Myrtle Beach Discovery Guide
Why Visit Myrtle Beach the Smart Way
Myrtle Beach is a hundred kilometres of continuous sand called the Grand Strand, and it is unapologetically a holiday town.
The beach is genuinely good — wide, gently shelving, warm from May to October — and the water is calmer than most of the Atlantic coast because the shore faces south-east into a shallow bight.
Around it is an American resort strip in full voice: a boardwalk with a Ferris wheel, mini golf courses in improbable numbers, seafood buffets, outlet shopping and live variety theatres.
It is also one of the great golf destinations in the world, with around ninety courses along the Strand.
And a short drive south, Brookgreen Gardens and the Lowcountry rice plantations are a completely different South Carolina.
How to Experience Myrtle Beach
The beach
The point of the place. Wide, flat sand running for kilometres, with public access points every few blocks and lifeguards in season. The northern end at North Myrtle Beach is quieter and more residential; the central stretch is where the boardwalk and the high-rise hotels are.
The boardwalk
A mile and a half of promenade with arcades, bars and the SkyWheel, a 57-metre observation wheel with enclosed gondolas. Busy, loud and exactly what it intends to be.
Golf
Around ninety courses along the Strand, several of them well regarded, with a packaged booking industry built around them. Spring and autumn are the seasons.
Brookgreen Gardens
Half an hour south: a former rice plantation turned into a sculpture garden in 1931, with the largest collection of American figurative sculpture anywhere, set among live oaks, plus a zoo of native species.
Murrells Inlet
A creekside village with a boardwalk over the marsh and the best seafood on the coast.
Where to Find Authentic Cultural and Historical Character
Myrtle Beach is a working-class family resort that has been reinventing itself for a century, and it is comfortable with that.
Who comes
Traditionally the Carolinas, Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, arriving by car, often to the same place year after year. The visitor economy is close to the entire economy: around twenty million people a year come to a metropolitan area of half a million.
The shag
South Carolina’s official state dance, a slow swing danced to beach music, developed along this coast in the 1940s and 50s. It has its own clubs, competitions and a genuinely devoted following in North Myrtle Beach, and it grew out of white teenagers dancing to Black rhythm and blues at a time when the state was segregated.
Growth
Horry County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, largely through retirement and relocation, which has changed the town from a seasonal resort into a year-round city.
Gullah Geechee
The Lowcountry south of here is the heartland of Gullah Geechee culture, descended from enslaved West Africans on the rice plantations.
Responsible Travel Tips
Sea turtles nest on this coast from May to October. Lights confuse hatchlings, so beachfront accommodation is asked to shield or turn off seaward-facing lights after dark; fill in holes, flatten sandcastles and take furniture off the beach at night, because hatchlings get trapped.
Do not disturb the dunes. They are the town’s storm defence and the sea oats holding them together are protected by state law.
Development pressure is intense here — Horry County has been among the fastest-growing in the United States — and the wetlands and maritime forest behind the strip are what is being lost. Waccamaw and Brookgreen are the places to see what was there.
Stormwater runoff closes swimming areas after heavy rain; advisories are posted.
Spend beyond the strip: Conway, Murrells Inlet and Georgetown all have independent businesses.
When to Visit Myrtle Beach
April, May, September and October are the best months: warm, far less crowded, the ocean still swimmable in September and October, and golf at its best.
June to August is peak season — hot, humid, busy and expensive, with the water around 28°C and every attraction open.
Late May and autumn bring the motorcycle rallies, which fill the town and are either the reason to come or the reason not to.
June to November is hurricane season, peaking from August to October; direct hits are uncommon but evacuations happen.
December to February is mild, quiet and cheap, with days around 14 to 16°C; many attractions close or reduce hours, but the golf is excellent and the beach is empty.
Travel Cost Levels in Myrtle Beach
What a day costs, by how you travel
Relative cost across the city
Lowest — inland along the highway, Surfside and the southern end out of season
Average — most of the central strip and North Myrtle Beach
Highest — oceanfront in July, rally weeks and the Pawleys Island end of the Strand
The seasonal swing is extreme: the same room can cost three times as much in July as in February. Booking a condo with a kitchen is how most families manage it, and the beach itself costs nothing.
