7 Days in Myrtle Beach: First-Timer Plan

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A full week is the fullest sensible version of the 6-day plan : the same beach, Boardwalk, Broadway at the Beach, Brookgreen Gardens, golf, water-park, and boat-trip spine, with a full day trip added on top and unstructured beach time built back in rather than more attractions crammed into the week.

Book these before you go

Day 1: Arrival and the Boardwalk

Morning

Check in and get straight to the beach. Swim near a lifeguard and check the flag: green is fine, yellow is medium risk, a single red flag means stay out, double red closes the water, and blue warns of marine life.

Afternoon

More beach time. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, only circular umbrellas up to 7.5 feet are allowed and tents or canopies are banned; alcohol and glass are banned on the beach year-round regardless of season.

Evening

Walk the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk & Promenade, 1.2 miles of oceanfront and free, and ride the SkyWheel (about $21 adult, check the current price). Dinner nearby, Calabash-style seafood is the easiest find close to the Boardwalk; expect the roughly 11.5% restaurant tax inside city limits on top of the check.

Day 2: Broadway at the Beach and a show

Morning

Spend the morning and early afternoon at Broadway at the Beach, a separate district about two blocks off the Boardwalk. Ripley’s Aquarium (about $43 adult/$27 child) or WonderWorks is the one outing for the day.

Afternoon

Beach or pool time back at the hotel.

Evening

Catch a Carolina Opry show, the country-and-variety venue that’s been a Myrtle Beach staple for years.

Day 3: Brookgreen Gardens and Murrells Inlet

Morning

Drive about 18 miles south to Brookgreen Gardens, a major sculpture garden with the Lowcountry Zoo included in the same roughly $25 admission, good for 7 consecutive days. Across the highway, Huntington Beach State Park holds Atalaya Castle plus premier birding, about $8 entry; it’s a separate park with a separate fee from Myrtle Beach State Park back in the city.

Afternoon

Walk the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk, a half-mile boardwalk over the marsh.

Evening

Dinner on the MarshWalk: Dead Dog Saloon, Drunken Jack’s, Wahoo’s, Bovine’s, The Wicked Tuna, and The Claw House all sit along it, in the town that calls itself the Seafood Capital of South Carolina.

Day 4: Golf or mini golf, then North Myrtle Beach

Morning

Tee off at one of the roughly 80-90 courses along “the Golf Coast,” Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, The Dunes Club (host of the PGA TOUR’s Myrtle Beach Classic), and TPC Myrtle Beach among the standout names. Swap in mini golf instead if that’s more your speed; Myrtle Beach bills itself as the Mini Golf Capital of the World, with Hawaiian Rumble’s 40-foot volcano the best-known course.

Afternoon

Drive up to North Myrtle Beach and browse Barefoot Landing.

Evening

Stick around Ocean Drive, the birthplace of the Shag, South Carolina’s official state dance since 1984 (the dance itself; “beach music” is the genre it’s danced to). Alabama Theatre, right at Barefoot Landing, is worth a stop for a second show.

Day 5: Water park day

Morning

Head to Myrtle Waves for slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river. Give it the full morning and early afternoon; it’s a real full-day attraction, especially with kids.

Afternoon

Stay at the water park or wind down back at the hotel pool.

Evening

A relaxed dinner, Calabash-style seafood or whatever’s closest to your hotel, with the roughly 11.5% restaurant tax on top of the check.

Day 6: A boat trip and unstructured beach

Morning

Book a dolphin-watching or other on-water excursion out of one of the local marinas, a different way to see the coastline and the Intracoastal Waterway before the day trip tomorrow.

Afternoon

Unstructured beach time, no plan beyond the sand and the water.

Evening

An easy dinner near your hotel and an early night, since day seven is a longer day out.

Day 7: A Wilmington day trip

Morning

Drive about 1.5 hours north to Wilmington, North Carolina, for its riverwalk and historic downtown. Charleston is also doable at roughly 2 hours, but it deserves its own trip rather than a single rushed day, so Wilmington is the better fit here.

Afternoon

Detour to Wrightsville Beach before heading back, or stay in downtown Wilmington if that’s more your pace.

Evening

Drive back to Myrtle Beach and use whatever’s left of the evening for a last look at the beach or the Boardwalk before packing for departure.

Getting around and where to stay

A car is essential for this itinerary; Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, North Myrtle Beach, the marinas, and Wilmington are all real drives from each other and from the Boardwalk core, and Coast RTA transit won’t cover most of them. The core Boardwalk area works as a single base for the whole week. If you’re traveling June through November, keep an eye on the tropical forecast; Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, peaking mid-August to mid-October.

One concrete tip: book the water park visit and the boat excursion before you leave home if you’re traveling in summer, and don’t schedule the Wilmington day trip for a day with a bad tropical forecast, since it eats your whole day either way.