Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach is a popular tourist attraction and the focal point of South Carolina’s Grand Strand shoreline. It is well-known for its expansive beaches, multiple golf courses, seafood restaurants, and outlet-style shopping, as well as the greatest concentration of miniature golf courses in the world. Myrtle Beach, a popular spring break destination, is densely developed and crowded in comparison to other Southern beaches, such as North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and attracts a large number of tourists from other Southern states and “Snowbirds” from the north who own a condominium or timeshare along the coast.

The Grand Strand welcomes approximately 14 million tourists yearly and is home to a variety of tourist attractions. The region sees a high volume of visitors throughout the year. Annually, it is expected that almost 100,000 visitors arrive from outside the country, mostly from Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Myrtle Beach is home to a number of unique conferences, events, and musical performances. The area’s attractions include beaches and many golf courses, as well as several amusement parks, an aquarium, Legends In Concert, retail projects, a number of shopping complexes, and over 1,900 restaurants, many of which specialize in seafood. Additionally, the neighborhood has dinner theaters, nightclubs, and several tourist stores. Myrtle Beach is home to roughly 460 hotels, many of which are oceanfront, and approximately 89,000 lodging units in total. Myrtle Waves, one of the biggest water parks on the East Coast of the United States, is also located in the city.

Another highly praised attraction is the Carolina Opry, which provides a range of musical, comedy, dance, and entertainment events, including the Carolina Opry (variety show), Good Vibrations (best of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s), and Light—a Laser Extravaganza. The venue holds the Carolina Opry Christmas Special throughout the holiday season. The event takes place in a 2,200-seat theater.

The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk debuted in 2010 and has been named National Geographic’s third greatest boardwalk in the country and one of the finest in the United States by Travel + Leisure magazine. The Myrtle Beach Skywheel, which debuted on the boardwalk in May 2011, is a 200-foot (61 m) observation wheel in the style of a ferris wheel, with glass gondolas offering views of the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first wheel of its sort in the United States. Established in 1935, Myrtle Coastline State Park has less than a mile of Grand Strand beach and is an ideal spot for camping, swimming, hiking, bicycling, and fishing.

Each year, the Myrtle Beach Convention Center holds a variety of meetings, seminars, exhibitions, and special events. The sprawling facility opened in 2003 and has a Sheraton hotel and resort.

In 2008, Myrtle Beach launched Hard Rock Park, a theme park inspired by the famed Hard Rock Cafe brand. For the 2009 season, the park was renamed Freestyle Music Park due to financial difficulties. Attractions at the park are designed after different musical genres and periods, such as the British Invasion. The park did not open for the 2010 season and remains closed as a result of legal complications. The park was closed in 2014 and is now being destroyed.

Since 1951, Myrtle Beach has held Canadian-American Days, commonly known as Can-Am Days, during Ontario’s spring break. Thousands of visitors descend on the region for a week of special festivities. Additionally, Myrtle Beach is home to Coastal Uncorked, an annual food and wine event held in late April. Senior Week, held in June, attracts freshly graduated high school seniors to Myrtle Beach.

With multiple professional fireworks shows along the coastline, Myrtle Beach is a popular Fourth of July tourist destination.

The bulk of people arrive in the area during the summer season (June–August) in order to take advantage of the region’s pleasant weather.

Although gambling is illegal in South Carolina, residents and tourists to Myrtle Beach have easy access to gambling via boat, since passengers may go into international seas that are not subject to federal or state gambling regulations.

Myrtle Beach International Airport serves the city and surrounding region. With frequent flights to and from Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, New York, and Washington, the airport serves both local and foreign travelers visiting the area. Additionally, the airport acts as a seasonal gateway to and from Chicago, Dallas, and Toronto.

The city is situated between Wilmington, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina, with United States Route 17 acting as the primary transportation route between the two.

