Drive north on Sea Mountain Highway toward the Cherry Grove marshes and you pass a low building with a dark red hip roof and a white porch rail wrapped around the whole front. Locals have watched that corner change hands more than once. It was Basil’s Pizza. It was the Twisted Penguin. For a stretch it sat quiet, the way beach buildings do between chapters. Then The Grove House opened, and this stretch of North Myrtle Beach got loud again.

It is not quiet now. The Grove House opened in that building in the summer of 2026, and within a few months it had collected close to a hundred Google reviews averaging 4.8 stars, a Facebook following in the thousands, and the particular kind of word-of-mouth that spreads fastest in a beach town — the kind that happens when somebody on a rental porch says you have to try the pizza up the road.

The sign out front says it in three lines: Good Food. Good Times. The Grove Life. The tagline on the logo says it shorter — Where the Beach Eats. Neither is marketing language so much as a description of what actually happens there at six on a July evening, when the porch tables fill up, the fryer is going nonstop, and an eighteen-inch Margherita comes out on a stand that barely fits between the salt shakers.

Here’s what’s on the menu, what the room feels like, and how to work a stop at The Grove House into a Cherry Grove beach week.

Video Tour: Inside The Grove House in North Myrtle Beach

Before the details, here’s a quick look at the building, the porch, and the food coming out of the kitchen — the pizzas, the wings, the baskets, and the tacos, all shot at the restaurant itself.

The Grove House North Myrtle Beach — 219 Sea Mountain Hwy, Cherry Grove

The Grove House at a Glance

If you only read one section before you go, read this one.

• Address: 219 Sea Mountain Highway, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582 — in the Cherry Grove section
• Phone: (843) 663-1811
• Hours: Open daily, 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM
• Online ordering: thegrovehousenmb.com
• Style: Casual coastal American — hand-tossed pizza, wings, burgers, subs, fried seafood baskets, salads
• Price range: Roughly $10–$20 per person
• Seating: Indoor dining room plus a covered front porch; takeout available
• Good to know: Prices on the menu reflect cash payment, and an 18% gratuity is added to parties of six or more

It is a come-as-you-are room. Nobody will look twice at flip-flops, damp hair, or a beach chair still in the back of the car.

The Corner Everyone in Cherry Grove Knows

Sea Mountain Highway is the spine of Cherry Grove. It carries you from Highway 17 down toward the ocean, past the marsh channels, the boat ramps, and the tidy grid of beach streets that ends at the sand. Almost everyone staying in a Cherry Grove Beach rental drives this road several times a day without thinking about it.

The Grove House sits on it at number 219, close enough to the water that you can be in a booth ten minutes after you fold up the umbrella. The building has good bones for a beach restaurant: wide windows on three sides, a wraparound porch behind white rail, parking in the rear, and a hip roof that catches the last of the light. When the sky over Cherry Grove does what it does on a good summer evening — that hard orange-and-violet burn that photographs better than it has any right to — this corner is one of the better places on the north end to be standing.

Regulars of the old Basil’s Pizza will recognize the layout immediately. What’s changed is everything inside it: new ownership, new menu, beach-bright paint, and a staff that most reviewers seem to end up naming individually.

The Pizza: Hand-Tossed and Eighteen Inches Across

Pizza is what The Grove House is getting known for, and it is worth understanding why. The pies are hand-tossed with a puffed, blistered rim — the kind of edge that comes off the peel with real char on it rather than an even golden ring. The largest size runs eighteen inches, which is genuinely large: on a four-top it takes up most of the table, and it is usually the thing you see photographed the most from this kitchen.

The Margherita

The Margherita is the one people come back for. Fresh mozzarella in soft pools rather than shredded, sliced tomato laid across the top, whole basil leaves scattered after the bake, and a balsamic drizzle finishing the whole thing in a slow spiral. It is a lighter pizza than the toppings-heavy pies beside it on the menu, and it eats well on a hot afternoon in a way that a loaded meat pizza doesn’t.

Everything Else Off the Pizza Oven

Beyond the Margherita you’ll find the full range of a proper beach-town pizza counter: straightforward cheese, pepperoni with the edges cupped and crisped, and loaded combination pies carrying green pepper, onion, black olive, mushroom and sausage right out to the rim. Slices are available too, which matters more than it sounds — it is the difference between a full sit-down dinner and a fast stop between the beach and the rental house.

