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Myrtle Beach is a fantastic place to take your family for an affordable beach vacation. While some families go to the beach and spend their entire week on the beach, our family likes to venture out from time to time. Here are some things in the Myrtle Beach area that you will want to do (and a few places to avoid).
Ripley’s Aquarium
Take a break from the sun and go underwater with a visit the Ripley’s Aquarium at Broadway on the Beach. Learn all about a variety of jellyfish and even touch a jellyfish if you dare. Take a stroll through the shark tunnel to see sharks, a variety of fish, eels and you might even get lucky enough to see the sea turtle swimming around. Before you leave spend some time with my favorites, the sting rays. You can pet the sting rays that come up to you waving as if they are begging for attention.
Boardwalk by the Beach
Boarwalk by the Beach is a big hit for teenagers. It’s loaded with tons of restaurants, shops and attractions. My 13 year old especially loves visiting I Love Sugar and begging us for the unusual candy. Have I mentioned people watching? Boardwalk on the beach is a prime spot for some interesting people watching.
Hollywood Wax Museum
Hollywood Wax Museum was one of the highlights of our trip. We got to come face to face with some of our favorite celebritites. Lots of photos ops and laughs were had during our visit. We got the all access pass and went through the mirror maze. It was unlike any mirror maze I have ever done as we tried to find the princess at the end. The Outbreak isn’t for the faint of heart. Our kids decided to skip out on this activity and the two teenagers in our group begged to get out before we got started.
Dolphin Excursion
No beach trip is complete without a good dolphin excursion. We took our excursion through Crazy Sister Marina. The boat was comfortable with plenty of seating. The captains were fantastic and very attentive and knowledgable. While we were in the Atlantic Ocean they took great attention to find dolphins for us. They even pointed out a massive leatherback turtle to us. We spent plenty of time around the dolphins and turtles as the captains filled us with a wealth of information about them.
Broadway at the Beach
I think it’s safe to say that Broadway on the Beach is a tourist trap. But I have to admit that my daughter and I enjoyed our time walking around and checking out the shops. Broadway on the Beach is packed with tons of restaurants, shops and attractions. Just be prepared the restaurants are all higher priced. It’s not the cheapest place to visit.
Places to avoid:
Pizza Hut on Kings Highway
Oh lordy. This place was a hot mess. Long story short. I ordered pizza from them for carryout. Walked in to get my pizza and walked out emptied handed 30 minutes later. During my 30 minute wait the little waiting area filled with angry customers who were blantantly ignored by the employees who just wanted to hide. My pizza was lost in a flurry of delivery drivers coming in and picking up whatever pizzas they saw lying on the counters. It was pure chaos. Glad I didn’t pay ahead.
Burger King on Kings Highway
Unlike Pizza Hut, we actually got food here. But this isn’t the cleanest place in the world and it’s filled with employees who would rather sit around and complain about their jobs. I get it, it’s not the greatest job and tourists can be a pain, but dang, keep the complaining behind closed doors.
Final thoughts about eating in Myrtle Beach
If you want to get good service and affordable food go just outside of Myrtle Beach. I think the employees around Myrtle Beach get burnt out by all of the tourists and almost give up. Now I will say the exception to this rule was I heart NHOP. This was a fantastic place to grab breakfast. The food was affordable and amazing. And we had the sweetest server. I could tell the staff was well cared for.
What are your favorite things to do in Myrtle Beach?
