Myrtle Beach Boating & Water Access: The Waterway, the Marinas, the Landings

The Intracoastal Waterway: The Region's Actual Boating Backbone

The ICW is the reason Myrtle Beach has a boating scene at all beyond surf launches and deep-sea charters -- it's a protected, largely no-wave channel running the length of the Grand Strand, giving powerboats, sailboats, and cruisers a calm-water route from the Waccamaw River and Winyah Bay in the south up through Little River near the North Carolina line, well inland of the ocean swell and the beach itself. That distinction matters for this market specifically: the active 2025-2026 beach renourishment project (roughly $72 million, federally funded, placing about 2 million cubic yards of sand across 26 miles of oceanfront spanning North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, and the Surfside Beach/Garden City area) is an Atlantic-facing, nearshore project -- it doesn't affect the ICW's channel depth or the marinas built along it, since the waterway sits on the mainland side of the barrier strip, not the beach side.

The ICW is also why Hurricane Ian's 2022 storm surge -- reported at up to 7 feet in coastal Horry County -- is relevant to boat owners here even though Ian made landfall well south near Georgetown: surge pushes both up the ocean-facing beach and into the sound-side marshes and creeks that feed the Intracoastal, which is the same reason North Myrtle Beach's Ian-related damage concentrated partly in the Cherry Grove and Barefoot areas that sit directly on or near this waterway. Docks, seawalls, and floating slips along the ICW are exposed to storm surge from the marsh side, not just wind from the ocean side -- a distinction worth asking about directly if you're buying anything with a private dock.

Grande Dunes Marina: The Community Built Around Both Banks of the Waterway

Grande Dunes, the upscale community organized into Marina, Golf, and Ocean "villages," is one of the few neighborhoods in this market that literally straddles the Intracoastal Waterway rather than just sitting near it. Its namesake facility, Grande Dunes Marina, sits at 8201 Marina Parkway, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572, at ICW mile marker 357, and offers 126 wet slips across roughly 1,200 linear feet of floating docks, accommodating vessels up to 120 feet. Amenities per the marina's own site include gas and diesel fuel, a pump-out dock, water, WiFi, showers, laundry, a sundry shop, dock assistance, security gates, and pet-friendly policies, plus an on-site restaurant, 357 Raw Coastal Bar. The marina is operated by Keel Marinas (in the Oasis Marinas network), monitors VHF channel 16 and works channel 12, and posts seasonal hours of roughly 9am-5pm in season and 9am-4pm off-season.

That combination -- a protected, deep-water marina inside a residential community rather than a standalone commercial harbor -- is the specific thing that sets Grande Dunes apart from a public boat ramp: residents and slip renters get walkable access to the marina's restaurant and services without leaving the neighborhood.

Barefoot Resort: 2,300 Acres, Four Golf Courses, and a Working Marina on the Waterway

Barefoot Resort, in North Myrtle Beach, is a 2,300-acre community built around four golf courses with genuine Intracoastal waterfront, popular with retirees and second-home buyers who want golf and water access in the same address. Its marina, Barefoot Marina, sits at 2051 Bridgeview Court, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582, at ICW mile marker 354.0, and is the larger of the two named marinas checked for this page: 142 total slips (2 transient) along roughly 1,100 feet of floating concrete docks, with an approach depth of about 8 feet and 12 feet dockside, and a stated maximum vessel length of 150 feet. The fuel dock sells ValvTect gas and diesel with non-ethanol options, and amenities include a pool, showers, laundry, cable TV, WiFi, ice, a ship's store, and pet-friendly docking, with hours running roughly 8am-5pm in winter and 8am-6pm in summer.

As with Grande Dunes, the practical draw here is bundling: a slip at Barefoot Marina sits inside a golf-anchored residential resort rather than a standalone commercial waterfront, which is part of why local real-estate sources describe the community as especially popular with retirees splitting time between the course and the water.

A Name That Misleads: Myrtle Beach Yacht Club Is Actually in Little River

Worth the same correction this site's Destin page gives Ross Marler Park: Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, despite its name, is not located in Myrtle Beach. Marina-directory listings (marinas.com, lake.com) place it in Little River, SC -- the small waterfront town near the North Carolina line -- on the Intracoastal Waterway, with one listing citing 153 slips. Beyond that slip count and its Little River location, this session could not independently pull a current maximum vessel length, published transient rate, or amenity list directly from the marina's own site (myrtlebeachyachtclub.com) due to repeated fetch failures -- confirm directly with the marina before planning a visit, and don't assume its name tells you its address.

Bucksport Marina: A Working Waterfront on the Waccamaw River, Now Drawing Manufacturing Investment

Bucksport Marina sits in rural Horry County on the Waccamaw River, reachable via the Intracoastal Waterway, and combines a marina, campground, small store, and office -- a genuinely different product than the resort-adjacent marinas above, serving transient cruisers, long-term liveaboards, and campers alike, with peak activity from spring onward. It's owned and operated by the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority (GSWSA), a public utility rather than a private marina company. The site has real, dated history: mid-1800s sawmill operations here shipped timber to New York, Boston, and overseas markets, and the U.S. Geological Survey has monitored water quality at Bucksport since 2008.

