Myrtle Beach: 9 Things Actually Worth Doing
Myrtle Beach runs on one myth: that it has “over 100 golf courses.” The real count is 80-90 (counts vary, and the total shrank from a 2000s peak). That’s the pattern here generally: treat this as a beach vacation, not a sightseeing march, and you’ll have a good week. The Boardwalk is a 2010 rebuild, not a century-old original. The Pavilion amusement park you might remember closed in 2006. Broadway at the Beach isn’t the Boardwalk, it’s a separate district two blocks off it. Beach and pool are the daily spine; one outing layered on top is the ceiling.
| Essentials | Myrtle Beach |
|---|---|
| Days needed | 2-7; genuinely fills a full week as a beach vacation, not a sightseeing march |
| Best months | Mar-May and Sep-Oct; October is often named the single best month |
| Getting there | Fly into MYR (~3mi from the Boardwalk), but most visitors drive in |
| Book first | Summer-weekend show and headline-attraction tickets; a car once you land, this is a drive-to market |
How many days do you need in Myrtle Beach?
Long weekend to a full week, both work, because this genuinely isn’t a one-sight city. The trap is pacing it like one anyway. Beach and pool are the spine every day; layer on one outing at most, not three.
Two days: beach both days, plus the Boardwalk and SkyWheel one evening and one headline attraction, Ripley’s Aquarium, Broadway browsing, or Family Kingdom. Three to four days, the long-weekend sweet spot: add a Broadway at the Beach half-day, a Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State Park half-day, a Murrells Inlet seafood dinner, and a show. Five days: add golf or mini golf and North Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Landing, and deliberately slow down. Six to seven days: add a water-park day, a dolphin or on-water excursion, a full day trip to Charleston or Wilmington, and more unstructured beach.
9 things worth doing in Myrtle Beach
- Walk the Boardwalk & Promenade. 1.2 miles, free, running from the 2nd Ave Pier to about 14th Ave N. It reads as timeless; it isn’t. This is a 2010 rebuild, Hurricane Hazel flattened the original in 1954, so ignore anyone selling “century-old boardwalk” nostalgia.
- Ride the SkyWheel. An enclosed, climate-controlled gondola wheel around 187-200 ft tall, roughly $21 adult / $17 child (VOLATILE, check current SkyWheel ticket prices ), anchoring the Boardwalk’s north end. If heights aren’t your thing, fish instead: Apache Pier is the longest wooden pier on the East Coast, plus the 2nd Ave and Cherry Grove piers.
- Ripley’s Aquarium and WonderWorks, at Broadway at the Beach. Broadway at the Beach is a separate 350-acre district about two blocks off the Boardwalk, not the same place, a common mix-up. Ripley’s Aquarium tickets run about $43 adult / $27 kid, WonderWorks about $43, both VOLATILE. Hollywood Wax Museum and Legends in Concert round out the district.
- Family Kingdom, oceanfront. Free to walk in, then pay-per-ride or a roughly $45 wristband. The Swamp Fox wooden coaster has run since 1966; 2026 is the park’s 60th anniversary, with a new single-rail RMC coaster opening summer 2026. Splashes water park sits right on site; Myrtle Waves (around $50 general admission) is the separate big water park nearby.
- Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State Park. About 18 miles south, in Murrells Inlet. Brookgreen (around $25, ticket valid 7 consecutive days) pairs America’s largest outdoor sculpture collection with the Lowcountry Zoo, included in that admission, not an add-on. Across US-17, Huntington Beach State Park (around $8) adds Atalaya Castle, a 1930s Moorish winter home, and serious birding, 300+ species recorded. These are two separate parks with separate gates, and neither is Myrtle Beach State Park back in town (around $5, pier plus campground).
- Dinner on the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk. This stretch earns “Seafood Capital of South Carolina” honestly, half a mile of boardwalk over the salt marsh, seafood plus nightlife. Stick to the names actually on the MarshWalk: Dead Dog Saloon, Drunken Jack’s, Wahoo’s, Bovine’s, the Wicked Tuna, the Claw House.
- A round of mini golf. With 50+ courses, Myrtle Beach earns the “Mini Golf Capital of the World” tag for real. Hawaiian Rumble’s erupting volcano and Mount Atlanticus’s five-story course are the two worth building an evening around.
- A round of real golf. 80-90 courses along the Grand Strand, not the “100+” figure that gets repeated, still enough to earn “the Golf Coast.” Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, The Dunes Club (host of the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic) and TPC Myrtle Beach lead the list; stay-and-play packages are how most golfers actually book here.
- A live show, then the Shag’s home turf. Carolina Opry, Alabama Theatre at Barefoot Landing, Legends in Concert, or Pirates Voyage, a Dolly Parton production that also runs in Tennessee and Florida, not exclusive to Myrtle Beach. Afterward, head up to North Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Drive, birthplace of the Shag, South Carolina’s official state dance since 1984. The Shag is the dance; “beach music” is the genre it’s danced to, not the same thing.
Getting to Myrtle Beach (and getting around)
Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) sits about 3 miles southwest of the Boardwalk, served by Allegiant, Breeze and Southwest running the most routes, plus Delta from Atlanta and American from DFW. Spirit exited MYR in May 2026, so skip any list that still includes it.