If you are feeding a house full of people, pizza is also the most efficient order on this menu. Two eighteen-inch pies and a basket of wings will take care of a large family without much drama, and it travels the short distance back to a North Myrtle Beach oceanfront home perfectly well.

Beach Bites, Wings, and the Fryer Everyone Talks About

The appetizer section is called Beach Bites, and it is broader than most kitchens this size attempt.

Wings come in orders of six or twelve, served with housemade ranch or blue cheese, and the sauce list covers hot, mild, BBQ, Old Bay, sweet thai chili, garlic parmesan, or naked. The Old Bay and the sweet thai chili are the two that feel most at home on the Carolina coast. Reviewers consistently describe the wings as unusually large for the price.

Mozzarella sticks have their own quiet following — more than one visitor has written that they plan to come back for those alone — and arrive with marinara or the housemade ranch.

The rest of the Beach Bites list runs through fried pickles, a quesadilla you can build out with chicken, steak or shrimp, two housemade meatballs in red sauce, calamari flash-fried and served with marinara, coconut shrimp in sweet thai chili, classic cheese fries topped with crumbled bacon, and fish bites fried to order with remoulade. There is also seared ahi tuna over lettuce with a creamy ginger sauce, and blackened beef tips with horseradish sauce — two dishes you would not necessarily expect to find on the same board as a pepperoni pizza, which tells you something about the ambition in this kitchen.

One detail worth flagging for families: The Grove House runs a dedicated seafood fryer, kept separate from the rest, which matters a great deal if someone at your table has a shellfish allergy. Mention it when you order.

Handhelds, Baskets, and the Seafood Side of the Menu

The Handhelds section is where the menu shows its Grand Strand roots. The po’ boy comes fish or shrimp, fried golden and packed onto a hoagie with lettuce, tomato and remoulade — one of the sandwiches visitors mention most often. There’s a proper crab cake sandwich on a bun with remoulade, a Philly steak or chicken loaded with grilled peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheese, ham and turkey subs, a half-pound classic cheeseburger, and a mushroom swiss burger on the same half-pound patty.

The chicken side of the list is deeper than usual: grilled, fried or blackened chicken on a bun; a chicken caesar wrap; chicken parmesan with mozzarella and marinara; and a chicken caprese with mozzarella, roasted red peppers and balsamic glaze. Fish or shrimp tacos arrive grilled or fried under slaw, pico and remoulade. Handhelds come with fries, slaw or potato salad.

The Baskets are the full fried-seafood experience — shrimp, fish, flounder, chicken fingers, crab cake, or coconut shrimp, each served with fries and coleslaw and finished with hush puppies. Side dishes run from french fries and onion rings to mac and cheese, spaghetti, loaded potato salad and coleslaw, with Grove House potatoes and ziti listed as premium sides.

Salads are a real section rather than an afterthought: house, Greek with feta and banana peppers, caesar, and a caprese with fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil under balsamic and oil — any of which you can top with ahi tuna, chicken, shrimp, steak or salmon.

The Frisbee Trick: Why Kids Remember This Place

Here is the detail that turns a decent family dinner into a vacation memory: kids’ meals at The Grove House are served in a Grove House frisbee, and the frisbee goes home with the kid.

It is a small thing and a very smart one. A child who eats chicken fingers off a green frisbee stamped with a palm tree and the words Where the Beach Eats is going to throw that frisbee on the sand the next morning, and then the morning after that. The under-12 menu covers a cheese slice, fried shrimp, hand-breaded chicken fingers, mac and cheese, and spaghetti and meatball with a garlic knot — all served with fries.

Combine that with a room that is loud enough that nobody notices a toddler, a porch where kids can be kids, and a kitchen that turns food around fast, and you have one of the easier family dinners on the north end. Families staying in the quieter sections south of here — Crescent Beach and Windy Hill — will find it a short, easy drive up Ocean Boulevard.

The Room, the Porch, and the Sunset Out Front

Inside, the decor leans beach-bright: pale blue tables, a surfboard on the wall, neon in the window, ceiling fans turning over the dining room. Visitors describe it as clean, welcoming, and unfussy — the sort of room where an A-grade health inspection is posted by the door and the staff still stop by the table to ask how things are going.

