Myrtle Beach

The beach is the whole point of Myrtle Beach. The Grand Strand runs for about 100km of wide, flat, pale sand from the North Carolina line down to Pawleys Island, with the city's own stretch lined by oceanfront towers, piers and a boardwalk. The Atlantic here is shallow and gently shelving, and by midsummer it reaches about 28°C, warm enough to stay in for hours. Waves are usually small, which suits children and casual swimmers.

The character changes along the shore: the central blocks are crowded and loud in summer, while Surfside, Garden City and the state park beaches to the south are calmer and backed by dunes. The water is greenish rather than clear, and from November to April it is too cold for most swimmers, so this is a warm-season destination.

Eating in Myrtle Beach is about volume and seafood. The strip is lined with all-you-can-eat seafood buffets, pancake houses, chain restaurants and fried-fish shacks, built to feed families in large numbers. The more rewarding eating is just outside the city: the waterfront restaurants of Murrells Inlet, where shrimp, oysters and flounder come off local boats, and the Calabash style of lightly battered fried seafood across the North Carolina line. Lowcountry dishes such as shrimp and grits and she-crab soup turn up on many menus. Beyond that the range is narrow and fine dining is scarce. A visitor who travels for food will have seen the best of it in an evening or two.

Myrtle Beach is a twentieth-century resort with little history of its own on view. The main cultural sight is Brookgreen Gardens, south of the city, a former rice plantation turned into a large sculpture garden with American figurative work set among live oaks, along with exhibits on the people enslaved there. Next door in Huntington Beach State Park stands Atalaya, a Moorish-style winter house of the 1930s. In town there is a small art museum in a beach cottage and a few local history displays. Most visitors see everything of note in a day and then head back to the sand.

Going out here is resort-style and seasonal. In summer the action centres on the oceanfront blocks around the boardwalk, with beach bars, rooftop decks and shot-and-souvenir crowds, and on the big entertainment complexes, where themed bars and a cluster of dance clubs keep going late. North Myrtle Beach has its own local tradition in the shag, the Carolina beach dance, which is still danced in long-standing clubs along Main Street.

The scene is loud and casual rather than sophisticated, with few serious cocktail bars. Spring breaks and motorcycle rallies make some weeks rowdy, and in the off-season much of it goes quiet early.

The landscape is flat coastal plain: dunes, maritime forest, salt marsh and slow blackwater rivers. Myrtle Beach State Park keeps a patch of old maritime forest by the sea, and Huntington Beach State Park to the south is one of the better birdwatching spots on the coast, with marsh boardwalks, herons, ospreys and alligators in the freshwater lagoon. Inland, the Waccamaw River and its cypress swamps are good for kayaking, and the inlets suit fishing charters, paddleboarding and dolphin cruises.

The area is also known for golf, with dozens of courses spread along the Grand Strand. There are no hills or real hiking, and summer heat and humidity push outdoor activity to early mornings.

The best day out is Charleston, about two hours south by car, with its antebellum streets, harbour forts and plantations; it is a long day but well worth it. Closer to Myrtle Beach, Georgetown is a small historic port about 45 minutes away, with an old waterfront and a rice-culture museum, and Pawleys Island has a quiet, old-fashioned beach village feel. To the north, Wilmington's riverfront and the little harbour town of Southport are about an hour and a half away. Conway, the county seat, has a pleasant riverwalk. A car is needed for all of these, as there is no useful train or coach service.

Myrtle Beach has been built around the American family vacation for generations. Gentle surf and wide sand suit small children, and oceanfront resort hotels come with lazy rivers, kiddie pools and suites with kitchens. Away from the beach there is a large aquarium, a seaside amusement park with an old wooden roller coaster, water parks, a giant observation wheel on the boardwalk and more mini-golf courses than seems possible, many of them themed with volcanoes and pirate ships.

The drawbacks are practical: summer heat, heavy traffic on the main roads and the need to drive almost everywhere. Some stretches of the oceanfront get boisterous at night, and spring break weeks are best avoided with children.

This is a car destination. The Grand Strand stretches for about 100km, and the attractions, outlet malls, restaurants and golf courses sit along busy multi-lane highways with few pavements or crossings. Local buses exist but run sparsely and are little used by visitors. Within a resort area, such as the oceanfront blocks around the boardwalk, walking is easy and the beach itself makes a long, flat promenade, and some visitors use bicycles or golf carts locally. Summer traffic on Kings Highway and the bypasses can be slow.

Shopping is outlet malls, entertainment complexes and beachwear. Two big outlet centres at either end of the city draw bargain hunters, and lakeside and waterfront complexes combine chain shops with restaurants and attractions. The Market Common, on the old air force base, has a more town-centre feel. Along the highway, enormous beach shops sell swimwear, inflatables and souvenirs. There are no luxury streets, few independent boutiques and little in the way of local crafts beyond sweetgrass baskets sold along the coast road to the south.

Myrtle Beach is one of the more affordable beach resorts in the United States, largely because of the sheer number of hotel rooms, motels and rental condos. Outside the summer peak, oceanfront rooms can be remarkably cheap, and many units have kitchens, which helps keep food costs down. Eating out, attractions, shows and golf cost what they do elsewhere in America, with tipping on top, and almost every visitor needs their own car or a rental. In July and on long weekends prices climb sharply, so the timing of a stay matters more than usual.

Live entertainment here means big family-friendly variety shows. Several large theatres stage country, gospel and pop revues, comedy and Christmas shows, and there are themed dinner shows with knights or pirates. Touring country and rock acts play a concert venue at the main entertainment complex, and beach bars have cover bands on summer nights. There is no opera, orchestra season or serious drama to speak of, so a visitor who wants more than a polished evening show will find little.

Wellness here comes down to resort spas and timing. Many oceanfront hotels and golf resorts have massage and treatment rooms, but there is no bathing tradition, thermal water or bathhouse culture. In summer the main strip is loud, crowded and car-bound, hardly restorative. The quieter southern end around Pawleys Island and the shoulder seasons of spring and autumn offer a much slower pace for those who want rest.