Myrtle Beach on a budget...need suggestions!

[Jenny-momof3]

By this summer we will have gone to Disney 5 times in the last year. We're going to wait til Dec. 2011 to go back. So I need to come up with someplace else to vacation next year!

We are the type of family that likes to go go go on vacations. But we also enjoy swimming, etc. Is Myrtle Beach the type of place that offers lots to do in addition to the beach? What's the pricing for additional activities?

We will have our 4 kids... ages next summer 16,12,6 and 18 mths. Also may have friends join us with their 2 yr. old. Suggestions for house/ condo to rent?

TIA for any info. you may have!

 

[jamounger]

i'm waiting to see the answers to this because that is exactly what i am working on. I even have my Myrtle Beach book next to me at work to look at today. I want to know which part of the beach is good for a family and some good condo suggestions.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I LOVE Broadway at the Beach (free to park and walk around). A lot of times during the summer they have fireworks/laser show over the lake and it's so much fun going in and out of the shops (and they have entertainment sometimes in the "street"). We easily spend a whole day here just wandering around. Barefoot Landing is also nice but not as big.

We went to Huntington State Park once and it was awful. So many mosquitoes.

One of my favorite things to do in the evening is to get ice cream from somewhere on the "strip" and to go sit on the beach talking and looking at the stars or at sunset .

TONS of miniature golf places and you can usually find discounts or coupons in the little brochures at all of the hotels.

I prefer the hotels that aren't on the "strip" (I don't know what the area is called as Myrtle Beach is HUGE, I think it's North Myrtle Beach or something?). It's much quieter and the beach area is less crowded. My parents own a Wyndham timeshare so I love staying there (they have several properties in Myrtle Beach), Seawatch being my favorite location (and you can get several bedrooms). You can rent points from Wyndham members or pay for it like a regular hotel from places like Expedia.

I absolutely love Myrtle Beach (some people aren't as crazy about it as it is pretty "touristy").

 

[MineMail]

Myrtle Beach is wonderful and if you like having tons of entertainment nearby, it's great.

We usually stay at Pawley's Island / Litchfield Beach instead - it's more quiet and laid back. It's a bit more south from MB. We make a few trips up to do things in Myrtle Beach during our stays, just for some excitement.

 

[soccerchick]

As a pp said, Pawley's Island/Litchfield is very nice. It's a little south of Murrell's Inlet. We have stayed there a few times, as well as in the northern part of Myrtle Beach near Barefoot Landing.

We usually rent VRBO now. You can get condos and houses in all shapes, sizes and price ranges.

There's lots to do, but most of it costs $. Mini golf, shopping, fishing, boats out of Murrell's Inlet, small amusement areas (Family Kingdom - I think it is still called), and some with little race cars, bumper boats, etc. Broadway at the beach and Barefoot landing both offer entertainment, shopping and dining all at one location. There's a Ripley's and an aquarium at Broadway, but we didn't do them.

 

[okeydokey]

We stayed at Seawatch in N Myrtle Beach. It was right on the beach and the pools were great too. It's an older property so it's not the most luxurious but we had a blast. We booked early in the year (maybe around feb for a july trip) and got a nice percentage off.

 

[rdevine10]

Hi!

I would recommend the forums on tripadvisor for Myrtle Beach info.

We went last year and stayed at the Compass Cove... its a little further out of the strip area, and has 22 pools/lazyrivers/hottubs/water feautures!

It was a decent condo. Maybe a 3 star- nothing above. Kids LOVED the water feautures and the beach!

But check out those forums, they are a wealth of info!

 

[Halle]

Stay in a safe place...we thought we had and two years in a row there was an attempt to break into our room at the same resort. We love Kingston Plantation, gated community with many rental options. MB is so much fun. A great Italian restaurant in NMB is Benny Rappas, small non chain. Have a great time.

 

[eandt]

Take a look at VRBO...We have used that site for the past 9-10yrs and love it. A little trust is required but we have rented from 4-5 different owners and all were great experiences. As a for instance this year we are renting a two bedroom two bath OF condo for a week in June for $965 which includes all taxes and a departure cleaning. It's third floor with no elevator but taking the steps helps us burn off some of those Captain and Cokes! It's not the Taj Mahal but its clean comfortable has a pool and is in a great location.

 

[thenewgirl]

Dunes Village is a great place to stay. It is ocean front, has condos choices from 1-4 bedrooms, is not in the busiest section but is close to everything, and best of all, has an indoor water park as well as outdoor pools. Tripadvisor is a great source for hotels, restaurants, and entertainment.
There is so much to do...we especially love Medieval Times and both Broadway at the Beach (has the aquarium, the old pavillion rides, and other cool stuff...kids enjoy Margaritaville) and Barefoot Landing (has the tigers and monkeys you can get a picture with, but it's expensive). You can take helicopter rides for as low as 20 dollars a person, can go shopping at the outlets, go to all kinds of dinner shows, ride the carnival rides in various places, go to one of the water parks, the gocart raceway, the amusement park that used to be Hard Rock Park, or just hang out near the beach. There are putt-putt places on almost every block, somepublic playgrounds, lots of ice cream and/or pizza shops...just all kinds of stuff to do! Have fun planning!

