Beaufort, Charleston, Georgetown, Myrtle Beach - things to see

We'll be in South Carolina over the next couple of weeks working our way up the coast. Some planned stops are in Beaufort, Charleston, Georgetown, and Myrtle Beach. We are looking forward to seeing all of these towns and have been thoroughly enjoying Georgia as well over the past few days. Cumberland Island, and Savannah were a couple of very nice stops!


The bikes are back on the boat. Engine room checks are done. Assuming the weather cooperates, we should drop our lines tomorrow in Savannah and be in South Carolina by the end of the day, unless some north Georgia anchorage gets our attention along the way.



If anyone has any suggestions or "must see" places in South Carolina, we sure welcome your thoughts. There simply isn't time to see it all, so figuring out the best stops is an ongoing challenge.


Hopefully the old Cummins 6BTAs will keep rumbling along as we work our way north.

I can respond later tonight once kids are in bed.

For starters. Myrtle Beach isn’t great but there are still tons to do and it’ll be worth it.

Here is our anchorage last month near Cumberland island. We spent 2 nights there.

Ill be back later with more info.

Steve91T said:

I can respond later tonight once kids are in bed.

For starters. Myrtle Beach isn’t great but there are still tons to do and it’ll be worth it.

Here is our anchorage last month near Cumberland island. We spent 2 nights there.

Ill be back later with more info.

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Steve, I am trying to work out exactly where in the CI anchorage that is, but can't? Where were you?

For us, one "must go to" stop is the Waccamaw River and its tributaries (our favorite was anchoring up Bull CreeK) thence exploring around in the dinghy. In our opinion, it is the most beautiful area on the entire ICW, and we'd stay at least two or three nights.

Myrtle Beach never held any charm for us, having driven through there by car. Charleston is of course charming with lots to do, but again, we'd been there by car a few times. We anchored on either side of the Charleston Metro in lovely Church Creek to the south, and the assortment of anchorages involving Dewey's Creek to the north.

A fun stop north of Charleston is McClellanville. Tie up and fuel up at Leland fuel dock/marina and walk/bike through the lovely village to eat at TW Graham's for some of the best low country cooking anywhere. Hopefully they will be open.

Georgetown and Beaufort are both lovely towns to stroll or bike through with good eateries. We'd always anchor off Beaufort; they had a good dinghy dock. Now there are moorings but those came after our time and so no direct experience with them. We liked the very friendly Georgetown Landing marina, which makes for a nice walk or bike ride through town to the main waterfront.

Not sure where you are now in Georgia, but there are still a whole bunch of great semi-wilderness anchorages despite their stupid anchoring law, which doesn't seem to be enforced at this point as long as you follow the "spirit" of it.

I am from Savannah. Beaufort is a nice little town and if you stay at Downtown marine you can do all the sights on foot in a day or two. Historic Charleston will me more of Savannah but not as spread out. I wouldn't even slow down when you go by Myrtle Beach unless you play golf.

Thanks for the replies, folks. I appreciate the insight. We really have enjoyed this part of the trip. I would say since leaving the keys, and working our way north through FL, then GA, and just today we hit SC; we have just really enjoyed ourselves. St. Augustine, Savannah, and Cumberland Island were all fantastic.
Caltexflanc, funny you should mention Bull Creek. We actually had our eyes on anchoring there today, and then exploring Daufuskie Island a little bit. We were dodging some light thunderstorms as we came through, and it just seemed too early in the day to stop, so we motored on by and ended up in Beaufort by mid-afternoon. We'll have to stop in Bull Creek on our way back through. Even in a very dreary, gray day, that area looked very appealing to me.

I'm just starting to research Charleston and Georgetown, so I appreciate the information above and obviously welcome more. Myrtle Beach is still on my mind, but it does not sound like the best part of the state based on the responses here.

Keep the info coming if anyone has anything to add. It is all appreciated!
Steve91T, we also really enjoyed Cumberland Island. We anchored there for 2 nights and loved every minute of exploring that area.