The newest development is a genuinely current, dollar-figured story: in December 2025, Asis Boats USA (operating as Ocean Craft Marine, a builder of rigid inflatable boats, amphibious platforms, and aluminum military and professional maritime craft) announced a $10.8 million investment to establish its U.S. manufacturing headquarters at Bucksport Marine Park, projected to create 93 jobs, with operations targeted to begin by the end of 2026. Company president Roy Nouhra said the company is looking "forward to growing roots here, hand-in-hand with the community" -- a real, named example of the Waccamaw River corridor drawing marine-industrial investment alongside its recreational boating and camping use.

Public Boat Landings: Horry County's Own Numbers, and an Honest Gap in the Details

Horry County's own tourism page states there are 35 public boat landings countywide, 27 of which are managed directly by Horry County Parks and Recreation, with the rest operated by the City of Conway, the City of North Myrtle Beach, the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority, the SC Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These landings sit primarily along the Great Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee, Lumber, and Waccamaw Rivers, with additional landings directly on the Intracoastal Waterway -- though the county's own guidance flags that ICW landings see heavy boat traffic and aren't recommended launch points for paddlers.

A secondary boat-ramp directory (not the county's own published list, which this session could not fetch directly due to repeated proxy errors) names several specific landings worth knowing by waterway rather than assuming they're interchangeable: Enterprise Landing and Rosewood Landing (both reaching the Intracoastal Waterway, in the Myrtle Beach/Socastee area), the Highway 544/Socastee Landing (also ICW), Peach Tree Landing and Bucksville Landing (both on the Waccamaw River, near Socastee and Conway respectively), Port Harrelson (on Bull Creek, near Conway), Yauhannah (on the Great Pee Dee River, near Conway), Cherry Grove Landing (Williams Creek/Hog Inlet, North Myrtle Beach), and the John Causey Boating Facility and T. Craig Campbell Landing (both reaching Little River/the ICW near the state line). These are real, named landings, but the list comes from a third-party aggregator rather than Horry County's own site, and this session found separate news coverage of landings temporarily closing (Enterprise Landing, per WBTW) and being rebuilt (a roughly $100,000 Socastee ramp replacement, per WPDE) -- a reminder that landing availability changes and should be confirmed directly with Horry County Parks and Recreation before you tow a trailer out.

Murrells Inlet: The Historic Fishing Fleet Just South

Murrells Inlet, immediately south of Myrtle Beach proper, is regularly billed as the "Seafood Capital of South Carolina" and traces its identity to an early-20th-century fishing village that harvested shrimp, oysters, and fish from the inlet. Today its working waterfront is anchored by the MarshWalk, a boardwalk-and-restaurant district completed as an early-2000s revitalization project, and by Crazy Sister Marina (4123 US Highway 17 Business, Murrells Inlet), which runs deep-sea and inshore charter fishing, dolphin and eco-tour cruises, and rentals of pontoons, kayaks, and skiffs. It's less a commercial fishing port today than a charter-and-tourism hub built on top of that fishing-village history -- worth knowing if you're picturing working shrimp boats rather than the current mix of charter and recreational craft.

Hague Marina: A Genuine, Unresolved Discrepancy Worth Flagging Rather Than Guessing At

One more marina turns up repeatedly in Myrtle Beach-area boating searches, and it's worth disclosing exactly why it isn't recommended here rather than silently omitting it: Hague Marina, associated with an address near the Myrtle Beach/Socastee/Murrells Inlet area (listed inconsistently across directories as both "1 Hague Dr" and "3675 Hague Dr," Myrtle Beach, SC 29588). One marina-listing aggregator (PredictWind) labels it "permanently closed" in its own page title, while a separate Yellow Pages listing shows posted regular business hours and simply marks it "closed now" (the ordinary out-of-hours indicator, not a closure notice), with no published reviews either way. This session could not reconcile those two conflicting signals into a confirmed current operating status. Don't assume either source is right -- call the marina's listed number directly, or check with the Horry County business-license office, before planning a visit or a slip rental around it.

A Professional-Consult Disclaimer

None of this is navigational, boating-safety, or purchase advice. Marina slip counts, maximum vessel lengths, fuel prices, and seasonal hours for Grande Dunes Marina and Barefoot Marina are drawn from each marina's own published information but change over time; confirm current rates and availability directly with the marina before booking. Public boat-landing availability, fees, and hours shift, and at least two landings referenced above have seen recent closures or rebuilds -- confirm current status directly with Horry County Parks and Recreation, the City of Conway, or the City of North Myrtle Beach before launching. Hague Marina's operating status is genuinely unresolved in this research and should be confirmed by phone before relying on it at all. Storm surge, dock condition, and seawall integrity along the Intracoastal Waterway vary lot by lot; have any waterfront dock or bulkhead inspected by a qualified marine contractor before purchase. Nothing on this page is legal, insurance, or financial advice.