The Grand Strand offers a wide area to explore. Choose Things to Do, find local restaurants reviews, find a place to stay, and view some pictures. Start now to Enjoy Myrtle Beach, South Carolina!

North Myrtle Beach was established in the 1960s after legendary South Carolina Congressman John Jenrette (then a state legislator) argued that the four smaller communities of Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach and Windy Hill would prosper if they merged into a single municipality. One of the North Strand's many delights is Barefoot Landing, a top-ranked tourist attraction. On U.S. 17 and inland from Windy Hill Beach, this charming variation of a shopping center includes shops nestled around a 20-acre freshwater lake. Barefoot Landing is home to more than 100 specialty and retail shops, factory direct stores, more than 1,000 feet of floating dock, a boardwalk and a handful of waterfront restaurants. Attractions include a riverboat, The Alabama Theatre, Alligator Adventure, and the House of Blues.

Cherry Grove, just south of Little River, is one of several communities that compose North Myrtle Beach. Sea Mountain Highway is the only way into Cherry Grove from U.S. 17, so watch the signs carefully. Cherry Grove has its share of new high rises, oceanfront condominiums and motels, but away from the ocean you'll find rows of houses on pilings lining serpentine channels and inlets. Many Cherry Grove residents and tourists handpick this section of the Strand because they relish the joys of catching, cleaning and cooking their own seafood.

Nestled beneath the twisted arms of weathered oaks, you'll discover an unhurried and uncommon side of the Grand Strand called Little River. From clutches of cheerful shops, an unexpected array of merchandise spills forth. You can also schedule a deep-sea fishing excursion, take a cruise do. Each spring, thousands of people make a pilgrimage to Little River on the weekend in May when the horseshoe area of the beloved waterfront hosts the famous Blue Crab Festival .This day-long event -- Little River's finest -- showcases live entertainment, oodles of arts-and-crafts displays and an abundance of fresh, delectable seafood.

Myrtle Beach

The Grand Strand revolves around the city of Myrtle Beach. The resort area first became popular here, and everything seems to spiderweb outward from Myrtle Beach.

In years past the area has been billed the Golf Capital of the World, the Campground Capital of the World and the Miniature Golf Capital of the World. Myrtle Beach even home to the world's largest sand sculpture in June, 2007.

The tourism experts say that Myrtle Beach's greatest attractions are still the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful beaches. But in the past few years so many other things have sprung up that it is hard for even locals to keep track of the latest attraction and the new towers of condominium high-rises. In addition to shopping, amusement parks, miniature golf, water parks, waterway cruises, golf and the live entertainment theaters, there is a constant quest among promoters to find more ways to satisfy visitors and residents alike. Whether it is the golfer's paradise, the country music and live-entertainment haven, the family beach, the food, the shopping, the amusements, the attractions ... whatever the draw, Myrtle Beach seems to provide something for everyone.

The south end of the Boulevard is a solid line of accommodations - some large, some small. The mid-portion of the Boulevard features venues for entertainment and activities, including the Myrtle Beach Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum and the new Boardwalk which opened in 2010, and the huge SkyWheel which opened in May, 2011, Beginning around 32nd Avenue N., there is an exclusive residential district where permanent and summer residents coexist in beautiful, moderately expensive homes. From 52nd Avenue northward to the city limits, motels and condominiums dominate the beachfront.

On 21st Avenue N., between Oak Street and the Bypass, you will find Broadway At The Beach, one of the most significant developments at Myrtle Beach. The newest shopping center, Coastal Grand Mall boasts Dillards. Belk, Sears, JC Penney, along with Costco, Best Buy and many restaurants including Longhorn, Abuelo's, Red Lobster, Sticky Fingers, Texas Roadhouse Grill, Nikki's Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, Cracker Barrel, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and more.

Don't miss The Market Common, located on the former Air Force Base in the Ciity of Myrtle Beach. The Air Force Base closed 1993. Now The Market Common is a self-contained live-work community featuring upscale shops, restaurants, apartments and singe family homes. In 2004, two developers announced intentions to create large neighborhoods on the base. Lennar Corp. purchased land on the Ross Tract and McCaffery Interests and announced plans to create the urban village. In April 2008, the Market Common development opened bringing a new movie theater, grocery store and many other shops and restaurants. Townhouses, lakes, small stores and a large multi-screen cinema have been built on the former base, giving a small town atmosphere to the area. Many new developments have been built along the main road though the former base, a large park and recreational area. Scattered through the development are about 150 permanent signs along parks, bike paths and walkways on the base, detailing the contributions of those who served at Myrtle Beach AFB during its history. Warbird Park features static displays of three types of U.S. planes that were stationed at the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.  The park also is home to the Wall of Service, a memorial wall featuring names of the military personnel and civilian staff who lived and worked at the base during its existence. 