The porch is where you want to sit when the weather cooperates. It runs the length of the front of the building behind the white rail, it catches whatever breeze is coming off the water, and it faces west toward the sunset. One honest caveat from a regular: because the porch sits close to Sea Mountain Highway, an occasional fly finds its way over on still evenings. On a breezy night it is one of the more pleasant outdoor tables in Cherry Grove.

Service is the thing reviewers write about almost as much as the food. The pattern in the reviews is consistent — servers and managers get named, food comes out in well under fifteen minutes even when the room fills, and the staff handle a rush without visible strain. For a restaurant only a few months old, that is not a small accomplishment.

Live music turns up on the calendar too, along with happy hour specials that the restaurant announces on its Facebook page rather than printing on the menu. If you want to know what’s running the week you’re in town, that page is the place to check.

What Else Is Within Walking Distance in Cherry Grove

One of the quiet advantages of The Grove House’s address is what surrounds it. This is the busiest little stretch of the north end, and almost everything a beach week needs sits within a few hundred yards.

Boulineau’s Foods Plus is directly across Sea Mountain Highway at number 212 — the family-owned grocery, deli, hardware and beach-supply operation that has anchored Cherry Grove for generations. It is the place you go for a bag of ice, a boogie board, a rotisserie chicken and a fishing license in a single trip, and it means you can pick up groceries and grab dinner without moving the car.

Cherry Grove Pier is a short drive east toward the ocean at the end of the road. The pier runs a tackle shop, rents rods, sells day passes for fishing and walking, and has a two-story observation deck at the end that is one of the best free views on the Grand Strand. Our full Myrtle Beach fishing guide covers pier fees, surf fishing and licensing in detail if you plan to drop a line.

The Cherry Grove marshes sit just behind the restaurant to the north and west — the tidal channels and finger canals that give this neighborhood its character. Kayaks, paddleboards and small boats work these waters at high tide, and the sunsets over the marsh grass are the reason half the porches in Cherry Grove face inland rather than out to sea.

The beach itself is roughly a mile east. Cherry Grove’s sand is wide at low tide and noticeably calmer than the stretches farther south, which is exactly why families keep coming back to this end of town year after year.

If you want the broader picture of what’s happening across the Grand Strand during your stay, our guide to things to do in Myrtle Beach lays out the attractions, and the Myrtle Beach events calendar tracks what’s on while you’re here. The Ocean Drive section a few minutes south is where you’ll find the shag clubs and Main Street nightlife when you want a night out after dinner.

Planning a Visit: Hours, Parking, and Ordering Ahead

When to Go

The Grove House is open every day from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The quietest stretch is early afternoon, roughly between the lunch rush and four o’clock — a good window if you’re coming off the beach with hungry kids and don’t want to wait. Dinner picks up from about five thirty onward in summer, and the porch tables go first on a clear evening.

Parking

There’s a lot behind the building — the sign on the front rail points you around back. Sea Mountain Highway itself is busy in season, so it’s worth pulling into the rear lot rather than trying to park along the highway.

Ordering Ahead

Online ordering runs through thegrovehousenmb.com, and there are QR codes around the restaurant that take you straight to it. For a big pizza order heading back to a rental house, placing it ahead of a Friday evening rush is the difference between twenty minutes and forty-five. Phone orders go to (843) 663-1811.

A Few Practical Notes

• Menu prices are quoted for cash payment
• An 18% gratuity is added automatically to parties of six or more
• There’s a dedicated seafood fryer — say so when ordering if anyone at the table has a shellfish allergy
• Hours, specials and live music can shift with the season; the restaurant’s Facebook page is the fastest place to confirm before you drive over

What It Costs: A Look at the Menu

Most reviewers put a meal here between ten and twenty dollars a person, which tracks with the board. Below is a representative slice of the menu as it was printed in September 2026 — enough to plan a family order before you walk in. Note that the prices shown reflect cash payment.

Handhelds come with fries, slaw or potato salad, and baskets arrive with fries, coleslaw and hush puppies, so the headline price is closer to the real cost of a meal here than it looks. Pizza is priced by size at the counter, and the eighteen-inch pies are where a family order gets efficient.

