The self-styled "Family Beach" of the Grand Strand — two miles of stilted beach cottages between Myrtle Beach State Park and Garden City, anchored by the rebuilt Surfside Pier.
A two-mile pocket of the Grand Strand between Myrtle Beach State Park to the north and Garden City to the south — Surfside Beach is the strand's smallest incorporated town (population 4,600) and the only one trademarked as "The Family Beach," with a strict three-story building cap, the rebuilt 870-foot Surfside Pier at 11th Avenue South, the locals' Conch Cafe oceanfront seafood deck, and the Garden City Murrells Inlet MarshWalk fifteen minutes south on Highway 17.
Walk the rebuilt Surfside Pier at 11th Avenue South, fish from the deck at sunrise, kayak the Murrells Inlet salt marsh, and take the kids to DragonFly Park's playground.
The 870-foot Surfside Pier at 11th Avenue South reopened in November 2019, three years after Hurricane Matthew leveled the original 1953 pier. Day-pass fishing around $10, walk-on around $2; the Pier House Restaurant on the deck serves the only ocean-view sit-down breakfast in the town. King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and red drum work the pilings from April through October. The deck at sunset is the local Friday-evening ritual.
Surfside's strand runs two miles from the Myrtle Beach State Park boundary at 1st Avenue North down to the Garden City line at Melody Lane — flat, walkable, and one of the lowest-density stretches on the Grand Strand thanks to the three-story building cap. The morning low-tide window before 10 a.m. is the locals' walking hour. Beach access points are numbered north-south by avenue; the Pier at 11th Avenue South is the spine.
Fifteen minutes south on Highway 17, the Murrells Inlet salt-marsh estuary opens into one of the Grand Strand's most-paddled tidal mazes — calm spartina creeks, bottlenose dolphins on the rising tide, and ospreys nesting on the channel markers. Kayak rentals from Inlet Outdoors and Express Watersports at the Murrells Inlet 17 Business marinas. Most renters paddle out, eat at the MarshWalk, and paddle back. Allow three hours.
DragonFly Park on Surfside Drive is the town's 4-acre playground-and-multi-use field — covered playground for under-10s, a separate 5–12 zone, picnic shelter, and the locals' rainy-day fall-back. The smaller oceanfront playground sits at the foot of the Pier on 11th Avenue South. Both are free; DragonFly hosts the city's free movies-on-the-lawn series most summer Fridays.
Surfside is the most bike-friendly town on the southern Grand Strand — flat side streets, a marked golf-cart-and-bike lane on Ocean Boulevard, and the entire two-mile town rideable in twenty minutes. Beach Cruisers of Surfside on Highway 17 Business delivers cruisers (helmets included) to your rental door. Morning is the local-favorite hour; the Pier is the natural turnaround.
Three days every June when the Pier-block of 11th Avenue South closes for the city's biggest family street party — 60+ vendors, three live-music stages, an antique-car cruise-in, kids' pet parade, and a fireworks finale over the ocean. Free entry; book lodging four months out. The October-weekend Surfside Music Festival on the Pier deck is the smaller-but-better-music sibling event.
The 1.2-mile Boardwalk and Promenade in Myrtle Beach proper is twelve minutes north on Highway 17 — the SkyWheel observation Ferris wheel, Family Kingdom amusement park, Pier 14 fishing, and the Plyler Park free-concert stage. The default "we want amusement parks tonight" plan for Surfside families. Park at the State Park to skip the Ocean Boulevard traffic.
Surfside Beach is the rare Grand Strand town where the building cap, the family-trademark, and the no-glass-bottle ordinance aren't tourism slogans — they're municipal code that the locals will recite to you on the sand if you ask. It's why the same families have come back since the 1970s.
Myrtle Beach State Park's 312 acres at the north line, the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk fifteen minutes south, the Pier House and Conch Cafe oceanfront decks, and Brookgreen Gardens' 9,100-acre sculpture park half an hour down US-17.
The 870-foot fishing pier on 11th Avenue South — rebuilt in 2019. Tackle shop, rod rentals, snack counter, and the Pier House Restaurant on the deck. Day-pass fishing $10; walk-on $2. The early-morning king-mackerel run is the local ritual.
South Carolina's first state park (1936), 312 CCC-era acres at the Surfside Beach northern line — a 750-foot fishing pier, undeveloped maritime forest with a 1.5-mile loop trail, a wide undeveloped strand, and a campground. $8 per car; the only stretch of undeveloped Grand Strand left.
Fifteen minutes south on US-17 — the half-mile elevated boardwalk along the salt-marsh estuary, eight working-waterfront seafood houses (Drunken Jack's, Wahoo's, Bovine's, Dead Dog Saloon), live music seven nights a week most of the year, and the working-shrimp-boat fleet at the Veteran's Pier. The classic Friday-night dinner-and-walk for the southern Grand Strand.
Thirty minutes south on US-17 in Murrells Inlet — Anna Hyatt Huntington's 9,100-acre former Lowcountry rice plantation, opened 1932 as the country's first public sculpture garden. 2,000+ figurative bronzes, a small zoo of native Lowcountry animals, the Lowcountry Trail boardwalk over the rice fields, and a Christmas-light Nights of a Thousand Candles festival. Tickets $20 adults; allow a full half-day.
