Sedimentologic, petrographic and radiometric data from a submerged beachrock on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, provide new information about the late Holocene sea-level history in this area. At French Bay, on the southern shore of the island, samples of beachrock collected at a depth of one meter below low-tide level yielded a conventional ¹⁴C age of 1120 ± 60 years before present. These samples further display a well-developed fenestral porosity and present an early generation of low-Mg calcite meniscus cement. These features characterize intertidal and supratidal settings. They are not consistent with the beachrock position and the reported late Holocene sea-level history in the Bahamas. A 1.5 to 2 m low-stand of the sea some 1200 years ago would best explain the observed particularities of the French Bay beachrock. This example from San Salvador shows that the smooth trend of late Holocene sea-level rise proposed by previous authors might be overprinted by high-frequency, low-amplitude fluctuations. Recognition of these fluctuations is fundamental when calculating rates of sea-level rise and evaluating coastal response to a marine transgression.