Frequently Asked Questions

Stay Close Enough to Make It Your Regular Spot

The best way to eat at The Grove House is the way the regulars do — not as a special outing, but as the place you end up two or three times in a week because it’s right there on the way home from the sand. Thomas Beach Vacations manages oceanfront condos and oceanfront homes throughout North Myrtle Beach, including plenty in Cherry Grove within a few minutes of 219 Sea Mountain Highway. Pick the right house and dinner becomes a short drive, a large pizza, and a sunset on your own porch. Browse availability at www.northmyrtlebeachvacations.com or call our local team at (843) 273-3001 — we’ve been booking this beach for a long time, and we’re happy to point you toward the section that fits your week.

Menu items and prices listed here reflect the printed menu as posted in September 2026 and are quoted for cash payment; an 18% gratuity is added to parties of six or more. Hours, specials and live music can change with the season. Confirm current pricing, hours and availability directly with The Grove House at (843) 663-1811 or thegrovehousenmb.com before your visit.

Things to Do for Father’s Day in North Myrtle Beach

June comes to North Myrtle Beach the way the best days always do — quietly, without announcing itself, the tide already moving by the time you’ve had your first cup of coffee and found your way to the porch. The pelicans work the shallows with a kind of indifference to time that men spend their whole careers trying to imitate. Father’s Day here has that same unhurried quality. It doesn’t ask anything of you. It just opens up along nine miles of coastline and waits.

Father’s Day 2026 falls on Sunday, June 21 — the longest days of the year, when the sun doesn’t fully set until past eight and there’s genuinely no excuse to come inside early. If you’ve ever wanted to give a dad something better than a novelty grilling apron and a Hallmark card, this is the year to do it properly. North Myrtle Beach’s nine miles of coastline, bracketed by Cherry Grove Beach to the north and Windy Hill to the south, contain just about everything a man could want for a day — fishing piers, golf courses, fishing charters, boat cruises, saltwater marshes to kayak, horses to ride along the surf, and enough good seafood to make a serious dent in the day’s catch.

What follows is a guide to doing Father’s Day right on the Grand Strand — not a list of generic suggestions, but a real map to the places and experiences that make this stretch of the South Carolina coast so good at this time of year. The charters are real, the golf courses are open and in shape, and the dinner reservations you’ll want to make sooner rather than later.

Fishing: Pier, Inshore, and Deep Sea

Ask most dads what they’d actually like to do for Father’s Day and the honest ones will tell you: go fishing. North Myrtle Beach obliges with options that run from a casual morning on the pier to a full offshore charter that puts you miles out in the Atlantic chasing mahi-mahi. June is one of the better fishing months along the Grand Strand — flounder are moving through the inshore waters, king mackerel are running off the pier, and the weather is warm enough that nobody minds getting a little spray in the face.

Cherry Grove Fishing Pier

The Cherry Grove Fishing Pier at 3502 N. Ocean Blvd. is one of the most storied fishing piers on the Atlantic coast — stretching 985 feet over the ocean with a two-story observation deck at the end and a history that includes the record catch of the largest tiger shark ever landed from shore in the United States. It opens daily at 6 a.m. and stays open until 11 p.m., which means dad can be out there before the rest of the family has had breakfast. Rod rentals run $26 and king mackerel passes are $30. The pier also has the Driftwoods restaurant on site for when the morning appetite kicks in. No charter booking required — just show up, pay the admission, and find a spot on the rail.

Captain Smiley Fishing Charters

For a guided inshore experience, Captain Smiley Fishing Charters out of Little River (4495 Baker St.) has been putting families on fish in the salt marshes and inshore waters around the Grand Strand for years. Inshore trips target redfish, flounder, speckled trout, and the various species that move through the backwaters around Cherry Grove Inlet in June. All equipment is provided, including the required fishing license — the family shows up and fishes. Father’s Day weekend books up fast; the captain’s team recommends reserving well ahead of the holiday. The phone is (843) 361-7445.

Voyager Fishing Charters

If the deep blue is calling — mahi-mahi, blackfin tuna, grouper, snapper — Voyager Fishing Charters at Dock Holidays Marina (1525 13th Ave N., North Myrtle Beach) runs a full menu of offshore options including half-day, full-day, and the crowd-favorite night shark fishing trips. For a dad who has already done the pier and wants something with a little more horizon in it, Voyager is the answer. Multi-day and Gulf Stream packages are also available for the true enthusiast.

