With nine miles of sandy shores, North Myrtle Beach is a prime place to relax with your toes in the sand. Beyond its expansive beaches, there are some unexpected adventures and things to do in North Myrtle Beach. During a two-night getaway, my lifelong friend Wendy and I kayaked through salt marshes to an undeveloped barrier island, rode horses on the beach, sipped muscadine wine and attempted to master a few Carolina shag dance steps.
As the summer crowds fade, fall is an ideal time to visit this stretch of South Carolina’s Grand Strand. September usually still feels like summer, while October and November hang on to warm afternoons but have cooler evenings and mornings. There’s plenty of time for the beach, but it shouldn’t be the only reason you go.
Explore a Salt Marsh at Low Tide
Arriving before Wendy, I started our getaway with a solo walk through Heritage Shores Nature Preserve. The free, seven-acre preserve is tucked into the Cherry Grove salt marsh. Its elevated boardwalks and trails wind through the wetlands leading to observation decks along the creeks.
Visit at low tide, when you might catch small crabs scurrying across the mud, see oysters clustered along the water’s edge and hear mollusks make clicking sounds as their shells close. If you’re into birding, the preserve attracts a variety of coastal and migratory birds from belted kingfishers to ospreys. I spotted double-crested cormorants and two great egrets along the waterway, and a bright red cardinal appeared as I walked through the trees.
White-tailed deer, red fox, diamondback terrapins and other animals are also attracted to the estuaries where freshwater rivers and streams mix with saltwater. Interpretive signs help you identify flora like smooth cordgrass and pickleweed, a salt-loving plant that thrives in marsh environments.
Walking a one-mile loop, I found Heritage Shores Nature Preserve to be a peaceful introduction to a side of North Myrtle Beach you can miss if you never venture beyond the sand. Go at low tide to fully experience its many tiny wonders.
Settle into Cherry Grove
This was my first time back to the Grand Strand since I left my first full-time television weather job here in 1997. Cherry Grove was a favorite of mine back then, and it still is. It’s the northernmost section of North Myrtle Beach. It’s quieter and a little more laid-back, and it has easy access to the beach and adventures ranging from fishing on the historic Cherry Grove Pier to exploring the salt marshes and nearby Waites Island.
After settling into our accommodations, we stopped for a late lunch at Salty Brews Café, a locally owned coffee shop and café serving up sandwiches, salads and other casual fare. It’s next to Beach Bookshop & Video, a delightfully old-school used bookstore packed with crowded shelves made for browsing, especially as a brief sea breeze thunderstorm blows through in the afternoon. If you’re like me, a real book still belongs in a beach bag.
Before slipping into vacation mode, we popped into Boulineau’s IGA. It’s a North Myrtle Beach institution. Open since 1948, Boulineau’s is more than a grocery store. It’s home to Platt’s Seafood Market, Cherry Grove’s largest and oldest fresh seafood market, along with a hardware store, gas station, Dairy Hut, Barnacle gift shop and Sandal Land Shoe Store. This one-stop shop is adding the Cherry Grove Creamery in summer of 2027.
Wanting a little beach time, I enjoyed a leisurely afternoon stroll hunting for shells. Instead of heading somewhere for happy hour, we melted into the inviting Adirondack chairs on our deck with a view and watched the all-day beachgoers retreat from the sand.
One of the perks of staying in Cherry Grove is being able to leave the car parked and walk to the beach, local businesses and restaurants. Since dinner crowds already filled beachfront restaurants like Snooky’s Oceanfront and Driftwood Restaurant by the time we were ready to eat, we opted for tacos and margaritas upstairs at Don Chemas Mexican Restaurant, an easy walk from our vacation rental.
Suggested places to stay:
Kayak Through a Marsh Maze to Waites Island
The next morning, we met Justin and Laurie from J & L Kayaking for a roughly three-mile paddle through the marsh, a fun and active thing to do in North Myrtle Beach. It feels like you’re in a maze as you paddle the narrow tidal creeks. As Justin led our tour, he shared insight into this marshy world, including how it changes with the tides. The marsh is peaceful, but navigating its twisting channels adds a fun challenge.
After about 45 minutes, we reached the southern side of Waites Island (sometimes called Waties Island). It’s the northernmost undeveloped barrier island in South Carolina. A large portion of the island is protected as the Anne Tilghman Boyce Coastal Reserve and used by Coastal Carolina University for education and research.
We pulled our kayaks onto a boneyard beach scattered with sun-bleached trees, creating an almost otherworldly landscape against the ocean. As we walked on the beach, Justin spotted a ghost crab blending remarkably well into the sand. As he held it briefly, watching its stalked eyes pop up was both comical and fascinating. We saw several more ghost crabs as we enjoyed the wildness of Waites Island for about 20 minutes. You can only reach it by small boat or kayak, and limited sections are accessible on guided horseback rides.
