North Myrtle Beach didn't start as one town; it was five separate beach communities, Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, Windy Hill, and Main Street, that merged into a single incorporated city in 1968 and still carry those names as neighborhoods.
That history shows up in the layout: a longer stretch of coastline than a typical single beach town, with hotel and rental stock spread across what used to be five distinct communities rather than concentrated around one center.
Barefoot Landing anchors the entertainment and dining side, an outdoor retail and restaurant complex on the Intracoastal Waterway that includes House of Blues, giving North Myrtle Beach its own off-site and hospitality draw separate from MBCC further south.
Execution priorities
- Treat North Myrtle Beach as a distinct hotel corridor from MBCC's Convention District, roughly 15-20 minutes north via Highway 17.
- Use Barefoot Landing for an off-site dinner, reception, or evening activity separate from the day's meeting or exhibit venue.
- Confirm which former community, Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Windy Hill, and so on, a hotel or rental sits in, since drive times and amenities vary across the merged city.
Five communities, one city
North Myrtle Beach's 1968 merger of Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, Windy Hill, and Main Street created a single incorporated city, but each former community still functions as a distinct neighborhood with its own character and hotel mix.
Ocean Drive, for instance, carries the shag-dance and beach-music heritage central to the area's cultural identity, while Cherry Grove sits closer to Little River and the state line.
Barefoot Landing and off-site options
Barefoot Landing sits along the Intracoastal Waterway and combines outdoor retail, restaurants, and entertainment venues including House of Blues, giving planners a self-contained off-site stop without a long transfer.
It works well as an evening reception or dinner-and-show combination for a program based at a North Myrtle Beach hotel, similar in role to the MarshWalk further south but centered on retail and live entertainment rather than a fishing-village waterfront.
A separate hotel corridor from MBCC
North Myrtle Beach carries its own hotel and resort inventory, independent of the Convention District hotel row near MBCC, roughly 15-20 minutes south via Highway 17.
That makes it a real lodging alternative for a program based at MBCC when Convention District rooms are tight, or a self-contained base for a smaller meeting that doesn't need MBCC's hall space at all.
What North Myrtle Beach doesn't have
There's no exhibit hall here comparable to MBCC's column-free hall and dock access. A program needing true exhibit-floor space still has to anchor at MBCC, using North Myrtle Beach purely as a lodging or off-site option.
Freight for an MBCC-based show shouldn't route through North Myrtle Beach; it adds distance without gaining anything, since the venue's own dock schedule governs load-in regardless of where a crew is lodged.
Ocean Drive and the shag heritage
The Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach is widely credited as the birthplace of the shag, the partner dance later named South Carolina's official state dance, and the neighborhood still hosts beach-music events tied to that history.
That heritage gives North Myrtle Beach a cultural identity distinct from the golf-tourism framing of the South Strand or the exhibit-hall framing of MBCC's Convention District, worth knowing if a program wants to build a local flavor into an off-site evening.
Hotel room blocks across North Myrtle Beach's various neighborhoods typically need to be confirmed several weeks ahead during summer peak season, since the city's own tourism demand competes directly with any group business for the same inventory.
Frequently asked questions
Is North Myrtle Beach part of Myrtle Beach?
No, it's a separate incorporated city, formed in 1968 from the merger of five beach communities: Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, Windy Hill, and Main Street.
What is Barefoot Landing?
An outdoor retail, dining, and entertainment complex on the Intracoastal Waterway in North Myrtle Beach, home to venues including House of Blues. It works well as an off-site dinner or reception stop.
How far is North Myrtle Beach from MBCC?
Roughly 15-20 minutes south via Highway 17, close enough to serve as a real lodging alternative for programs based at the Convention Center.
Does North Myrtle Beach have its own exhibit hall?
No comparable space to MBCC's hall. Exhibit-floor programs still need to anchor at MBCC, with North Myrtle Beach used for lodging or off-site events.
Do drive times vary within North Myrtle Beach?
Yes, since the city merges five former communities. Confirm which neighborhood, Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Windy Hill, or another, a hotel sits in before estimating drive time to MBCC or Barefoot Landing.