Suggestions on Myrtle Beach?

M

mikestein

New Member
Jun 5, 2007
129
Columbia, SC
I'm taking my boat to Myrtle Beach area for the first time. Any suggestions for where to put in, some good cruises, restaurants, etc? I'm familiar with some much more undeveloped areas of the coast (like Edisto) and I'm a little anxious about the congestion at the grand strand. It doesn't seem like there are as many creeks etc. as there are below Charleston. We're staying far north up near Cherry Grove.

p.s. I wonder if any of the marinas will rent slips by the day, or if i'll need to trailer the boat every time.
 
I'm here to answer your questions.

On the north end if you decide to keep the boat on the trailer there is a ramp under the HWY 17 bridge where it crosses over the ICW(I guess that's a given). If you are staying in cherry grove you can come out of cherry grove and instead of taking the hwy 17 exit go straight, cross the swing bridge and take your first right after the bridge that will take you to the landing.

There are also a couple marina's in that area and they do rent slips by the day. Also there is a marine max up there just in case you need them. I don't remember the names of the marina's but I think one of them is Myrtle Beach yacht club.

If you head north from the HWY 17 bridge landing you will be on your way to little river inlet. You will pass a couple marina's on the left side heading north then another landing that looks like it's out in the middle of nowhere, head around a right hand corner and there will be a split. If you stay to the right it will take you to the inlet and bird island, a good place to beach the boat and walk over to the ocean beach. If you stay to the right you will be heading toward southport, wilmington etc. I haven't gone that far yet so can't offer much info there.

If you head south from the 17 landing there are a few more marina's, you can stop at Barefoot landing there are pleanty of resturants and shopping there. House of Blues is there. The only thing I don't like about stoping there is that the dock area is not protected so if boats don't obey the no wake zone your boat takes the abuse. (I think they charge a fee to dock there also).

The area from Little River inlet to about Barefoot landing or a little further south can get pretty busy at times. If you venture further south you'll eventually pass another swing bridge (low to the water like the one you will see at the 17 landing) keep heading south from there and you will pass osprey marina, then come up on a landing on the left heading south(lots of new docks with no boats yet) that is where the waccamaw river intersects the ICW. Follow the markers on that river and it will take you to Conway, SC.

I live on the south end and put in at the landing just past the southern swing bridge under Hwy 544 bridge. We usually head south past the waccamaw down to wacawachee (sp?) and stop and eat there. If you stop there they can give you directions to Sandy Island where you can stop and beach and swim.

I almost forgot, there is a place we've eaten a few times on the north end also that's pretty decent for a marina. When heading north you'll see the fuel dock on the left stuck out into the ICW it's after the dumpy paddle boat marina with the boat barn. When you turn in go all the way back, the resturant is high up and you get a good view of the ICW.



phew....that should keep you busy.

Any more questions just ask away.

Charlie
 
charlie, thanks a lot. I appreciate all the help. Yes, that will keep me busy. That, and trying to launch/retrieve in tidal water... which i have never done. and brent, check the dates, i waited a week between re-posting. that is pretty patient right? i'm from SC. we're always patient. :grin:
 
You will be fine launching. I've launched a couple times when the tide was going out pretty fast and it wasn't too bad. Best advice, don't use the ramp closest to the dock if the current is strong. Use the other ramp and you have more room to manuver.

Have fun!
 
mikestein said:
charlie, thanks a lot. I appreciate all the help. Yes, that will keep me busy. That, and trying to launch/retrieve in tidal water... which i have never done. and brent, check the dates, i waited a week between re-posting. that is pretty patient right? i'm from SC. we're always patient. :grin:
Click to expand...

Whoops! Sorry, I was just looking at the time, not the date. :smt021 Shame on the members here for not answering earlier! :smt018
 
BrentJones said:
mikestein said:
charlie, thanks a lot. I appreciate all the help. Yes, that will keep me busy. That, and trying to launch/retrieve in tidal water... which i have never done. and brent, check the dates, i waited a week between re-posting. that is pretty patient right? i'm from SC. we're always patient. :grin:
Click to expand...

