Best Day Trips from North Myrtle Beach: Calabash, Little River & Beyond

The golden-fried flounder hits the table and the steam carries that unmistakable Calabash smell — light cornmeal batter, peanut oil, and the ocean. You’re sitting at a picnic table in a fishing village the size of a gas station, twenty minutes from where you woke up this morning, and the woman at the next table says her family has been eating at this same restaurant since 1970. By the time you finish the hush puppies, you’ve forgotten you’re on a day trip — it feels like you’ve been coming here for years.

That’s the magic of exploring beyond the beach. The best day trips from North Myrtle Beach are all within 35 minutes of our condo at 601 Hillside Dr N — different towns, different menus, different pace, all easy enough for a half-day adventure. Here are four we recommend to every guest.

Calabash, NC — The Seafood Capital of the World

~15 minutes north | Half-day trip

Just across the North Carolina border, Calabash is a tiny fishing village (population ~2,000) that invented its own legendary style of lightly battered, golden-fried seafood. Dozens of family-owned restaurants — Beck’s, Captain Nance’s, and Calabash Creamery — have been perfecting the craft for decades.

The Itinerary

Morning: Play a round at Crow Creek Golf Club or Meadowlands — both located right in Calabash. Some of the best-value courses on the Grand Strand.

Lunch: Calabash-style seafood at Beck’s or Captain Nance’s. Get the combination platter — shrimp, flounder, oysters, scallops. Don’t skip the hushpuppies.

Afternoon: Drive to nearby Sunset Beach and walk to the Kindred Spirit Mailbox — a legendary beach mailbox where people leave letters, journals, and messages in the sand. The walk is about 1.5 miles along an undeveloped stretch of coast — nothing but dune grass, pelicans, and the low roar of the surf. When you reach the mailbox, you flip open a weathered journal and read strangers’ love letters, grief notes, and prayers. It’s Instagram-famous, romantic, and genuinely moving — worth every step.

Stop by: Twelve 33 Distillery for a tasting. Callahan’s of Calabash for another seafood option.

Golf + fried seafood + a sunset beach walk = a perfect Grand Strand day.

Read the full Calabash guide →

Little River Waterfront — Fishing Village Charm

~15 minutes north | Half-day or full evening

Little River is the Grand Strand’s quieter, more authentic side. A historic fishing village on the Intracoastal Waterway where boats still leave at sunrise and fresh seafood comes off the water all day. It’s the perfect change of pace when you want to slow down.

The Itinerary — Morning Trip

8:00 AM: Board a half-day fishing charter or dolphin cruise from the Little River marina.

12:00 PM: Waterfront lunch at Hurricane Juel’s (serving since 1945) or Crab Catcher’s.

1:30 PM: Walk the trails at Vereen Memorial Historical Gardens — peaceful, free, with graves dating to the Civil War era.

2:30 PM: Head back for an afternoon at the beach.

The Itinerary — Evening Trip

5:00 PM: Dinner at Clark’s Seafood & Chophouse (upscale) or Seabrisa’s Waterfront Seafood (Oysters Rockefeller, fish tacos, breakfast all day).

7:00 PM: Board the Big M Casino for an adults-only evening cruise. South Carolina’s only casino.

~Midnight: Return to the condo.

Don’t Miss: The Festivals

• Blue Crab Festival (mid-May) — The Grand Strand’s biggest annual event
• ShrimpFest (October) — Fall’s answer to the Blue Crab Festival

Read the full Little River guide →

Broadway at the Beach — The Family Mega-Complex

~25 minutes south | Full day

Broadway at the Beach is the Grand Strand’s largest entertainment complex — 350+ acres surrounding a 23-acre lake in central Myrtle Beach. The scale hits you the moment you park: neon, music from three directions, the shriek of a roller coaster, and the smell of waffle cones mixing with funnel cake. It’s the big-production counterpart to NMB’s more laid-back vibe, and it’s worth the drive when your family wants a full day of attractions.

Key Attractions

• WonderWorks — The upside-down building. Interactive science exhibits, a ropes course, and activities that keep kids engaged for hours.
• Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach — One of the top-rated aquariums in the Southeast. Walk-through tunnels, touch tanks, jellyfish gallery, and shark encounters.
• Hollywood Wax Museum — Celebrity figures, photo ops, and a mirror maze.
• Pavilion Park — Rides and attractions for all ages.
• Dave & Buster’s — Arcade games, food, and drinks.
• Dozens of restaurants and shops — From chains to unique finds.

The Honest Take

Broadway at the Beach is big, commercial, and very Myrtle Beach. If you love theme-park-style entertainment complexes, it’s fantastic. If you prefer NMB’s quieter, more local feel, you might find it overwhelming. Our recommendation: go once, spend a full day, do Ripley’s Aquarium and WonderWorks, then come back to the peace of Ocean Keyes.

Worth the drive for families with kids. Less essential for couples or golf groups who are happy with Barefoot Landing.

Murrells Inlet — The Seafood Capital of South Carolina

~40 minutes south | Half-day or evening

If Calabash claims “Seafood Capital of the World” (NC side), Murrells Inlet claims “Seafood Capital of South Carolina.” Both titles are well-earned.

The MarshWalk

The star attraction is the MarshWalk — a half-mile boardwalk lined with waterfront restaurants, bars, and live music venues. The planks creak underfoot, the marsh stretches out wide and green on one side, and from every other deck a different band competes for your attention — blues from one patio, country from the next, reggae from somewhere further down. The salt marsh air mixes with the smoke from a dozen grills. In summer, live bands play nightly at multiple spots along the boardwalk. Walk, eat, drink, listen, repeat. It’s the Grand Strand’s best waterfront dining-and-nightlife strip.

Brookgreen Gardens

The surprise gem. Brookgreen Gardens is a world-class sculpture garden and wildlife preserve — 9,100 acres of American figurative sculpture set in a former rice plantation’s gardens. The live oaks form cathedral-like canopies overhead, Spanish moss swaying in the breeze, and bronze figures emerge from the landscape like they grew there — a man reaching toward the sky, a woman rising from the water. The air smells like magnolia and warm earth. It’s genuinely beautiful, unexpectedly moving, and the kind of place that art lovers and nature lovers both adore. Allow 2–3 hours.

Huntington Beach State Park

Pristine beach, excellent birdwatching, and Atalaya Castle — a Moorish-style castle built in the 1930s as a winter home, its stone arches and open-air courtyard cool even on a hot day. The beach here is quieter and more natural than the developed strand — just sea oats, driftwood, and the occasional tern diving into the shallows. Great for a peaceful morning before heading to the MarshWalk for lunch.

The Itinerary

10:00 AM: Brookgreen Gardens or Huntington Beach State Park (both are stunning).

1:00 PM: Drive to the MarshWalk for a waterfront seafood lunch.

2:30 PM: Walk the boardwalk, browse the shops, enjoy the waterfront.

3:30 PM: Head back to NMB for beach time or mini golf.

Day Trip Comparison

Calabash Seafood, the Kindred Spirit Mailbox, the MarshWalk — and Still Home by Dinner

That’s the thing about 601 Hillside Dr N: everything on this list is a day trip, not a road trip. Fried flounder in Calabash — 15 minutes. Fishing charters from Little River — 15 minutes. Brookgreen Gardens — 35 minutes. And you’re back at our 3BR/2BA condo in Ocean Keyes by late afternoon, 0.65 miles from the beach, with the whole evening still ahead of you.

The best home base is the one that puts every destination within reach.

Check Availability & Book Your Stay

Stay closer to home? Check out Barefoot Landing (8 min), mini golf (3 min), and the full things to do guide for everything near the condo.