Golf on the Grand Strand

North Myrtle Beach is serious golf country. The Grand Strand claims more golf courses per square mile than almost anywhere else in the country, and the courses in the northern end of the Strand — where the crowds thin out and the marsh views get genuinely spectacular — are worth a special trip on their own. Father’s Day weekend puts you on the course in the heart of the season, when the fairways are lush and the late-afternoon rounds end in some of the best light of the year.

Tidewater Golf Club

Tidewater Golf Club at 1400 Tidewater Drive in North Myrtle Beach routinely places on Golf Digest’s list of America’s Top 100 public courses — a ranking that the course has earned honestly, not through marketing. Designed by Ken Tomlinson and opened in 1990, Tidewater is positioned on a narrow peninsula between the Intracoastal Waterway and Cherry Grove Inlet, which means that on certain holes the Atlantic Ocean appears in the background of a shot that is already asking a lot of you. The par-three 12th crosses over marshland above Cherry Grove Inlet. The 13th gives you that ocean view from the green that people talk about for years. The course plays to a slope of 144 and stretches to 7,078 yards from the back tees, so dads who want a real challenge will not be disappointed. Book tee times early — (843) 913-2424.

Barefoot Resort & Golf

For the dad who wants to play more than one round, Barefoot Resort & Golf offers four courses on the same property — designed by Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Tom Fazio, and Pete Dye. The Norman course, in particular, has a demanding routing through wetlands and marshes with water in play on virtually every hole. Barefoot’s courses offer a range of difficulty and style that can keep a group of golfers of different abilities genuinely happy across an entire weekend. The resort sits along Highway 17 in North Myrtle Beach, and the courses are bookable individually or as part of packages.

Watersports and Boat Cruises

North Myrtle Beach’s relationship with the water does not begin and end at the shoreline. The Intracoastal Waterway runs the length of the Grand Strand, Waites Island sits just off the Cherry Grove Inlet, and the salt marsh creeks threading through that landscape are their own world entirely — one that rewards anyone willing to climb into a kayak or onto a boat and go exploring. For Father’s Day, the watersports options range from gentle to seriously exciting.

The Barefoot Queen

The Barefoot Queen riverboat operates out of Barefoot Marina at 2051-2 Bridge View Ct., North Myrtle Beach, and offers scenic and dinner cruises along the Intracoastal Waterway. The 70-foot riverboat accommodates up to 130 people and carries live narration and entertainment on every cruise. For Father’s Day weekend, the dinner cruise — which departs at 6 p.m. during peak season — is one of the more elegant ways to celebrate. It combines the slow drift of the waterway at golden hour with a catered buffet-style meal and cocktails available at the onboard bar. The lunch cruise at noon is a solid option for families with younger kids who need an earlier evening. Reservations: (843) 390-2017.

Cherry Grove Kayaking

For a dad who would rather be moving than sitting, Cherry Grove Kayaking delivers kayaks and paddleboards directly to the ramp at Cherry Grove Beach and offers guided tours through the salt marsh out to Waites Island. The Waites Island tour follows the current of the rising tide through the marsh channels, past bald eagles and blue herons, and lands on the uninhabited barrier island that most beachgoers never reach. The trip is appropriate for children and requires no prior kayaking experience. Three-hour self-guided rental packages are also available for groups who want to move at their own pace. Visit cherrygrovekayaking.com to book.

Jet Skis, Parasailing, and Watersports

Along Ocean Drive and Crescent Beach, several established operators run jet ski rentals, parasailing, and banana boat rides through peak season. Action Water Sportz and East Coast Jet Ski Adventures both offer jet ski rentals along the North Myrtle Beach coastline, while New Wave Watersports and Atlantic Watersports handle parasailing for those who want the bird’s-eye view of the strand. If the dad in the group has never looked down at nine miles of white sand from a few hundred feet in the air, Father’s Day is a decent occasion to change that.

Horseback Riding on Waites Island

This one lands differently than most Father’s Day activities, because very few people expect it. Inlet Point Plantation Stables, located at 5800 Little River Neck Road in North Myrtle Beach, offers guided horseback rides on Waites Island — a 1,380-acre uninhabited barrier island just off Cherry Grove Inlet that is accessible only by boat or van shuttle from the plantation itself. You ride along the ocean, feet from the surf, on a beach that has no houses, no umbrellas, and no traffic. The horses are well-trained Tennessee Walkers and Warmbloods. The guides know the island’s history, which runs from ancient Waccamaw tribal settlements back some 2,600 years.