The remoteness of Waites Island is a drastic contrast to North Myrtle Beach’s restaurants, shops, vacation rentals and attractions just a short distance away. As we paddled back, the low tide revealed fascinating sights along the grassy edges of the marsh. There were clicking sounds of mussels closing their shells and, my favorite, oysters squirting water. It was quite a symphony of fun on the return to the mainland.
Ride a Horse Along an Undeveloped Beach
Our Waites Island adventure continued at Inlet Point Plantation. Our guide Darby introduced me to Walker, my horse for the ride. At 17 or 18 years old, he’s experienced enough to know the routine, and patient enough to tolerate me enjoying every second of it.
We followed wooded trails past tidal creeks and marshes before the trees open to the island’s oceanfront. The change of scenery is striking. One minute you’re shaded by trees, and a few minutes later you’re riding on a wide, empty beach with the Atlantic stretching out beside you.
Inlet Point Plantation offers several guided experiences, including the one-hour island beach ride we did and seasonal sunset rides. Reservations are required before you saddle up.
Riding on a nearly deserted barrier island feels far removed from a traditional beach vacation. It’s a memorable experience you’ll be talking about long after your trip.
“Put Some South in Yo’ Mouth”
Our horseback riding guide Darby recommended The Shack for lunch. After our back-to-back adventures of kayaking and riding, we were ravenous. When a local sends you to a restaurant whose slogan is “Put some south in yo’ mouth,” you go. Plus, it’s very close to Inlet Point Plantation.
The family-owned restaurant serves Southern cooking and Calabash-style seafood. It is a meat-and-three place where choosing the side dishes takes longer than selecting your entrée.
We opted to sit inside on a hot afternoon, but the outdoor seating adds to the easygoing coastal feel and would be delightful on a fall afternoon or evening. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Shack delivered exactly what we needed: unfussy food, generous portions and plenty of Southern flavor.
Sip Muscadine Wine
Our afternoon took a sweeter turn at Duplin Winery, located near Alligator Adventure and Barefoot Landing. From producing about 2,000 bottles in its first year in 1976, Duplin is now the South’s largest winery. It was founded in Rose Hill, North Carolina, less than two hours from North Myrtle Beach, and is named after Duplin County.
Duplin specializes in muscadine wines made from grapes native to the Southeast. Many are sweet, but there are some drier and semi-dry options.
I found a tasting to be an entertaining way to learn about muscadine wine, which I didn’t know much about. Their Founder’s Noble reminded me of a light pinot noir, while the Southern Mist blends moscato and muscadine grapes into a bubbly, sweeter sip. Goin’ Coastal lives up to its name as a fruity table wine, while Queen Anne’s Revenge finishes with a noticeable peppery bite.
While we enjoyed our tasting inside on a hot afternoon, there’s often live music late in the day on their expansive covered patio.
Learn the Carolina Shag at Fat Harold’s
We saved our most humbling experience for last with a shag lesson at Fat Harold’s Beach Club on Main Street. The Carolina shag is the official state dance and originated in North Myrtle Beach in the late 1930s and 1940s.
Fat Harold’s Beach Club is one of North Myrtle Beach’s legendary shag clubs, where beginners share the floor with couples who’ve been dancing together for decades. Free lessons are offered on Tuesday nights.
We went on a Monday and joined the weekly shag class. Instructor Jackie offers instruction with a healthy side of humor. “Grab your partner and good luck,” she said before everyone rotated to someone new. “Move down one,” she said later. “You never know, the next one might be a millionaire.”
The room filled with all ages, including children dancing with parents and longtime shaggers gliding effortlessly across the floor. Wendy and I weren’t exactly gliding with our dance partners, but we sure were laughing.
We ended the evening with a short walk to Melt for handcrafted ice cream. It’s been named the best ice cream shop in South Carolina. There’s likely to be a line, but it moves fast. My scoop of mint chip was a fitting reward after attempting to shag.
Catch Sunrise at Cherry Grove Pier
The perfect ending to this getaway was a walk on the beach at dawn and catching sunrise on the historic Cherry Grove Pier. Built in the early 1950s, it’s weathered decades of hurricanes and remains one of North Myrtle Beach’s best-known landmarks. It also earned a place in fishing history when a world record 1,780-pound tiger shark was caught from the pier in 1964.
As the sky slowly brightened over the Atlantic, even on a cloudy morning, fishermen claimed their spots, quickly lining the rails with rods. It was a quiet, quintessential coastal moment and the perfect finale to the two adventure-packed days.
Plan a Fall Getaway
Fall gives you warm beach days in North Myrtle Beach, and plenty of reasons to plan around an event, especially if you love music and dance. The free evening concert series Music on Main continues every Thursday through September. The Society of Stranders Fall Migration celebrates the shag in its birthplace mid to late September. New this year, North Myrtle Beach Live Festival will transform Main Street into an all-day celebration of live music, food and family-friendly entertainment on September 26.
Any time of year, come for the beach, but leave room for the unexpected. From paddling through salt marshes to sipping muscadine wine and dancing the Carolina shag, North Myrtle Beach packs plenty of surprises and things to do into a two-night getaway. Your only regret will be wishing you could stay longer.