Myrtle Beach Bike Week, also referred to as “Harley Bike Week,” is a week-long motorcycle celebration that began in 1940, the year Kings Highway was paved. Each May, the festival attracts up to 200,000 tourists to the city. Black Bike Week, inaugurated in 1980, takes place the weekend before Memorial Day Weekend and is the biggest gathering of African American motorcycle enthusiasts in the United States, with up to 400,000 people. The event was born out of a history of prejudice against African-American tourists and riders to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand Area.

Myrtle Beach has a humid subtropical climate, or Cfa, which is characteristic of Gulf and South Atlantic states. Year-round, the city receives more than 2800 hours of sunlight.

Summer at Myrtle Beach is lengthy, hot, and humid. Average daytime temperatures range between 83 and 91 °F (28 and 33 °C), while average nighttime temperatures hover around 70 °F (21 °C). Myrtle Beach’s coastline setting mitigates summer heat slightly in comparison to other parts of South Carolina: Thus, whereas neighboring Florence has an average of 65 days per year with high temperatures of 90 °F or above, Myrtle Beach experiences an average of 21. The Bermuda High transports humidity from the tropical Atlantic to Myrtle Beach, giving summers in the city an almost tropical atmosphere. Summer months off Myrtle Beach, the warm Atlantic Ocean reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit or more, creating sweltering and humid summer evenings. Summer thunderstorms are frequent in Myrtle Beach’s hot season, and the months of June through September get the greatest precipitation. Summer thunderstorms often develop amid the day’s heat, and are followed by short but strong downpours.

Myrtle Beach’s winters are generally pleasant and brief: From December to February, average daytime highs range between 57 and 61 °F (14 – 16 °C) while overnight lows are in the 36 to 38 °F (2 – 3 °C) range. In Myrtle Beach, winter temperatures vary more than summer temperatures: During certain winters, numerous frigid days with highs in the upper 40s F (7–9 °C) are possible, while others include highs in the upper 60s and low 70s F (19–23 °C). Myrtle Beach receives frost on an average of 33 days each year, while some years have fewer than 15 days. Snowfall is very unusual at Myrtle Beach, however a trace of snow may fall once every 15 or 20 years. In February 2010, Myrtle Beach received an unusual 2.8 inches (71 mm) of snow. Spring (March, April, and May) and autumn (September, October, and November) months at Myrtle Beach are often pleasant and sunny, with highs in the 60s and 70s. Myrtle Beach’s beach season typically lasts from late April until late October. Summer and early autumn SST (Sea Surface Temperatures) off South Carolina are often in the low 80’s (26 – 28 °C).

Summer thunderstorms are often intense but fleeting, and tornadoes are uncommon at Myrtle Beach. Tropical cyclones make their way to Myrtle Beach on occasion, although milder tropical storms and tropical lows are more typical. As is the case with the majority of regions prone to tropical cyclones, Myrtle Beach is seldom directly impacted by a big storm. Storm Hugo in 1989 was the latest hurricane to do considerable damage in Myrtle Beach. Storm Hazel, which struck Myrtle Beach in 1954, was the worst hurricane in the city’s history.

Myrtle Beach, a man-made island, has been cut off from the mainland United States since 1936 by the Intracoastal Waterway, forcing the city and surrounding region to expand within a short distance of the shore. Due in part to this division, the land immediately west of Myrtle Beach across the river remained mostly rural, while its northern and southern ends were bounded by two developed tourist towns, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach. Since then, the interior section of the Myrtle Coastline region has grown significantly, while the beach has expanded westward.

The city has a total area of 23.55 square miles, according to the United States Census Bureau (61.0 km2).

The tourism sector dominates Myrtle Beach’s economy. Hotels, motels, resorts, restaurants, attractions, and retail projects abound to serve tourists.

There are over 95 golf courses in and around Myrtle Beach (as of 2015), indicating the golfing industry’s prominence in the region.

Typically on a modest scale, a manufacturing base manufactures plastic, rubber, cardboard, foam, and ceramic items.