The Grand Strand's 60-mile Atlantic crescent — the 1.2-mile Boardwalk and Promenade, the 200-foot SkyWheel, and the only oceanfront amusement park on the east coast.
The center of South Carolina's 60-mile Grand Strand crescent — Myrtle Beach proper holds the 1.2-mile Boardwalk and Promenade and the 200-foot SkyWheel between 14th Avenue North and 2nd Avenue North; Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing anchor the entertainment districts; the 340-acre Myrtle Beach State Park sits south at 3rd Avenue South; and the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk is fifteen minutes further down US-17 for the saltwater-creek seafood scene.
Walk the 1.2-mile Boardwalk under the SkyWheel, ride Family Kingdom's Swamp Fox wooden coaster on the sand, kayak the Murrells Inlet salt marsh, and tee off on one of the Strand's 90+ golf courses.
The 1.2-mile Boardwalk between 14th Avenue North and 2nd Avenue North is the city's spine — opened in 2010 after a 60-year absence, since named one of Travel Channel's top three boardwalks in the US. The 200-foot SkyWheel sits at the northern end (built 2011, 42 climate-controlled glass gondolas), the Pier 14 fishing pier dead-centers it, and live free concerts at Plyler Park run weekly all summer. Walk it after dark for the LED-lit pier.
The only oceanfront amusement park on the east coast — 38 rides on the sand at 3rd Avenue South, anchored by the 1966 Swamp Fox wooden roller coaster (the only ocean-view wooden coaster in the country) and the 1937 Wave Swinger. Day-pass wristbands around $35; the adjacent Splashes Oceanfront Water Park adds a wave pool and three slides. Open March through October with a weekend Christmas-light run.
A 340-acre 1936 CCC-era state park on the south end of the city — a public Atlantic beach with the original 1937 wooden bathhouse, a Education Center with a sea-turtle program, the Sculptured Oak Nature Trail loop, and a 750-foot fishing pier. The off-strand alternative for a quieter beach day; $8 vehicle entry. Loggerhead sea-turtle nests appear May through September.
A half-mile boardwalk fifteen minutes south on US-17 in Murrells Inlet — wraps around the salt-marsh creek with eight waterfront restaurants (Drunken Jack's, Wicked Tuna, Dead Dog Saloon, Wahoo's Fish House), a Sunday Folly Beach reggae brunch, and a working shrimp-boat dock at the southern end. The Strand's authentic creek-and-seafood institution; the locals' Friday-night dinner.
Myrtle Beach is the country's golf-vacation capital — 90+ courses across the Strand, including the Dunes Golf and Beach Club (Robert Trent Jones Sr., #67 in Golf Digest's American Public list), Caledonia Golf and Fish Club (Mike Strantz), True Blue (Strantz), and Tidewater. Most rental packages add green fees through Mr. Tee, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, or the on-site concierge. October and March are the cheapest cool-weather rounds.
Two oceanfront fishing piers anchor opposite ends of the Strand — Pier 14 sits dead-center on the Boardwalk at 14th Avenue North (rebuilt 2017 after Hurricane Matthew, restaurant deck and rental tackle), and the Apache Pier at the northern Apache Family Campground stretches 1,206 feet into the Atlantic — the longest wooden pier on the East Coast. Day-pass walk-on around $2; rod-rental fishing around $11. Reliable runs of king mackerel, pompano, and Spanish mackerel May through October.
Twenty miles south on US-17 in Pawleys Island — Brookgreen Gardens is a 9,100-acre former 1930s plantation turned public sculpture garden, with 2,000+ outdoor sculptures across the largest figurative-sculpture collection in the US, plus a Lowcountry Zoo of native species. Huntington Beach State Park sits across the highway with the 1933 Atalaya Castle (Mediterranean Revival former Anna Hyatt Huntington home) on a separate Atlantic strand. Combo day-trip from $32.
Myrtle Beach is the only place on the east coast where you can ride a roller coaster on the sand at Family Kingdom in the morning, walk a 1.2-mile Boardwalk under the SkyWheel at sunset, and eat a sweet-tea-glazed grouper on the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk by 8 — without ever moving the car more than fifteen miles.
Broadway at the Beach's Ripley's Aquarium and WonderWorks, the Carolina Opry, Pirates Voyage's pirate-ship dinner show, Barefoot Landing on the Intracoastal, and Tanger Outlets at Highway 501.
Myrtle Beach's 350-acre lakefront entertainment district at US-17 Bypass — Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach (the 350,000-gallon ocean tunnel), WonderWorks (the upside-down science museum), Hollywood Wax Museum, the Pavilion Park rides, Hard Rock Cafe, and the free Saturday-night summer fireworks over Lake Broadway. Free entry to the district; tickets to individual attractions.
An Intracoastal-Waterway-side entertainment district fifteen minutes north in North Myrtle Beach — wood-plank boardwalks over Lake Hidden, the Alligator Adventure 1,000-creature reptile park, Alabama Theatre live country shows, House of Blues with weekly national-act bookings, and a string of lakefront patio restaurants. Free entry; the cleaner-than-Broadway counterpart for evening strolls.
A four-mile barrier island twenty-five minutes south on US-17 — the famously "arrogantly shabby" Pawleys character, the original 1880 Pawleys Island Hammock store, the 1898 Pelican Inn, and a quieter alternative beach when the central Strand fills up. Pair with a Brookgreen Gardens visit and a Hammock Coast Lowcountry-style late-lunch at the Hammock Shops.
The 200-foot observation Ferris wheel on the Boardwalk — 42 climate-controlled glass gondolas, 10-minute three-revolution ride, and a 30-minute VIP experience option with a champagne flute and a glass-floor gondola. Best at sunset; tickets around $20. The most-photographed Boardwalk vista since 2011.
