Fun things to do with kids around Myrtle Beach for under $10

For the past 4 years I’ve traveled up and down the Carolina Coast looking for great adventures, mysteries and memorable wildlife encounters. Here is a list of wonderful things – blessed my now 7 years old daughter – that you can do with your kids while vacationing in Myrtle Beach. All for under $10! (prices subject to change; new attractions added in 2010 and 2011)

To get you started I’ve put together a nice Google Map with all the attractions.

Free things to do at Cherry Grove, Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing
• Walk inside the pristine Heritage Shores Nature Preserve located next to the Cherry Grove Park and Boat Ramp. Feeling more adventurous? Kayak the Cherry Grove inlet all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Beware you may be greeted by dolphins!

Where to kayak and fish in North Myrtle Beach

• Speaking of dolphins, you can see bottlenosed dolphins swim freely around the pier. I got a special treat, seeing them at sunset on 2010 New Year’s Eve!

• Splash around at the water fountain. Don’t be shy, join in the fun, just remember to bring extra clothes

Water splashing fun at Broadway at the Beach

• Jump, slide, crawl at the playground, most likely the most scenic in the Carolinas!
• Sprinkle more laughs at the fish and duck feeding stations
• See up-close Bengal, Siberian, Royal White Bengal and the super stars Golden Tabby tigers playing in an outdoor environment at the remarkable T.I.G.E.R.S Preservation Station inside Barefoot Landing

The tiger is playing with the kids! He was very interested in the like plush tiger toy...

• Visit the Burroughs-Chapin museum, the only art museum in Myrtle Beach, located across the Springmaid Pier. They have an Art Studio just for kids.

Beach piers, museums and amusement parks
• Burn calories while you jump and flip on the trampoline at Barefoot Landing

Wheee! I am so high up in the air

• Fishermen unite at the outstanding Cherry Grove Pier, home to many record catches such as a 1780 lbs Tiger Shark and a 98 lbs Tarpon. All day pass to the pier is $1.50. Bait, tackle, and rods rentals are available at the pier shop, or pay $6 pier fishing fee if you bring your own.

The fishing pier at Cherry Grove Beach

• Speaking of piers, in January 2011 we spent a wonderful weekend at Springmaid Beach Resort, which proudly boasts the historic Springmaid Pier (longest pier in Myrtle Beach). Admission is $1 (free for resort guests), a daily fishing pass is $8 and rods can be rented for $10.

• Let your kids imagination flourish at CMSC featuring a USS Coast Guard boat, an authentic X-ray machine, diamond mining, a magical school bus and a pizza delivery truck ($8 admission, $1 off coupon available)

Come on board!

• Climb on baby elephants and zebras at Jungle Safari mini-golf! Oh yeah when you really feel like it put that ball into the hole… “I like to move it, move it” ($8 admission)

• Test your wits and navigation skills at the mind-boggling Mirror Maze inside the Barefoot Landing shopping and entertainment center($7.99 for all day pass)

• Race into space, play astronaut, build your own constellation and learn all there is to know about planets at Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach. Grownups can rock on at the cool laser shows featuring songs from Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, The Beatles and more ($8 adults, $4 kids 3-5)

I am flying mom!

• Have a tea cup party ride at the Pavilion Nostalgia Amusement Park at Broadway at the Beach ($3+tax per ride, less for bulk purchases). Here is a 2011 list with the most exciting rides.

• Play with the largest, museum quality model train layout at the NC Railroad Museum downtown Wilmington. Kids love pushing buttons, watching Thomas and company go over bridges and even ordering food at a drive-thru McDonalds! ($7 adults, $6 seniors and military, and $3 children 2-12 years)

Parks, historical sites and zoos
• Visit the romantic Atalaya Castle inside the Huntington Beach State Park where the Wild Things Are! Beware of free roaming jaws snapping alligators! ($5 park admission, free entrance to Atalaya)

Mysterious Atalaya Tower

• Reward your nature loving spirit at Waccatee Zoo – The Beast Things to Do – featuring hundreds of exotic and weird animals ($7)

• See a Giant Sloth skeleton replica, learn about nature’s deadly forces, admire a T.N. Simmons Sea-Skiff and check out Michael’s Jordan childhood memorabilia at Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington ($7 adults, $3 children 3-17)

What a giant! I am glad he is not a carnivore

• Be amazed, awed and bewildered at Cape Fear Serpentarium in historic Wilmington NC home to the most venomous snakes in the world: bushmasters, Gaboon vipers, King cobras, Tropical rattlers and Fer-de-lance ($8, live feedings in the weekends at 3PM)

• Admire the Brown’s Ferry Vessel, the oldest American-built wooden boat, located inside the Rice Museum in Georgetown (~40 minutes drive). Did you know that Georgetown was once the rice capital of the world? ($7 adults, $5 seniors, $3 students and free for kids under 6)

Browns Ferry Vessel traveled in early 1700s along the Carolina Coast to bring goods from plantations to Charleston.

• See how native people lived along the Carolina coast before the arrival of Europeans. The Horry Conway Museum in downtown Conway features a great collection of Native American artifacts from Archaic, Woodland and prehistoric time periods. Admission is free. Added bonus, take a relaxing stroll along the Waccamaw River to enjoy beautiful scenery, historic warehouses and the Conway Arboretum.

Enjoy your family vacation along our beautiful Carolina Coast!

Wild and wonderful Waccatee Zoo, the Myrtle Beach kids fun thing to do!

Authentic, real and totally unexpected. Fun, fun, fun that is…just 15 minutes drive from Myrtle Beach’s hustle and bustle. There are hundreds of animals from classics like lions, tigers, black bears and chimps to most unusual species like the South American peccarts, Patagonia Maras and the half zebra half donkey ones…

Tip! Spend $1-2 on a bag of popcorn or boiled peanuts to feed the beasts. Kids love it, animals love it (that’s how I got the bear to dance for me!) and you can snack along the way.

I asked the longhorn if Texas will beat Oklahoma. He responded promptly by hooking a poor bystander emu…if you can’t get your horns on a sooner, the emu will do 🙂

The Zoo is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. Admission is $4 for children 1-12 and $8 for adults. Here is a customized Google Map showing Waccatee Zoo and other Myrtle Beach attractions worth shouting about.

At minimum visit the ever mysterious Atalaya Castle inside the Huntington Beach State Park where among other wild things you can rub elbows with free roaming alligators!

Happy family fun on the Grand Strand!