We stayed at Osprey Marina a few times; says it's in Myrtle Beach, but it's not really (Socastee). And you can't really get to the town without a car or an Uber or whatever... We did go into town in a rental car once, and we found it's just a long stretch of hotels with beaches on the ocean side. Didn't ring our chimes.

OTOH, we stayed a couple months in Charleston one year, great place.

We do like Georgetown very much; we've stayed at the Harborwalk a few times, easy access to downtown.

If you're coming further north, Southport is worth a look. First time we stayed at Southport Marina and could walk into town. These last times, we stayed at South Harbor Village... which we liked more as a marina... but then it needs transport to get into town. Then Beaufort, Oriental, etc...

-Chris

menzies said:

Steve, I am trying to work out exactly where in the CI anchorage that is, but can't? Where were you?

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Right here. Number 60. Not exactly Cumberland island but it was across from it.

Caltexflanc, funny you should mention Bull Creek.

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I should have clarified myself. I was referring to Bull Creek off the Waccamaw River between Georgetown and Myrtle Beach. Beautiful and peaceful. We liked anchoring in the bend a little farther in, where a bluff is shown on the chart on the south side, but you can
anchor in the straight before that quite nicely. Both are quite protected.

An alternative if you are not into anchoring, but want to explore the Waccamaw area, is either the Bucksport or Wacca Wache marinas. Osprey is a great place to fuel up and grab a nice lunch, but is on the far fringe of the fun area to explore by dinghy. The Waterway Guide is friend on that front.

Enjoy Beaufort!

You are asking what to see in these cities. Charleston is consistently rated as one of the most desirable cities to visit in the US and the world. In a non covid year, well over 7 million tourists visit each year. All you need to know is at:

https://www.charlestoncvb.com/

Church Creek is about 20 miles south of Charleston. Anchorage is protected from waves, wide, not too deep, good holding. This is an easy days travel from Beaufort, SC.

Awendaw Creek is about 20 miles north of Charleston. Same characteristics. Easy day's travel from Church Creek.

Study up on tides before you go though McClellanville....

Harborwalk Marina is our preferred stop in Georgetown. Proximate to downtown to the extent you are looking for restaurants/retail. Fuel price there today is $1.72. That includes the BoatUS discount.

Osprey has fuel at $1.42 including BoatUS discount. The marina is tired and in the middle of nowhere. Stop for fuel but I would not stay. Nearby Enterprise Passage is a great anchorage.

Ditto Coastal Cruiser on Church Creek,which I mentioned here in one of my posts. Near Awendaw, we preferred the Dewey's Creek side and tributaries as you find protection for any prevailing conditions, along with solitude. But both are good.
The USACE just finished dredging the creek into McClellanville; it is home to sizable fishing and shrimping fleet.

Here is one of the surveys from November of the adjacent ICW. Never hurts to play the tide anyway between there and the Ben Sawyer bridge

https://ehydro.blob.core.windows.net/ehydro-surveys-pdf/CESAC/AW_04_WBC_20191119_AD_06.PDF

You can find all the Charleston district surveys here:

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/4b8f2ba307684cf597617bf1b6d2f85d

caltexflanc said:

I should have clarified myself. I was referring to Bull Creek off the Waccamaw River between Georgetown and Myrtle Beach. Beautiful and peaceful. We liked anchoring in the bend a little farther in, where a bluff is shown on the chart on the south side, but you can
anchor in the straight before that quite nicely. Both are quite protected.
.....
Enjoy Beaufort!

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Even better.... because that particular Bull Creek is still up ahead of us.



We are anchored tonight in Steamboat Springs, south of Charleston. We did enjoy Beaufort. We walked around a lot and enjoyed a nice dinner out. We opted to just stay one night and will be in Charleston (if all goes well) tomorrow sometime. We are thinking Georgetown will be a quicker visit than Charleston, but we want to hit them both.


