Living Here

Tourism
Hosting over 14.6 million visitors annually, The Grand Strand is home to an array of tourist attractions, and the area receives a large influx of visitors during the spring, summer and fall months, and "snowbirds" in the winter. Over ten million tourists visit Myrtle Beach and the surrounding areas every year. The area's attractions include its beaches and many golf courses, as well as a number of amusement parks, an aquarium, over 1,900 restaurants including seafood restaurants, and a number of shopping complexes. Myrtle Beach has an estimated 460 hotels, with many on the beachfront, and approximately 89,000 accommodation units in total. The area also has an IMAX theater, dinner theater, nightclubs, and many tourist shops. Other attractions include the Myrtle Beach State Park and fishing. The area is also popular for business meetings and conventions. The area recently welcomed Hard Rock Park, a park themed after the popular Hard Rock Cafe chain. The park features attractions themed after different genres of music, such as the British Invasion. After a hiatus, the park plans to re-open on Memorial Day 2009. Also in the city is Myrtle Waves, one of the largest water parks on the eastern seaboard. Broadway at the Beach is a popular shopping and entertainment destination.

Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions

Myrtle Beach is home to many tourist attractions, notably Family Kingdom Amusement Park, a sea-side amusement park, Hard Rock Park, and the diverse Broadway at the Beach, which features many shopping, tourism, and dining attractions. Myrtle Waves is one of the largest water parks on the eastern seaboard. Myrtle Beach also has over 40 varied miniature golf courses along the strand.

From 1948 until 2006, a popular staple of Myrtle Beach tourism was the Myrtle Beach Pavilion. This historic landmark and the large amusement park across the street were demolished after the 2006 season; this area has been a large empty, unused lot for 3 seasons.

Shopping Complexes
Myrtle Beach has many different stores and malls, is one of the largest shopping areas in the Southeastern United States, and is the largest shopping destination in South Carolina.

Coastal Grand Mall opened in 2004. The mall, which has indoor and outdoor shopping areas, has a gross leasable area of 929,868 square feet. The single-story facility features five anchor stores (including Belk, JCPenney, and Dick's Sporting Goods), roughly 130 specialty stores, a 14-screen movie theater, and a food court.
Myrtle Beach Mall is 525,385 square feet, and features three anchor stores, notably Bass Pro Shops. The single-story mall also has a 12-screen movie theater, a food court, and a variety of other specialty stores. This is formerly known as Colonial Mall, and originally Briarcliffe Mall.
Tanger Outlets at Myrtle Beach at Myrtle Beach features over 100 brand name outlets from many of the country's most popular brands, such as Nautica and Sony. It is located on Highway 501 entering the city.
Broadway at the Beach is a shopping complex set on 350 acres along the Highway 31 Bypass, featuring three theaters, 17 restaurants and more than 100 specialty shops as well as attractions, nightclubs, and three hotels, all surrounding the 23-acre Lake Broadway. It is the largest festival entertainment complex in South Carolina. Notable attractions are an IMAX theater, Ripley's Aquarium, Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

Conventions and Special Events
Myrtle Beach hosts a variety of special conventions, events, and musical concerts. Since 1951, in March of every year, Myrtle Beach hosts Canadian-American Days (also known as Can-Am Days), a spring event timed each year to coincide with Ontario's March break. Canadian tourists flock to the area for a week's worth of special events. Tens of thousands attend the event yearly.

The city also hosts Myrtle Beach Bike Week, a week-long motorcycle event, every May.

The area is home to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, a large facility that hosts an array of different meetings, conferences, exhibits, and special events every year.

Sports
Myrtle Beach is home to two non-major sports teams, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, a Carolina League baseball team and Atlanta Braves farm franchise, and the Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz, an ECHL hockey team that will eventually play regularly at Coastal Carolina University in nearby Conway.

The area also has the BB&T Coastal Field, the home field of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The stadium, located just off Highway 17 in Myrtle Beach, opened in 1999. It seats 6,500 people. It is the finish point of the annual Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon, an athletics event held in February of each year.

BB&T Coastal Field is also home of the annual "Baseball At The Beach" collegiate baseball tournament. Hosted by Coastal Carolina University each year, the tournament pits participating NCAA Division I baseball programs in the United States.

The area hosts the annual Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon, a track and field event in February featuring a Friday night 5K and a Saturday half-marathon, marathon, and relay. Marathon day draws the limit of 6,000 runners annually (2,500 full, 3,500 half) and results usually in an unusual dawn as the race starts before dawn (6:30 AM) in order to finish by 2:30 PM.

Stock car racing is held at Myrtle Beach Speedway, a .538 mile semi-banked asphaltic oval track located on US 501.

Golfing
The area is home to many golf courses and mini golf courses which are located along the beach and further inland. Myrtle Beach has been called the "Golf Capital of the World"  because of the 120 golf courses located there, the record 4.2 million rounds played, and many miniature golf courses. 3.7 million total rounds of golf were played in 2007. The majority of the area's golf courses are open to the public. Some of the notable golf courses and/or resorts are as follows:

Arcadian Shores Golf Club
Arrowhead Country Club
Barefoot Resort and Golf Club
Burning Ridge Golf Course
Grand Dunes Golf Resort
Myrtle Beach National Golf Course
River Oaks Golf Plantation

Parks and Recreation
Myrtle Beach is home to Myrtle Beach State Park, an open beach, fishing pier full of anglers and stories. The park also features campgrounds in the oceanfront woods. The park is located on the coast right outside of downtown Myrtle Beach.