Most visitors still drive in. Charlotte is about 3.5 hours, Atlanta 6-7.5 hours depending on traffic, DC about 7 hours, mostly via I-95 and US-17, with the SC-31 Carolina Bays Parkway as the traffic-relief route running north-south in summer. Once you’re here, a car is essential: the Grand Strand is 60 miles of car-oriented sprawl, and Coast RTA transit covers the core corridor but not day trips. Two parallel US-17s run the length of the Strand, Business 17 (Kings Highway, stoplight-heavy, closer to the ocean) and the Bypass, also congested; expect to use both depending on where you’re headed.
Where to eat in Myrtle Beach
Calabash-style seafood is the local shorthand: lightly battered, flash-fried in small pieces, served with hush puppies and slaw, often as an all-you-can-eat buffet. The name comes from Calabash, North Carolina, just over the state line, not an SC town. She-crab soup is Lowcountry-rooted and named for female crabs’ roe, which gives the soup its color and richness. Shrimp and grits, frogmore stew and Gullah-Geechee Lowcountry cooking round out the list. BBQ is secondary here, there’s no signature Myrtle Beach BBQ tradition worth chasing.
For a sit-down seafood dinner, the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk is the move (see #6 above): Dead Dog Saloon, Drunken Jack’s, Wahoo’s, Bovine’s, the Wicked Tuna, the Claw House. Budget for tax on top of the check: about 11.5% on a restaurant meal inside Myrtle Beach city limits, about 10.5% in unincorporated Horry County. Both are VOLATILE, rates shift.
When should you visit Myrtle Beach?
Spring (Mar-May) and fall (Sep-Oct) are the sweet spots, warm, golf-friendly, fewer crowds and lower rates. October is often named the single best month, the ocean’s still warm and the crowds are gone. Summer (Jun-Aug) is peak season, hot, humid and crowded, with July the busiest month. Winter is mild, quiet and the cheapest time to visit.
Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, peaking mid-August to mid-October. That’s not a reason to avoid a summer or fall trip, just keep an eye on the tropical forecast as your dates approach.
2026 events worth building a trip around: the Carolina Country Music Festival, June 4-7; SOS Spring Safari (shag), April 17-26; the Blue Crab Festival in Little River, May 16-17; and the Myrtle Beach World Amateur golf tournament, beginning August 31.
Is Myrtle Beach’s water actually safe to swim in?
Yes, with real caveats. Rip currents are the actual hazard here, not sharks or jellyfish, so swim near a lifeguard and learn the flag system before you go in: green is calm, yellow is medium caution, a single red flag means don’t swim, double red closes the water outright, and blue signals marine life in the area.
Two beach rules to know before you set up: from Memorial Day through Labor Day, only circular umbrellas 7.5 ft or smaller are allowed, tents and canopies are banned so lifeguards keep a clear sightline down the beach. Separately, no alcohol or glass is allowed on the beach anywhere on the Strand, year-round, not just in summer. Car break-ins happen at beach parking lots, so don’t leave valuables visible.
Day trips from Myrtle Beach
| Day trip | Distance / time | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Charleston, SC | ~95mi / ~2h | Doable, but deserves its own trip, a single day only scratches the surface |
| Georgetown, SC | ~35mi / ~53min | Easy; SC’s third-oldest city, stacks with Murrells Inlet, Huntington and Pawleys on one southbound loop |
| Wilmington, NC | ~74mi / ~1.5h | A solid full day, riverwalk plus a Wrightsville Beach detour |
| Conway, SC | ~15mi / ~25-30min | Easy half-day, the Waccamaw Riverwalk and historic downtown |
| Calabash, NC | ~22mi / ~20-30min | Easy half-day seafood pilgrimage, or just eat Calabash-style on Myrtle Beach’s own restaurant row instead |
Where to stay in Myrtle Beach
Pick by area, north to south. Boardwalk/core Myrtle Beach is walkable and best for first-timers. North Myrtle Beach is quieter, family-oriented and the Shag nightlife hub. The Market Common, built on the site of a closed Air Force base, is upscale and less “beach resort.” Murrells Inlet suits foodies who want quiet, seafood, and nothing else. Pawleys Island and Litchfield are the quietest and most historic, well clear of the boardwalk scene. Surfside Beach, “the Family Beach,” and Garden City are low-rise and residential, good value for families.
Verified names worth knowing: Marriott’s OceanWatch at Grande Dunes, and Kingston Resorts, which covers both a Hilton and an Embassy Suites at Kingston Plantation. Camping is genuinely mainstream here, not a niche fallback: Ocean Lakes is the largest campground on the entire US East Coast, PirateLand is another major option, and Myrtle Beach State Park runs its own campground too. Compare Myrtle Beach hotel rates on Booking.com before locking in summer dates, when rooms go fastest.
Pace the days with the itinerary that matches your trip: 2-day , 3-day , 4-day , 5-day , 6-day and 7-day Myrtle Beach itineraries, and book summer shows and headline attractions well ahead, they’re the pieces that actually sell out.