Ranger42, you are right. Beyond SC destinations, the NC towns you mentioned are also in our sights. Looking forward to all of them. I'm hoping NC will continue "opening" up. So far, the COVID closures have not impacted us at all. We are enjoying every minute of it. In Charleston, though, I think the City Market will be closed, and we were hoping to see that. Oh well, so many other things to do!


Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts. All are welcome, so please chime in if you have more to add.

caltexflanc said:

For us, one "must go to" stop is the Waccamaw River and its tributaries (our favorite was anchoring up Bull CreeK) thence exploring around in the dinghy. In our opinion, it is the most beautiful area on the entire ICW, and we'd stay at least two or three nights.

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Could not agree more. Feels downright prehistoric in the best way.

Georgetown sc

AZ2Loop said:

We'll be in South Carolina over the next couple of weeks working our way up the coast. Some planned stops are in Beaufort, Charleston, Georgetown, and Myrtle Beach. We are looking forward to seeing all of these towns and have been thoroughly enjoying Georgia as well over the past few days. Cumberland Island, and Savannah were a couple of very nice stops!


The bikes are back on the boat. Engine room checks are done. Assuming the weather cooperates, we should drop our lines tomorrow in Savannah and be in South Carolina by the end of the day, unless some north Georgia anchorage gets our attention along the way.



If anyone has any suggestions or "must see" places in South Carolina, we sure welcome your thoughts. There simply isn't time to see it all, so figuring out the best stops is an ongoing challenge.


Hopefully the old Cummins 6BTAs will keep rumbling along as we work our way north.

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I live in Georgetown, it's a great place. All restaurants and bars are open. Stores are open. Harborwalk marina is 1.85 per gallon. There is no boat us discount on fuel at any marina here. Anchoring is a little tough. I also have a slip for rent on the boardwalk. It's a fixed dock, includes water and electric. Rates are 45 per day, 165 per week and 500 per month

1) as you exit Wappo creek into the harbor, it’s 15 sm to Dewee’s inlet with anchorages on both side. The east side has more wind protection. Both quite deep. Usual sand/mud. It’s 22sm to Price Inlet, another Anchorage on the east side. It’s 35 sm to Awendaw creek (deep and wide but no wind protection.
These all suit a 50 ft boat that draws 5 ft.
2) Charleston- folks stay for entire seasons so pick and choose what interests you.
3) McClellanville small and friendly. Cheap fuel. Great local shrimp.
4) Georgetown- more history. With Beaufort/Port Royal and Charleston, The 3 colonial towns.
5) SLOW CRUISE THE WACCAMAW or stop.
6) Myrtle Beach- hey it’s Myrtle Beach but can stay at the Landing and check out many restaurants and shops.
7) then off to Southport/Bald Head....

Little dougie said:

I live in Georgetown, it's a great place. All restaurants and bars are open. Stores are open. Harborwalk marina is 1.85 per gallon. There is no boat us discount on fuel at any marina here. Anchoring is a little tough. I also have a slip for rent on the boardwalk. It's a fixed dock, includes water and electric. Rates are 45 per day, 165 per week and 500 per month

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Thank you for the info. You have a fantastic town! We enjoyed the heck out of Georgetown. I do not know of a small town along the ICW that makes a better effort to make it easy to visit. From the free town docks; to the boardwalk; to the absolutely gorgeous wide, tree-lined streets with colonial era homes; several little restaurants; and we did find plenty of room for anchoring over by the steel mill in a reasonably protected area. We just loved it and will likely stop next time through to visit again.
BTW, dougie, if I would have seen your post before we came through I would have definitely tried to rent your slip for a few days. That was my loss.

The only thing I would change is I would have preferred Tropical Storm Bertha to have not formed and to have not come ashore right on top of us without warning. That was fun. When we went to bed that night, nobody expected it or was predicting it. By morning, it had formed just a few miles away and would make landfall right on top of us. Hitting in the daylight made it a lot easier to deal with as we had to reset our anchor, and we did certainly appreciate that. Thankfully the top gusts were around 50MPH and sustained winds were just in the 30's so we did just fine. I guess it's good to have our first little TS behind us, and it was not too bad.

