Things to Do at Surfside Beach

The Surfside Beach Fishing Pier

The town's rebuilt, all-concrete Surfside Beach Fishing Pier is the single most visible piece of dedicated recreational infrastructure in town. Rebuilt after Hurricane Matthew tore its predecessor in half in October 2016, the new pier broke ground in December 2021 and reopened to the public on March 14, 2024, coinciding with the town's 60th anniversary. Beyond fishing, it includes dining options and an ice cream shop, making it a walkable destination for visitors and residents even without fishing gear. It's also a genuinely rare structure regionally -- described as one of a kind on South Carolina's stretch of coast for its all-concrete construction, specifically engineered to be more storm-resistant than a traditional wooden pier.

The Beach Itself: Quiet, Low-Rise, and Rule-Bound

Surfside Beach's own oceanfront strand, capped at 35 feet by the town's own zoning code, offers a genuinely quieter, lower-density beach experience than the high-rise strip a few miles north in Myrtle Beach -- a direct, physical result of the town's trademarked "Family Beach" identity and the ordinances that back it. Those same ordinances shape what visitors can and can't do on the sand: no glass containers, no alcohol, no thong bathing suits, no fires, grills, or Chinese lanterns, and a rule that swimmers stay within 50 yards of shore in water no deeper than chest-high. This isn't a beach geared toward a party atmosphere -- it's deliberately structured around a quieter, more family-oriented experience, and visitors used to a more permissive beach elsewhere on the Grand Strand should adjust expectations accordingly.

Ocean Lakes Family Campground

Ocean Lakes Family Campground, described by South Carolina's own state tourism site as located at Surfside Beach, is a destination in its own right, not just a place to stay. It covers 310 oceanfront acres with 859 total campsites -- including 656 sites with large concrete pull-through pads -- and is widely described as the largest campground on the East Coast and one of the largest in the country. Even for a visitor not staying there, Ocean Lakes' scale is a genuinely notable regional fact about this part of the Grand Strand, and its size and amenities make it a significant part of the broader Surfside Beach visitor economy.

Brookgreen Gardens: A Short Drive South

Brookgreen Gardens, a short drive south of Surfside Beach in the Murrells Inlet/Pawleys Island area, spans more than 9,000 acres and combines a sculpture garden, live oak-shaded grounds, a butterfly garden, and the Lowcountry Zoo -- widely described as a genuinely significant outdoor museum and one of the region's major cultural and natural attractions. It isn't located within Surfside Beach town limits, but its proximity makes it a real, practical addition to any Surfside Beach visit or stay, worth planning a half-day or full-day trip around.

The Murrells Inlet MarshWalk

The Murrells Inlet MarshWalk, also a short drive south of Surfside Beach, is a boardwalk that runs along the scenic marshes of Murrells Inlet, lined with restaurants and offering views of local wildlife. It's a genuinely popular regional destination in its own right, distinct from Surfside Beach's own quieter, more residential character, and it's close enough to function as a practical evening or dining destination for anyone staying at Surfside Beach.

Huntington Beach State Park

Also a short drive south, Huntington Beach State Park spans more than 2,500 acres of coastal habitat, offering bird watching, saltwater fishing, and hiking, including the roughly two-mile Sandpiper Pond Trail, along with wildlife viewing that includes alligators and loggerhead sea turtles in season. It's a genuinely substantial nature-focused counterpoint to Surfside Beach's own more developed oceanfront strand, and it's covered in more depth on this site's Fishing Guide and Seasonal Recreation pages for Surfside Beach.

The park sits directly across Highway 17 from Brookgreen Gardens, which makes pairing the two into a single day trip a practical, commonly recommended combination for visitors staying at Surfside Beach -- gardens and sculpture in the morning, beach, trail, and wildlife viewing in the afternoon, without a long additional drive between the two.

Getting Around by Golf Cart

Because the Town of Surfside Beach updated its golf cart ordinance in 2025 to allow 24-hour operation for carts equipped with permanent lighting, touring the town's own low-rise streets and beach accesses by golf cart is a genuine, legally supported activity in itself for visitors renting or bringing a cart, not just a way to get to another destination. Carts are limited to roads posted at 35 mph or less and generally to a roughly four-mile range from the operator's residence or rental, and a licensed driver at least 16 years old is required -- real, specific rules rather than an informal local custom, and worth knowing before assuming cart use is unrestricted.

Golf carts remain barred from the beach itself, so a cart tour pairs naturally with parking near a public beach access point and walking the rest of the way onto the sand -- a small but genuinely useful logistics detail for a first-time visitor unfamiliar with the town's specific rules.

A Short Drive North: Myrtle Beach for a Change of Pace

For visitors wanting a busier, more amusement-oriented day, Myrtle Beach's boardwalk, larger attractions, and entertainment district sit a short drive north of Surfside Beach along Highway 17 -- a genuinely useful contrast option precisely because Surfside Beach's own zoning and ordinances keep its in-town offerings deliberately smaller and quieter. This page does not attempt to catalog Myrtle Beach's own attractions in detail, since that's outside Surfside Beach's own scope, but the short regional drive is worth knowing about for anyone staying at Surfside Beach specifically for its quieter character but wanting occasional access to a bigger night out or larger-scale entertainment.