Ed, Either that was a heck of a storm, or some pretty crappy adhesion of the galvanizing. You should be able to whack hot-dip with a hammer and stay intact.
Tom, a little sand in the blown surf and you wet grind things fast.
Used to go to Wrightsville Beach, nothing facing the ocean has any galv left on it.
Yes, if the install will be done well then epoxy is the way to go.
Ed: Galv does corrode pretty quickly in the seaside environment - but so do a lot of materials. Continuous-wet and salt are particularly bad, thus the ocean-facing side corroding faster due to salt spray (which can be carried for miles.)* Durability is directly related to zinc thickness. Still corrodes much more slowly than exposed steel.
Also - once you get through the pure-zinc "Eta" layer of galvanizing, you will get rust staining/discoloration as the iron alloy layers start to corrode. Iron oxides are a pretty powerful pigment. However, you still have most of the corrosion resistance of galvanizing (slower corrosion rate) until you lose the "Gamma" alloy layer and get down to pure iron/steel.
* Sandy beaches actually have more salt spray carried further, because the average particle size is smaller. Rocky beaches tend to have larger droplets, which fall out of the air faster.
The epoxy will flake off, the zinc will not. Both can be attacked by wind driven sand. This coastal resident would chose the galvanized product. You won't be responsible for maintenance, but won't your client be?
I'm thinking in the long term, the maintenance of the epoxy would be more practical to do in situ.
Received a few quotes and the price for hot tip is 4 times as much as epoxy, meaning after the cost for 4 repairs, the cost of maintenance compared to hot tip would be an issue
Neither galvanizing or epoxy will work in isolation. If you want it to last in a severe marine environment then it is essential to do hot dip galvanizing and then prime and apply epoxy paint coatings.