On to North Carolina

Stickman said:

1) as you exit Wappo creek into the harbor, it’s 15 sm to Dewee’s inlet with anchorages on both side. The east side has more wind protection. Both quite deep. Usual sand/mud. It’s 22sm to Price Inlet, another Anchorage on the east side. It’s 35 sm to Awendaw creek (deep and wide but no wind protection.
These all suit a 50 ft boat that draws 5 ft.
2) Charleston- folks stay for entire seasons so pick and choose what interests you.
3) McClellanville small and friendly. Cheap fuel. Great local shrimp.
4) Georgetown- more history. With Beaufort/Port Royal and Charleston, The 3 colonial towns.
5) SLOW CRUISE THE WACCAMAW or stop.
6) Myrtle Beach- hey it’s Myrtle Beach but can stay at the Landing and check out many restaurants and shops.
7) then off to Southport/Bald Head....

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Thanks, Stickman. You are right on target. Your point #7: Bald Head Island is next. We should use our bikes there to see the island. Since Southport is right across the river, I am not sure if we will stop there as well, or keep moving north. It does seem like a nice town so kind of hate to miss it. North of there, we have no plans but are researching it now and look forward to every mile (well, most of them).

To your other points: Dewee's inlet area looked nice. Our timing was such that we did not stop. We anchored across from McClellanville at Five Fathoms and had a good night. Georgetown was excellent! Small town, and really enjoyable. Same for Beaufort, SC. Charlestown was good. We must have put 75 miles on our bikes in Charlestown just meandering through the history there. We did slow cruise the Waccamaw. Although it was the day after TS Bertha and some flooding, so we called it the Whack-A-Tree river with all of the floating debris. There are a lot of nice anchorages through there, though. Minus the flooding, we would have enjoyed it more.
We are in Myrtle Beach area now for a few days. We are outside of the primary tourist area, yet can easily bike over to a nice part of the beach. We did bike down to the main touristy area yesterday AM to look around, but will enjoy other parts of the community more, I think.
Great info from all of you.... thanks! Please keep it coming as we head north of Myrtle Beach.

BTW, has anyone here ever stopped at Bird Island, right on the NC/SC state borders? It is an anchorage right by the Little River Inlet that sounds appealing to us. Any experience there?

Bird island has some tricky sand bars and lots of small boat traffic on weekends.....but lots of transients like it.

My email is sailordoug@gmail.com

psneeld said:

Bird island has some tricky sand bars and lots of small boat traffic on weekends.....but lots of transients like it.

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Thank you! Our timing will be such that we'll be there on a weekend it looks like, so I think your mention of small boat traffic will be part of our experience. I'm sure we'll rock and roll a l lot due to that, but it sounds like a good stop before heading to Bald Head Island. Thanks also for the mention of the sand bars. It does sound like the entrance can be tricky, so we'll see if we can get in....... and get out without grounding.

Looking more at Southport, about 30 miles farther, I'd love to anchor there and dinghy in and spend a day or so in town. It does not look like there are many places to anchor around Southport. We may need a marina there if we want to go there.

We anchored near Bird Island once, after getting some advice from the Little River TowBoatUS folks. I would anticipate that the bottom changes a lot there, so you want contemporary knowledge. Also be confident in your ability to swing with the current. The anchorage in Calabash Creek is more protected.

Bald Head has great beaches and has good biking since there are no cars allowed, just bikes and golf carts. Other than that it is a fairly modern resort with not much else of interest. We've been there both by boat (once) and via ferry to stay with friends many times. If we had to choose, we'd pick Southport, a very pretty old town with lots more dining and shopping options, and services. The Southport Marina is excellent.

