# Myrtle Beach Sand...



## sungandjudy (Aug 1, 2011)

Hello all,
After 16 hrs or driving (2 full days on the roads) we are finally at SBP.
The resort is wonderful and kids are having a great time. 
We went to Myrtle Beach because, after all, why would you be here if you don't plan to visit sands? 
However, I must say that I am a bit disappointed with the quality of sands, especially once you go into the water. 
They are hard, sharp and almost like glass - this seems because of all those broken shells. My youngest son actually got a cut... 
Is this normal? Are they due for rebuilding?

Peter


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## shagnut (Aug 1, 2011)

Peter, are you talking about the beach quality or the Sands resort. MB has a lot of broken shells and I always recommend wearing water shoes. Hope they still have Ocean Annies, it's a great beach bar.   shaggy


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## Bearvet (Aug 2, 2011)

We spent a day at Huntington State Park and it was the nicest beach - smooth sand both on land and in the water, fairly clear water (and warm too). Not too many shells.  It was my favorite beach!

There are also nature trails and a place to view wildlife and alligators. There are ranger-led talks/activities there too which looked great but my teen boys weren't interested   . It's just south of MB and worth a full day there.


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## sungandjudy (Aug 2, 2011)

shagnut said:


> Peter, are you talking about the beach quality or the Sands resort. MB has a lot of broken shells and I always recommend wearing water shoes. Hope they still have Ocean Annies, it's a great beach bar.   shaggy



I am talking about quality of beach itself. I think it's actually worse then Ocean City Beach on Jersey Shore! I actually saw some people going in barefoot into the water and I don't know how they do it. It's too painful even for me to go in and I wouldn't want my kids to go in either....


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## sungandjudy (Aug 2, 2011)

Bearvet said:


> We spent a day at Huntington State Park and it was the nicest beach - smooth sand both on land and in the water, fairly clear water (and warm too). Not too many shells.  It was my favorite beach!
> 
> There are also nature trails and a place to view wildlife and alligators. There are ranger-led talks/activities there too which looked great but my teen boys weren't interested   . It's just south of MB and worth a full day there.



Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely look into this...


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## shagnut (Aug 2, 2011)

You'll be fine with water shoes!!!
shaggy


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## DeniseM (Aug 2, 2011)

shagnut said:


> Peter, are you talking about the beach quality or the Sands resort.



I believe Peter had a typo in his title - I removed the "s" from sand, for clarity.


> Is this normal? Are they due for rebuilding?



Is this a man-made beach?  Most beaches are built by Mother Nature.


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## shagnut (Aug 2, 2011)

There are no man made beaches that I know of in SC.  shaggy


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## mbeach89 (Aug 2, 2011)

The beach at Marriott Oceanwatch was fine while we visited in June.  To our disappointment, there seemed to be a lot FEWER shells as compared to last year.  Maybe it's just luck (or unluck) of the draw where the shells are located.

**But when you walk down the beach, you can find "pockets" of broken shells.  Why the heck are they all broken anyhow?


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## Lisa P (Aug 2, 2011)

This is one reason that we prefer North Myrtle Beach, to Myrtle Beach - besides NMB being more newly developed and less crowded.  In North Myrtle, the beach is flatter, wider and the sand is generally finer.  Hilton Head has finer sand still but it's more densely packed and flat.  Edisto (where we're headed soon) apparently has more broken seashell material so we're already planning to wear flip-flops or old sneakers out there.  Since we tend to walk on the beach more than swim or play in the sand, it doesn't matter as much to us, whether the sand is fine or coarse but I don't care for sharp-edged, pebbly or broken shell-strewn beaches if we're bringing children.  Hope you enjoy your stay anyhow!

Btw, to the poster who mentioned manmade vs. natural beaches... even natural beaches are sometimes in need of refurbishing after a bad storm season washes away or erodes much of the best of the sand.  Local districts refurbish their most popular beachfront by pumping sand from the ocean floor just offshore and redistributing it onto the beach.  FYI.


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## sungandjudy (Aug 3, 2011)

shagnut said:


> You'll be fine with water shoes!!!
> shaggy



We usually bring them but kids never wear them. Usually, the sands are fine enough that I don't mind them not wearing it. Well, guess what? We decided not to bring them this time - I should have known that this would happen, huh? 
Tomorrow, we are planning to visit Huntington Beach State Park. I hope they are better there.


