Top 5 or so nicest, ritziest beach towns in the South?

Good question.
One of the islands around Charleston, probably Kiawah, Sea Island, The Breakers, Take your pick of somewhere in Miami Boca area (but I personally like The Biltmore hotel- not on beach though), and the Gasparilla Inn on Boca Grande.

Probably a place in the keys that could be up there as well. Honorable mention to The Grand Hotel in Fairhope just because it’s a great, old property.

Grand Isle

Naples and West Palm Beach

New Smyrna Beach, Florida!! Hands down!!

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Sanibel Island.

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Ritzy? Nicest?

No way

Naples maybe but not Sanibel

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What are the top 5 or so nicest and ritziest beach towns in the South? For “the South,” let’s just say Virginia south to Alabama.

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I understand what the OP is getting at. Anything south of, say, Gainesville, FL should be off the table for consideration. South Florida is a totally different world than the rest of "The South."

In no particular order, I'd say...

1. Kiawah Island, SC (if that counts as a "town")
2. Ponte Vedra, FL
3. Rosemary Beach, FL
4. St. Simon's/Sea Island, GA
5. I'm not familiar with the NC/VA coast, so I'll reserve a spot because I'd assume there must a ritzy town somewhere around there.

I wouldn't include Amelia Island on that list. I live there (Yulee). While a lot of money has migrated there over the past 5-10 years, it's still fairly blue collar and middle-class.

St simon/sea island
Rosemary/alys

Vero Beach is quiet money. For first class accommodations, the Kimpton or Costa D'Este. It is not ritzy, but low key sophisticated. There are a number of upscale restaurants and shops in a very quiet beachfront district. No glitz or glamour. There is also a Disney Resort 10 minutes north on the beach, although it is not walking distance from restaurants and shops.

It is the kind of place you can let your kids walk around and explore, if they are over 10 years old.

ETA: There a number of golf clubs in Vero (population <20,000) where the joining fee is almost $200K or more (John's Island, Red Stick, Windsor, Orchid Island, Quail Valley, The Moorings). My wife works at Johns Island Club and the cost to join is $400K, plus you have to have a house there and those range from $6M to $40M. They are doing renovations and are targetting billionaires, not millionaires to join. Many of these homes are 2nd homes for these people.

This is the demographics that small businesses are trying to attract. At the same time, Vero Beach feels like a normal town. Very low key architecture and it's low density, because the big money likes it that way.

Palm Beach is where the glitz and glamor is. Those people want to be seen. In Vero beach, they want to live in cognito. You might be sitting next to a Wall Street tycoon at a local brewery and not even know it.

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"Ritzy" referring to upscale/expensive, not necessarily the quality of beach or water.

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Doesn't ritzy need to be almost ostentatious, like really showy?

So much of the Outer Banks is expensive, but I wouldn't call Rodanthe or Avalon ritzy.

Miami South Beach has to be #1.
San Destin
Key West and Charleston come to mind. I love vacationing in both, mostly for reasons other than the beach.