min |
| Lady's Island, north side | 10.0 mi | 17–19 min |
| Bluffton Town Hall | 26.7 mi | about 36–37 min |
Shell Point's row runs from the Gateway point to the center of the Census place. The Shell Point page calls Parris Island Gateway US-21 and the community unincorporated, west of Port Royal, with a Beaufort, SC 29906 mailing address. Time a house at either end. Port Royal and Burton listings are on those pages. A house on the far side of Burton still needs its own route.
Does the Lady's Island drive use the Woods Bridge?
The October 10 route from Sea Island Parkway at Sams Point Road stays off it. That leg uses the McTeer Bridge, Ribaut Road, and the Russell Bell Bridge, which is the route on the Lady's Island page. Woods Memorial, the other crossing, is a drawbridge on the Beaufort River.
33 CFR 117.911(e) is the opening rule, from the eCFR text dated August 1, 2026, read October 23, 2026. On weekdays except federal holidays, the draw need not open from 6 a.m. to 9:29 a.m. or from 3:31 p.m. to 7 p.m. From 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. it need open only once an hour on the half hour. At other times it opens on signal. That stop is on the air-station drive. It is not on the Sams Point route to the depot. The north-side point has no published street list, so time that address before you treat it the same way.
What have homes in each drive-time band sold for?
Inside about 8 minutes, you are choosing between two separate medians. Set your BAH against a payment, and leave each median in its own column. Realtor.com's Shell Point page showed a September 2026 median sold price of $371,800, up 7.77% from a year earlier, with 17 homes listed (read October 10, 2026). That is a thin market. Redfin's Port Royal page showed a median sale price of $409,729 for all home types over the three months ending August 2026, up 5.3%, with 56 sales in August (read October 6, 2026). The median is the three-month number, so August alone is not the sample.
At 10 to 12 minutes, Burton's median sits under Lady's Island's. Realtor.com's Burton page showed a September 2026 median sold price of $353,999, up 1.1% from a year earlier (read October 10, 2026). Redfin put the three months ending August 2026 at $353,765, with 18 sales that August (read October 6, 2026). Realtor.com's Ladys Island page showed a September 2026 median sold price of $490,000 for the whole island, down 12.88% from a year earlier (read October 6, 2026). That is not a Sams Point Road price.
At 13 to 16 minutes, Redfin's Beaufort page showed $465,692 for the three months ending August 2026, down 3.1%, with 75 sales in August (read October 6, 2026). That is the city figure. North Lady's Island, at 17 to 19 minutes, still uses the $490,000 island median. Bluffton Town Hall is the long drive in the table above. The Bluffton area page shows a Lowcountry Regional MLS closed-sale median of $525,000 on 291 sales, close dates April 16, 2026 through October 16, 2026 (read October 16, 2026). It belongs on this shortlist only after you have accepted that drive.
Basic Allowance for Housing is a monthly amount. For 2026, MHA SC258, the Beaufort/Parris Island housing area, pays an E-5 with dependents $2,403 and an E-6 with dependents $2,811. Those dollars are from the Defense Travel Management Office 2026 ASCII file, in the Internet Archive capture of June 9, 2026. Confirm grade, dependents, and duty ZIP on the official lookup. The rest of the grades are in BAH in Beaufort. Your rank sets the allowance. The median does not.
Should you buy on this set of orders?
Read the length on the orders. We do not publish a standard tour length. The housing guide works one example at an illustrative $325,000, over 36 payments, with the VA funding fee rolled into the loan. That price is an example, not a local median. Use the section when 36 months is close to your orders. A short hold in that example depends on renting the house after you leave, or on the price changing. If you later rent it out, read the guide's note on S.C. Code §12-43-220 before you assume the 4% assessment still applies.
VA purchase-loan rules are on the VA loans page and on VA.gov. Take the payment from the calculator linked there and set it beside the BAH figure above.
What should you check on the address itself?
Time the house at your report hour, and keep the depot's 45-minute warning for a family day Thursday or a graduation Friday. Look the parcel up on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. The steps are in the flood guide. If the house is also near the air station, use the map on Beaufort County's AICUZ page (the page we cited October 6, 2026). A town name is not a noise reading. School assignment follows the address. Confirm it with the Beaufort County School District. This page does not rank schools.
FAQ
How long is the drive to the Parris Island gate from Shell Point and Port Royal?
With no traffic on October 10, 2026, Shell Point was 4 to 7 minutes (2.3 to 3.2 miles) and Port Royal Town Hall was 7 to 8 minutes (3.9 miles). The depot says a family day Thursday or graduation Friday can take up to 45 minutes at the gate.
Is there a second road onto Parris Island?
The depot's visitor page says there is only one. The off-ramp from Route 802 leads to the front gate. That wording is from the January 14, 2026 archive capture of the official directions.
What have homes sold for within about 10 minutes of the gate?
Realtor.com's September 2026 median sold price was $371,800 in Shell Point (17 listings on that page) and $353,999 in Burton. Redfin's Port Royal median for the three months ending August 2026 was $409,729. Lady's Island's September 2026 island median was $490,000, including the Sams Point end, which shares Burton's drive window.
Does the Lady's Island drive to Parris Island use the Woods Bridge?
The October 10 route from Sea Island Parkway at Sams Point Road uses the McTeer Bridge, Ribaut Road, and the Russell Bell Bridge. The north side was 17 to 19 minutes, with no street list for that point. Woods Memorial is a drawbridge under 33 CFR 117.911(e).
Should I buy or rent for a Parris Island tour?
Read the dates on your orders. The housing guide's example is 36 payments on an illustrative $325,000 price. 2026 BAH here is $2,403 a month for an E-5 with dependents and $2,811 for an E-6 with dependents. Confirm your rate on the DoD lookup, and use our VA loans page for the loan steps.
Run the shortlist on one address
Gate rules, the BAH table, and the payment example stay on the Parris Island housing guide. The free PCS Move Pack is on that page and in the form on this one. The button reads "Connect With a Military Specialist." Hamza Faris leads The Faris Group. He is a Marine veteran. Use the form if you want this shortlist run on one address. Search is there if you would rather look on your own.