Whoops! Sorry, I was just looking at the time, not the date. :smt021 Shame on the members here for not answering earlier! :smt018
Click to expand...

Better late than never. I just don't know how I missed it the first time. It's everyone elses falt for starting too many other topics and pushing this one down too fast. YEA that's right all you new topic starters! :smt024
 
Mike,
Sound like you are going to have a great trip. Charlie gave you some good info. Just a side note sometime you get better response if you post messages like this under the area location section. It wont get lost/buried as quick when it's posted in the area location section versus the general Discussion area.

PS - Web Mods. May want to move this post to the area section :smt100
 
Thanks for all the help! What about the little landing at 54th Ave? It doesn't look like it offers direct access to the ICW, but what kind of run is it up to little river from there? Is that an option?
 
mikestein said:
Thanks for all the help! What about the little landing at 54th Ave? It doesn't look like it offers direct access to the ICW, but what kind of run is it up to little river from there? Is that an option?
Click to expand...

I've yet to take my boat in the inlet areas. I've been back in there a little ways with my whitewater kayak playing around. If you decide to venture to the ocean from there, be careful the inlet can be tricky.
 
Recap: put the boat in at the 9/17 landing.... no problems. Kept it for three days at Cricket Cove marina --- good folks. They gave me a nice sheltered slip. We cruised the ICW a few times. We went south to Barefoot Landing one day.... it was nice, but not very scenic. The next day we headed north toward Little River. That was BEAUTIFUL. Fun trip.
 
Mike, stop teasing us. :lol: We want pictures :thumbsup: Glad you had a good time.
 
Well just ask her real nice :lol: :smt043 :lol: I know the size issue has come up a couple times, but some user are still on dail up and can not handle the bigger pictures plus not sure if Jim can give us all the band width plus space for free. He is really giving us a lot :thumbsup: I know some people like using some of the online photo places like snapfish.com or photobucket.com that allows you store them online plus be able to change the size etc.
 
Hey,

In my never ending search for a boater friendly place to live, I've started focusing on Myrtle Beach. Any thoughts on this from you locals? Is the boating year round or seasonal? What are marina rates for a yearly wet slip? What are your favorite marinas? What are your favorite destinations?

A lot of questions I know and I'm sure I'll have more :)

I'm always available to answer questions about boating in the Keys.
 
Firefly, I don't live on the coast, but do visit a few times a year with my boat. Charleston is by far the largest boating community in SC with a large harbor, rivers, the ocean, and the ICW to cruise. Georgetown and Beaufort are nice smaller communities on the coast.

I haven't spent any time on the water in the Myrtle Beach area, so someone else could better answer questions about that area, but I believe your cruising options would be the ocean, the ICW, which is basically a narrow ditch in this area, and a couple of rivers.

With a boat like yours that could be enclosed and heated, boating can be a year round activity. Temperatures do go below freezing in the winter at night and it might snow on rare occasions, but you won't be layed up for weeks at a time.

Here's a link to a listing of marina websites that will give you an idea about slip rates: http://www.sciway.net/tourism/marinas.html

Good luck.
 
Hey, thanks again for the link. That web site has lots of good info.

To date, my boating has been on the Chesapeake in Maryland, Miami, and the Keys. These three places offer tons of places to go and do with your boat. The Chesapeake, by far, has the most to do on the water in season with restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, etc all catering to boaters and you couldn't explore all the hidden coves in a lifetime.

The Keys have less places catering to boaters, but of course has the beautiful clear waters, sand bars, remote islands, and people not wearing much clothing (if you get my point).

I'm not much of a distance boater, but I do spend most weekends on my boat and like to go places that cater to boating or to places to hang with other boaters, or nice places to anchor for the day or night.
 
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