 

[tinytink]

Take a look at VRBO...We have used that site for the past 9-10yrs and love it. A little trust is required but we have rented from 4-5 different owners and all were great experiences. As a for instance this year we are renting a two bedroom two bath OF condo for a week in June for $965 which includes all taxes and a departure cleaning. It's third floor with no elevator but taking the steps helps us burn off some of those Captain and Cokes! It's not the Taj Mahal but its clean comfortable has a pool and is in a great location.

We also love the Kingston Plantation in North MB, which offers condo rentals or hotels. We stay at the Embassy Suites which offers a free buffet breakfast and managers reception in the evening(free drinks for adults and kids with snacks). They also offer a shuttle to the near by outlets, Walmart, and shopping. They also have a gym on the grounds, water park, beach access(down the stairs), hot tubs, several pools, and washer/dryers. We've been going there for about two years and this year we will be back for sure! The only thing is they just started charging $7 per day to park which sucks but we make up for it at breakfast with a family of 6(ours are 14, 12, 7, 5). Hope that helps.

 

[dogodisney]

So glad that this thread was started.
We will be staying in Myrtle Beach for our first time this July for 5 nights. We are staying at the Baywatch Resort. We got a good deal since we booked early. It got a lot of good reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

[ohanaMAMA]

we live 60 miles from MYB. and go there alllll the time. We stay at the Village Dunes resort. Its super nice, clean and the indoor water park cant be beat. There is a TON to do in MYB. you name it.

For eats we love River City Cafe. There are several locations (one at broadway at the beach and one on ocean blvd) they have THE BEST fries. Be sure to ask for ranch dressing to dip! YUM. We also like Big Giant Crab for seafood. It has GREAT crablegs. and you can usually get a coupon of both places in the little visitor books all over the place.

 

[btallennc3]

A great way to save money on food in myrtle beach is to use
http://www.restaurant.com

there are a ton of restaurants in myrtle beach on there and they are running a ton of codes all the time. Some of the places sell out fast but you have plently of time to get them. Also there is a convation center down there and they have tons of events going on and alot of them have if you prebuy tickets you get a cheaper rate. Also I live in wilmington NC witch is about 45 minutes away and there is alot to do up here. Just a thought if you need some more idears let me know and I can see what I come up with

 

[audracooper]

We always stay at Cherry Grove, SC- (past 30 years), and rent a house which is a much better value. We go theough Elliott Realty, but there are other rental companies too. The house is 4 bedroom and is around 1000-1200 for the week. It's a quiet family beach, but you are only 15 minutes from Myrtle Beach. Most of the houses at Cherry Grove have a channel off the back of the house for fishing or crabbing. We enjoy the shopping, minature golf, water parks. The most expensive thing we do all week is the water park (Myrtle Waves). There is also a fairly new amusement park with lots of roller coasters and other rides. We only go out to a nice restaurant once all week because of the fully equipped kitchen in the house. We just love being in a house where we can spread out and the kids can go outside and play. We split the cost with my parents and my sister's family, so it's very reasonable! Have fun!

 

[teslaaunt]

We recently went for a girls vacation and stayed here:

http://www.towersonthegrove.com/

it was fantastic. Brand new and pretty reasonable. One of the really fun things we did while there was to go to Crocodile Rocks. It's a dueling piano bar that is so much fun. I highly recommend it.

 

[NCRedding]

We recently went for a girls vacation and stayed here:

http://www.towersonthegrove.com/

it was fantastic. Brand new and pretty reasonable. One of the really fun things we did while there was to go to Crocodile Rocks. It's a dueling piano bar that is so much fun. I highly recommend it.

Where is Crocodile Rocks? I love dueling piano bars.

 

[teslaaunt]

It's a good ways out from the beach, I know there is a Margaritaville there too. A bunch of Big Name places all together. FUN, FUN, FUN

Crocodile Rocks
1320 Celebrity Circle, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577-7451

 

[luvmy3jewels]

We stayed at Dunes Village Resort last summer and had a blast. (While we were there we overheard a little girl telling her mom she liked that place better than Disney, and my kids agreed with her). We brought groceries for easy breakfasts and lunch most days and tried to limit ourselves to just eating dinner out.

The great thing about DVR is it is right on the ocean, so you can easily go to the beach and it has great indoor/outdoor pools and lazy rivers so if the weather is bad (or if you don't want to get sandy) you can hang around those.

My other advice would be to shop around on all of the sites (Expedia, Hotels, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc) and compare their prices to the property's website prices. Good luck!

 

[WLfamily]

We just booked a Myrtle Beach vacation too, our first time going. I got very confused and frustrated trying to find a place to stay, but finally decided on Hampton Inn and Suites Oceanfront on the South End of Myrtle. Does anyone have any info on this hotel? It was rated #2 on TripAdvisor. I told my DH that it would be easier if I could just take a Disney resort along with me when I travel to other places so I know where to stay! Any advice you guys have would be great!