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## sungandjudy (Aug 3, 2011)

Lisa P said:


> This is one reason that we prefer North Myrtle Beach, to Myrtle Beach - besides NMB being more newly developed and less crowded.  In North Myrtle, the beach is flatter, wider and the sand is generally finer.  Hilton Head has finer sand still but it's more densely packed and flat.  Edisto (where we're headed soon) apparently has more broken seashell material so we're already planning to wear flip-flops or old sneakers out there.  Since we tend to walk on the beach more than swim or play in the sand, it doesn't matter as much to us, whether the sand is fine or coarse but I don't care for sharp-edged, pebbly or broken shell-strewn beaches if we're bringing children.  Hope you enjoy your stay anyhow!
> 
> Btw, to the poster who mentioned manmade vs. natural beaches... even natural beaches are sometimes in need of refurbishing after a bad storm season washes away or erodes much of the best of the sand.  Local districts refurbish their most popular beachfront by pumping sand from the ocean floor just offshore and redistributing it onto the beach.  FYI.



Thanks for the info. We might try North Myrtle beach as well if we have time. I love walking in ankle deep water with fine sand and Myrtle beach was a bit disappointment. Even building a sand castle was more difficult because of more grainer sand. 

When I was researching the sand quality at Myrtle Beach, they were saying something about refurbishing some parts of beach because of erosion. I thought that we are here on pre-refurbish time or something, but judging from previous posts, it's not.....


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## pedro47 (Aug 3, 2011)

I believe your children will enjoy the resort more than the beach.


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## DavidnJudy (Aug 3, 2011)

We LOVE the beach at Myrtle beach. Ocean City and VB do not even compare. Wide, great sand, warm water. We stay at Sands Beach Club every year (three hotels down from Ocean Annies - fun place but wouldn't want to stay at Sands Ocean club - to wild at night with little kids, but Sands Beach Club is a hidden gem  )

I wouldn't trade MB for OC or VB but maybe I am partial.  I like getting into nice water in June instead of Ice cold water.  I love being able to walk out in the waves without getting crushed. And I never wear those goofy water shoes - I love the sand and water on my feet.  Never had a problem with shells.  Maybe our place is just in the perfect location 

Yeah MB rocks!


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## strandlover (Aug 3, 2011)

*Ditto!*



DavidnJudy said:


> Never had a problem with shells.  Maybe our place is just in the perfect location
> 
> Yeah MB rocks!



Totally agree.  Certainly, the tides bring in all sorts of surprises, but that's understandable and brief.

The sand in the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach is like powder, I seem to recall.  Where we usually stay, Surfside Beach and Garden City Beach, it's absolutely gorgeous.

We are hearing great things about Huntingdon Beach State Park and we will try our best to get there!


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## sungandjudy (Aug 3, 2011)

Hello guys,

Today, we went to Huntington Beach State Park as per Tugger's recommendation. It was fabulous! The sand was fine and soft and water was just perfect! Kids enjoyed the sand and water all day and even my wife, who can't stand cold water, had no problem jumping into water. We will definitely go back there again. The place even had washroom and shower area to clean yourself before leaving the park. I definitely recommend this place if you are in this area. If the North Myrtle beach is like this, I will definitely visit there as well.:whoopie: 
Just to clarify, the place we went first at Myrtle Beach was 31st, north part of hotel strip. May be if you go more south, where the boardwalk is, it is better. 

pedro47 - you are right of course. They actually prefer resort pool, lazy river and water park area. They told me that they rather spend the whole day there rather then the beach. But we are from Ontario, Canada and we don't have any real salt water beach and I am determined to let the kids experience them.  
I grew up close to 'real' beach and I miss them greatly.


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## Bearvet (Aug 5, 2011)

I'm so glad you liked Huntington! After I posted I was concerned that maybe we just hit it on a perfect day or something. We were there mid-July and spent most of the day in the water.

We stayed in Surfside Beach and it seemed some days there were more shells than others - depending on tide, storms. etc. Our last day there the waves didn't seem too bad but I got knocked over twice - ending up with scrapes on my shins from the shells, so water shoes would not have helped....


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## pedro47 (Aug 5, 2011)

I am so happy everyone are enjoying themselves.

We loved to play putt-putt in the evening after the sun have set and then just sit around pool watching the children enjoy themselves in the pool and lazy river.


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