Beaches of the Grand Strand are all public; in fact, law specifically designates how many feet apart public beach access areas must be, based on development density. Thanks to the vision of Myrtle Beach officials, many of the city's public access areas have parking available. The city has erected blue and yellow signs along the Boulevard to help visitors recognize these access sites. Handicapped access to the beach is also provided; through the efforts of several area civic clubs, beach services now offer specially designed wheelchairs that are easy to maneuver on the sand. Here's a link to the locations of Public Free Beach Access locations.

Myrtle Beach hosts many annual festivals. Two of the most popular are the Sun Fun Festival, usually held the first full weekend in June, and the Canadian-American Days festival, held in March.

South Strand

The South Strand includes Surfside Beach, Garden City Beach, Murrells Inlet, Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island. Compared with the rest of the Grand Strand, the South Strand offers a more leisurely pace and lifestyle, with less neon and glitter as well as a low key nightlife with just as much allure. Many praise this stretch of land, with its rich marshland, uninhabited beaches, bountiful inlets.

The town of Surfside was incorporated in 1964 with 881 residents. Today, having officially changed its name to Surfside Beach and billing itself as "the family beach" you'll find streets lined with restaurants, beach shops and attractions. Accommodations along Surfside's oceanfront differ somewhat from those in Myrtle Beach. Fewer high-rises and more beach houses, cottages and condos.

Directly south of Surfside Beach (it's hard to tell where one stops and the other begins) lies Garden City Beach. It's a family-oriented retreat sporting hundreds of residential homes, summer cottages and condominiums. Surf fishing reels in many participants along this beach, which is also a favorite retreat for beachcombers. It's still free to walk the pierr, located in the heart of Garden City Beach.

South of Garden City is Murrells Inlet, the oldest fishing village in the state. Murrells Inlet is home to anglers, writers, poets and more legends and ghost stories than any other part of the Grand Strand. Before his death, Mickey Spillane, who created the detective character Mike Hammer, used to live in Murrells Inlet, along with many other nationally known novelists, poets and musicians, all of whom love the small-town atmosphere. Fishing in the creeks and waterways of Murrells Inlet has been a way of life for generations, and the quiet community trumpets itself as the Seafood Capital of South Carolina. Best known for its seafood restaurants, Murrells Inlet also is home to the lovely MarshWalk, numerous antiques shops, fresh seafood markets one of the Grand Strand's best marinas. It's free to walk the piers in Murrells Inlet.

The journey south on U.S. 17 from Murrells Inlet to Litchfield is a quick trip. Densely wooded areas line the highway and give a sense of traveling back in time, a sensation deliberately cultivated by locals. The popular resort of Litchfield Beach takes its name from Litchfield Plantation, a rice plantation on the Waccamaw River. The manor house is one of the few still-standing plantation homes surrounded by majestic oaks and is open as a country club and lodge.

Litchfield's quaint shops, outstanding restaurants and various accommodations are reasonably new compared to the historic resort of Pawleys Island, slightly south of Litchfield. The beaches of Litchfield and Pawleys are among the widest, most litter-free and best-preserved on the South Carolina coast. Although much of the property is private, you'll still public beach access. Pawleys Island proclaims itself as the oldest resort area in America. Even in the 1700s the tiny barrier island was a summer retreat for wealthy plantation owners and their families. Despite storms and the ravages of time, many of their cottages, weather-worn and rustic looking, still remain. Hence, for many years, locals have termed their island "arrogantly shabby." In fact, bumper stickers, T-shirts and tourism brochures for Pawleys Island all have adopted that description.

Today Pawleys is known for its low-key lifestyle, handmade hammocks and sightings of the famous ghosts - Gray Man. Alice and sometimes Bluebeard! The cherished lifestyle is carefully protected by islanders. The 2-mile island was incorporated as a town in 1984 and in recent years has made for one of the most colorful political stories in South Carolina's history, with their struggle to restrict local building codes and prevent construction of high-rise condominiums and hotels. They have been successful. A few bed and breakfast inns flourish, offering a taste of beach living as it used to be: simple, unassuming and perfectly tranquil. This area is also famous for Huntington Beach State Park and Brookgreen Gardens.

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