Dolly Parton's 1,000-seat dinner-theater pirate-ship show at Highway 17 N — a 15-foot-deep performance lagoon with two full-size pirate ships, sword-fights, acrobatics, and a four-course pre-set Captain's Feast. Tickets around $80 with the dinner included; the franchise's Myrtle Beach location opened in 2011.
The Strand's longest-running live music theater since 1986 — Calvin Gilmore's 2,200-seat house with a country-music revue cycling through summer, the famous Christmas Special run from late November through December, and the off-shoot Time Warp '60s-and-'70s revue Saturday nights. Tickets from $52; Highway 17 just north of Broadway at the Beach.
Two hours south on US-17 — the historic French Quarter, the Battery and Rainbow Row, Magnolia Plantation, and the Charleston City Market. Pair with a King Street lunch at Husk or Fig and a Charleston Harbor sunset sail. Most Strand renters do Charleston as a single all-day trip on day three or four; allow 12 hours door-to-door.
An hour and forty-five minutes north on US-17 — the Wilmington Riverwalk, the moored battleship USS North Carolina, the Cape Fear Serpentarium, and the surf and sandbar at Wrightsville Beach. The other-side-of-the-state-line day trip and a frequent first-night detour for north-bound renters. Allow 8 hours.
A 9,100-acre former Brookgreen rice plantation turned 1930s public sculpture park in Pawleys Island — 2,000+ figurative outdoor sculptures across the largest collection in the US (founded by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband Archer Huntington in 1931), plus a Lowcountry Zoo and the Trail Beyond the Garden Wall through the Old Rice Fields. Allow a full day; admission around $24 adult.
Two outlet centers cover the Strand — Tanger 501 on Highway 501 (110+ stores including Polo, Coach, Nike, Kate Spade, Under Armour) and Tanger Outlets on Highway 17 N near Barefoot Landing. The classic rainy-day Strand shopping move; coupon books at the Welcome Centers. Both fifteen minutes from the Boardwalk.
Sea Captain's House oceanfront breakfast on Ocean Boulevard, Drunken Jack's on the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk, Hot Fish Club for the locals' deck, and Aspen Grille at Restaurant Row for the special-occasion dinner.
A North-Strand fine-dining standby on Restaurant Row in North Myrtle Beach — chef Curry Martin's Lowcountry-modern menu, dry-aged Angus rib eyes, Carolina-shrimp-and-grits, an unusually deep South Carolina-leaning wine list, and the most consistent special-occasion booking on the Strand. Reservations strongly recommended; closed Sundays.
An oceanfront 1962 restaurant in a converted Tudor-style home on Ocean Boulevard — three meals daily, the famous breakfast biscuits-and-gravy with the Atlantic out the window, blackened mahi for lunch, and the white-tablecloth she-crab soup at dinner. Reservations only for dinner. The Strand's longest-running oceanfront sit-down room and the locals' visiting-relative recommendation.
The southern anchor of the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk since 1980 — a sprawling salt-creek deck, the famous shrimp-and-grits plate, a peel-and-eat shrimp tower, the fresh-catch board, and a Bushwacker frozen-cocktail program that brings the Friday-night line out the door by 5:30. Cash and card; arrive before sunset for the deck table.
The other Murrells Inlet creek-side institution — a 1948-rebuilt fishing club with a wide salt-marsh deck, the Lowcountry boil-for-two plate, the Hot Fish Club Crab Cakes (a Strand benchmark for 60 years), and a Sunday seafood-buffet brunch the regulars pre-book. The classic family-with-grandparents Murrells Inlet stop.
A boat-to-table sushi-and-fresh-fish room on the MarshWalk — a working dock with the day's catch unloaded behind the bar, the Wicked Tuna roll the most-ordered plate of the day, and a long Strand-wide tap list. Loud and casual; the late-night MarshWalk option after the deck dinners close.
An oceanfront Boardwalk-area family seafood room on Ocean Boulevard — fried-shrimp baskets, hush-puppies, a kid menu through 9 p.m., and a deck that opens to the Atlantic. The default first-night arrival dinner for Sands Beach Club and Brighton Tower renters; cheaper than Sea Captain's and friendlier to flip-flops.
A French-pastry-and-bistro institution at the 38th Avenue North Plaza since 1991 — the locals' breakfast biscuits-and-cinnamon-rolls morning, a quiche-and-salad lunch plate, and the chocolate-mousse dessert case the after-dinner regulars stop by for. Cash-friendly; closes by 9 p.m.
A Murrells Inlet from-scratch ice-cream parlor with thirty rotating flavors — the famous peach-and-blueberry homemade scoops, the seasonal Lowcountry pawpaw, and the after-MarshWalk-dinner kid line that runs out the door on summer Saturdays. Cash and card.
A Strand-wide pizzeria-and-Italian local chain since 1995 — the famous CalZone, the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, and a tap list deep on Coast Brewing and other South Carolina craft beer. The default condo-week takeout pizza for groups of 8+; the Broadway-at-the-Beach location stays open latest.
A Strand sushi-and-hibachi room with two locations (Restaurant Row and Broadway) — fresh-cut omakase at the sushi bar, the seat-belt-required hibachi grills, a tight wine-and-sake list, and the late-night-Saturday option after the Boardwalk closes. Reservations recommended for hibachi.
Best season, the MYR vs. ILM airport pick, neighborhoods (Boardwalk, Kingston Plantation, Surfside, Murrells Inlet, North Myrtle Beach), pets, and what a Myrtle Beach week actually costs.
Every property in our Myrtle Beach collection is hand-checked, hand-photographed, and backed by twenty-four-hour concierge support. The guide is the warm-up. The home is the trip.
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