We liked going out Little River and back in at the Cape Fear, weather permitting, as the stretch of the ICW twixt Myrtle and Southport is one of the dullest on the whole east coast, plus a lot more traffic. The crossings at Shallotte and Lockwood's Folly inlets can be problematic, check the LNM's and get local knowledge if you go that way.

Given the towns you enjoyed, the best option is to go up to Wilmington and spend a few days there. Beautiful town and lots of cool things to do. If it has re-opened, The Battleship North Carolina is fantastic, worth the bother of getting a cab or Lyft ride to see. We enjoy ship museums and in our opinion this is easily the best in the country. Give yourself a lot of time to enjoy it, like a whole morning or afternoon.

You are in for another dull ICW trip between Wrightsville Beach and Morehead City. After doing it a couple times, we opted to use Masonboro and Beaufort inlets. Once you get up here, let us know.

I guess we simul-posted. There really aren't practical anchorage choices at Southport, especially if you want to see the town. You used to be able to anchor in Dutchman Creek but I am not sure if that's the case anymore. If you are avid bikers, another alternative is anchor at Wrightsville Beach, in Banks channel just below the bridge. Can get crowded this time of year, but well protected and great access to Masonboro Inlet. Otherwise there are a number of places to transient slip around there.

AZ2Loop said:

Looking more at Southport, about 30 miles farther, I'd love to anchor there and dinghy in and spend a day or so in town. It does not look like there are many places to anchor around Southport. We may need a marina there if we want to go there.

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One year we stayed at Southport Marina for a few days, and it's an easy walk to the downtown area, easy bicycling to stores further up the main drag...

When we were coming north in March, Bald Head had just been closed. I'd assume it's a bit more open, now...

Wrightsville Beach has been pleasant during normal times; not sure what it'd be like just now. If you stay at Bridgetender's Marina it's an easy enough walk to the grocery just a few blocks west, even easier bicycle ride. I forget the brand of grocery... but it's a big one, nice...

There's an anchorage area in between the ICW area and the beach area; friends stayed there once and said it was pleasant. Not near much of anything for supplies, though...

-Chris

Little dougie said:

I live in Georgetown, it's a great place. All restaurants and bars are open. Stores are open. Harborwalk marina is 1.85 per gallon. There is no boat us discount on fuel at any marina here. Anchoring is a little tough. I also have a slip for rent on the boardwalk. It's a fixed dock, includes water and electric. Rates are 45 per day, 165 per week and 500 per month

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How do we reach you when coming up towards Georgetown?

Charleston: Halls

The best restaurant in Charleston is Halls. Stay at the Megadock. Make a reservation and catch a ride somehow. The steaks are divine. Try the bone in filet. Our favorite stop when in town. You can eat inside on real plates and silverware. A treat today.

Our friends were at Bald Head last weekend. Back almost to normal with now-standard precautions at restaurants and stores, though they didn't eat out other than the cafe at the grocery store which is a good place for breakfast. Call the harbormaster who will fill you in if you ask, they are very friendly.

sailordoug@gmail.com or 843-359-4388

I cannot tell you guys how much I appreciate the great info shared on this thread.
We are enjoying the anchorage at Bird Island quite a bit. You were spot on with the entrance, but with some reasonable attention paid keeping G7 to stern and the water tower on the bow it worked great. We have had room to swing with the current so far so it has been mostly worry free. Hopefully exiting will be uneventful as well. We've been here a couple of nights and will likely stay 1 or 2 more. The sand bar and walking the beach at Bird Island has been nice. We have had some windy hours here and some pretty good downpours, but not bad. More of each today, likely, but intermittent. It's a nice spot if you like walking an undeveloped beach.

caltexflanc said:

Our friends were at Bald Head last weekend. Back almost to normal with now-standard precautions at restaurants and stores, though they didn't eat out other than the cafe at the grocery store which is a good place for breakfast. Call the harbormaster who will fill you in if you ask, they are very friendly.

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That is next up for us, caltexflanc. We'll be there (BHI) Monday if all goes as planned. Thanks for the update.