Set Sail on a Sightseeing Adventure!
Summer’s coming, so get off the beach!
No, really, I mean it. You’ve got plenty of time to lay on the sand or toss a Frisbee. While you’re here, Myrtle Beach offers tons of opportunities for fun out on the water, where all you have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy.
Great American Riverboat Company operates out of the Waccatee Zoo and offers multiple sightseeing cruises along the Intracoastal Waterway, including sunset cruises, moonlight cruises, dinner cruises and even a “ghost & pirate story cruise” that includes games and face painting for the kids. If you’re looking for something a bit more action-packed, Great American’s new Barracuda Jet Boat is a New Zealand-style water rocket that seats 12 passengers and offers plenty of high-speed thrills.
Prices for all Great American attractions range from $16-$36 for adults, and $8-$9 for kids except for the dinner cruise ($26 for kids 12 and under); kids 2 and under are free for the sightseeing, sunset and ghost & pirate story cruises. For more information, visit their Web site or call 843-650-6600.
The Sea Screamer out of Little River offers two rides in one during its two-hour cruise. First, the narrated cruise along the Intracoastal takes you through pristine scenery along Little River and Calabash. Once in the Atlantic, scores of dolphins, sea turtles and other water creatures are waiting to greet you, just before the boat captain cranks it up and whips you along the ocean shoreline of North Myrtle Beach.
It’s been a few years since we’ve gone out on the Screamer, but for $20 ($15 for kids 3-12, and free for kids 2 and under) you definitely get your money’s worth. Dolphins aplenty, I can assure you, both following the boat in motion and creeping closer while it’s stopped.
Their summer cruise schedule (June 15-Sept. 1) has four daily departures – 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and sunset. For all other days, call ahead for their schedule (843-249-0870). Tickets go on sale at the dock about 30 minutes prior to each departure, and be sure to get there early enough as the boat fills up on a first-come, first-served basis.
Can’t get enough of the dolphins? Then try the Hurricane Fleet out of nearby Calabash, N.C. Prices of their dolphin adventure cruises are comparable to the Screamer ($21 for adults; $18 for kids 11 and under), but the Hurricane Fleet offers a different perspective by pulling up right alongside a working shrimp boat. You not only get an education about the shrimping industry, you get an up-close glimpse of the porpoises and sharks feeding off the “by-catches” from the other boat’s shrimping nets. They also spread out the live catch of shrimp, crabs, sand dollars, sea urchins, star fish and other marine life for you to see at close range.
If the shrimping gets you hankering for hauling in your own catch, the Hurricane Fleet offers a variety of deep sea fishing cruises with bait, tackle and rod & reel all provided. For more information, call the Hurricane Fleet at 843-249-3571.
Down the south end, Rover Tours out of Georgetown gives you the choice of pirate adventures aboard the tall ship “Jolly Rover”; shelling and lighthouse excursions aboard the motor vessel “Carolina Rover”; or a romantic sunset sail with your significant other. Pirate cruises are $24/$12 for kids under 12, while the three-hour shelling tour runs $28/$18. Call 843-546-8822 for reservations and sail times.
Why go out on a boat, when you can see fish that big at Broadway at the Beach ;-)
The high speed boat rides are a heck of an adrenalin rush. Do it if you get the chance.
Don't take the Georgetown Rover Tours, especially the Carolina Rover shelling and lighthouse excursion. It's a $28 ripoff; they take you out even at high tide when they know you won't find anything, you don't actually go to the lighthouse (you sail past it and never stop), our "on-board naturalist" didn't appear to know a buzzard from a blue-footed booby, the allegedly "clean and modern restroom" was essentially an outhouse. Don't do it.
