[LETTERHEAD OF NEXSEN PRUET JACOBS & POLLARD, LLP]

                                 March 2, 2000

                                                                     Exhibit 5.1


               [Letterhead of Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard, LLP]


                                December 10, 1999

Islands Bancorp
500 Carteret Street, Suite A
Beaufort, SC 29902

         RE:      Form SB-2 Registration Statement

Gentlemen:

         We have acted as counsel to Islands Bancorp, a South Carolina
corporation (the "Company"), in connection with the registration of 1,210,115
shares of common stock, no par value per share, of the Company (the "Common
Stock"), on Form SB-2 (the "Registration Statement") filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the "Commission").

         We have examined and are familiar with the Articles of Incorporation
and the Bylaws of the Company, and have examined the originals, or copies
certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of corporate records,
including minute books, of the Company. We have also examined the Registration
Statement and such statutes and other records, instruments and documents
pertaining thereto that we have deemed necessary to examine for the purposes of
this opinion. In our examination, we have assumed the completeness and
authenticity of any document submitted to us as an original, the completeness
and conformity to the originals of any document submitted to us as a copy, the
authenticity of the originals of such copies, the genuineness of all signatures
and the legal capacity and mental competence of natural persons.

         On the basis of and in reliance upon the foregoing, we are of the
opinion that the Common Stock registered under the Registration Statement when
duly issued and delivered as described in the Registration Statement (in the
form declared effective by the Commission) and duly purchased and paid for, will
be legally issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

         This opinion is being rendered to be effective as of the effective date
of the Registration Statement. We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion,
or copies thereof, as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the
statement made regarding our firm under the caption "Legal Matters" in the
prospectus included in the Registration Statement, but we do not thereby admit
that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under the
provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and
regulations promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder.

                                            Very truly yours,

                                            NEXSEN PRUET JACOBS & POLLARD, LLP



                                            By: /s/ WILLIAM S. MCMASTER
                                               ---------------------------------
                                                    William S. McMaster