The city's 4-acre playground and multi-use park on Surfside Drive — covered toddler playground, separate older-kid zone, picnic shelter, and the lawn that hosts the free Friday-night summer movies.
The 65,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor flea market on Highway 17 Business — 250+ booths, the strand's biggest weekend market. Open Friday through Sunday April–October. The classic rainy-Saturday family stop; cash-friendly.
The 25-acre water-and-amusement park on Highway 17 South in Garden City — 36 water slides, a wave pool, lazy river, go-kart track, and a kiddie zone. The strand's classic summer-day kid splurge. Day-passes around $40; open mid-May through Labor Day.
The Grand Strand's other oceanfront pier — five minutes south at the Surfside-Garden City line. Day-pass fishing, an arcade, an ice-cream window, and the open-air Sand Dollar live-music deck on summer evenings. The night-fishing king-mackerel runs are the locals' draw.
Twelve minutes north on Highway 17 — the 1.2-mile Boardwalk and Promenade between 14th Avenue North and 2nd Avenue North in Myrtle Beach proper, the 200-foot SkyWheel observation Ferris wheel, Pier 14 fishing, and the free Plyler Park summer concert series. The Surfside families' classic "give the kids the boardwalk" night.
Twenty minutes south on US-17 — the four-mile Pawleys Island barrier with its weathered Lowcountry beach houses, the original Pawleys Island Hammock Shops complex, and the Pawleys Island Tavern. The classic "Pawleys Island day" drive for shoulder-season Surfside renters.
The colonial port town of Conway sits twenty-five minutes inland on the Waccamaw River — a half-mile boardwalk along moss-draped cypress banks, a working drawbridge, the Horry County Museum, and Crady's-on-Main farm-to-table dining. The local-favorite half-day off the strand.
The full-line regional mall ten minutes north on Highway 17 Bypass — Belk, Dillard's, Target nearby, and the only AMC theater on the southern Grand Strand. The classic rainy-day fall-back.
The Conch Cafe oceanfront on Surfside Drive, the Pier House on the rebuilt pier deck, Sara J's Seafood the local breakfast counter, Drunken Jack's at the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk, and River City Cafe for the burger lunch.
Fifteen minutes south on the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk — the largest and longest-running of the inlet's seafood houses (since 1976), with a working-creek-side dining room, a fresh-catch board that changes daily, and Lowcountry classics (she-crab soup, shrimp and grits, fried oysters). Reservations recommended in summer.
An 1845-built fishing-club building converted to a fine-dining seafood room on the Murrells Inlet creek — outdoor deck, an ambitious wine list, and the strand's most-historic dining-room setting. Worth the twenty-minute drive south for any anniversary dinner.
Surfside's open-air oceanfront seafood deck on the south end of Ocean Boulevard — the locals' Friday-night ritual, Lowcountry boil, fresh-catch sandwiches, and the only oceanfront sunset bar in the town. Live music most summer evenings; kid-friendly until 9 p.m. The walk-up beach restaurant for half the families on the strand.
On the deck of the rebuilt Surfside Pier at 11th Avenue South — open-air ocean-view tables, the only sit-down breakfast on the strand with a direct sand view, and a full lunch-and-dinner menu of fish baskets, wings, and pier-fishing specials. The Saturday-morning Surfside ritual.
Surfside's locals-only Highway 17 Business breakfast-and-seafood standby — the fried-grouper plate is the order, the eggs-and-cathead-biscuits breakfast runs daily until 11, and the room hasn't changed since the 1990s. Cash-friendly; kid-friendly anytime.
The peanut-shells-on-the-floor burger-and-fries family room on Highway 17 Business — the locally-owned Grand Strand chain that gave the strand its burger-and-bucket-of-peanuts ritual. Walk-in only; the Surfside location is the smaller-and-quieter of the strand's six.
The town's small organic-leaning kitchen on Surfside Drive — daily fresh juices, salads, grain bowls, smoothies, and a small grocery for stocking the rental kitchen. The local-favorite shoulder-season lunch when the fried-fish basket isn't calling.
The Surfside outpost of the Pawleys Island coffee-and-baked-goods shop — pour-over drip, fresh-baked cathead biscuits, the morning newspaper rack, and the locals' bulletin board for who's renting kayaks that week. Walk-up morning ritual for the south-end Surfside renters.
Five minutes south on Highway 17 Business in Garden City — homemade in-store, peach-of-the-week in summer, and the largest soft-serve cone on the southern Grand Strand. The walk-up after-dinner ritual.
The Highway 17 Bypass seafood market with a sushi-and-fish-house dining room in the back — boat-fresh fish, the strand's most-recommended sushi bar, and the Lowcountry-Asian crossover plates the locals come back for. The shoulder-season locals' room.
A French-leaning all-day bistro on Highway 17 Bypass — fresh-baked croissants and pastries, a serious lunch quiche, and a bistro dinner room with French wines. The local-favorite "we don't want fried-fish tonight" Surfside dinner.
Why "The Family Beach" is a trademark, the MYR airport pick, neighborhoods (north end, Pier district, south end at Garden City line), beach ordinances (no glass, no thongs, golf-cart rules), and what a Surfside week actually costs.
Every property in our Surfside Beach collection is hand-checked, hand-photographed, and backed by twenty-four-hour concierge support. The guide is the warm-up. The home is the trip.
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