The one-hour beach ride is appropriate for any skill level and for riders age seven and up. The sunset beach ride — offered Monday through Thursday with two days’ advance notice — is a particular gem for Father’s Day weekend, sending the last light of the day across the water in exactly the way postcards always promise and rarely deliver. The plantation is open Monday through Saturday, so Saturday, June 20 is an excellent day to book. Riders must be at least seven years old, and there is a weight limit of 240 pounds. Reservations are essential; visit inletpointplantation.com or call ahead.

Where to Take Dad for Dinner

Dinner on Father’s Day weekend in North Myrtle Beach is its own event. The best waterfront tables fill up days in advance, particularly at Barefoot Landing — a complex of restaurants, shops, and entertainment built along the Intracoastal Waterway that has more good dining options within walking distance of each other than most mid-sized cities. Plan ahead, make reservations, and remember that whoever shows up first to Cherry Grove Pier or Tidewater Golf Club gets to pick the restaurant.

Greg Norman Australian Grille

The Greg Norman Australian Grille at Barefoot Landing is where you take the dad who considers steak a serious matter. Perched directly on the Intracoastal Waterway, the restaurant has held a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for more than 15 consecutive years. The menu draws on Australian beef traditions alongside local seafood and carries an extensive wine program that treats the cellar as the equal of the kitchen. The waterfront deck at dusk, with a bone-in cut and a glass of Barossa Shiraz, is a specific kind of experience that most dads won’t stop talking about by July.

LuLu’s North Myrtle Beach

LuLu’s at Barefoot Landing is the choice when the family has kids who need an activity alongside their meal — the complex includes an arcade, a ropes course, and live music on the waterfront. The menu is built on fresh seafood with a coastal Gulf South influence, and the atmosphere runs warm and cheerful rather than precious. It’s a genuinely fun place on a Saturday afternoon when the whole family is still sandy from the beach and no one wants to put on their good shoes.

Flying Fish Public Market & Grill

The Flying Fish Public Market & Grill at Barefoot Landing is built on a simple, honest premise: get the freshest local seafood and treat it well. The market format means a rotating selection of what’s actually running off the Grand Strand coast — local shrimp, deep-sea scallops, whatever the boats brought in that morning. For a dad who spent the morning on Cherry Grove Pier, there’s a particular satisfaction in eating the ocean’s output at a waterfront table that evening.

21 Main at North Beach Resort

For a more formal occasion, 21 Main at North Beach Resort and Villas brings USDA Prime steaks, fresh seafood, and a sushi program together in an upscale setting with Intracoastal views and outdoor terrace seating. The lounge opens at 4 p.m. with cocktails; the dining room follows at 5 p.m. Valet parking is complimentary in the traffic circle. If the family is celebrating something beyond Father’s Day — a birthday, a milestone, the first trip everyone has taken together in years — 21 Main has the right weight to it.

Live Music and Evening Entertainment

North Myrtle Beach has called itself the birthplace of Carolina Beach Music for decades, and in June that claim gets tested every week. The city’s Music on Main Concert Series brings free live performances to the Horseshoe at 11 S. Ocean Blvd. every Thursday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. through September. For Father’s Day weekend in 2026, the Thursday before — June 18 — features Tru Sol on the Main Street stage. The event is free, open to all ages, and set up for exactly the kind of unhurried evening that Father’s Day weekend deserves: beach chairs in the street, cold drinks nearby, and a band that knows how to move a crowd.

This year’s Music on Main carries a special theme — “Celebrating America’s 250” — in honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial, with select bands weaving patriotic material into their sets and July shows inviting audiences in red, white, and blue. Horseshoe parking closes at 2 p.m. on concert days; chairs are permitted after 3 p.m. Main Street from Ocean Boulevard closes to traffic at 4:30 p.m. Golf cart parking is available with limited spaces. For the full 2026 schedule, visit nmb.us.

Barefoot Landing runs live music throughout the summer season as well, with performances at LandShark Bar & Grill, LuLu’s, and other waterfront venues most evenings. The Alabama Theatre on the Barefoot Landing property offers ticketed shows for larger productions. And at Coconuts Tiki Bar on Ocean Drive — the only oceanfront tiki bar in North Myrtle Beach — the combination of specialty cocktails, live music, and the Atlantic directly in front of you makes for a fine end to any Father’s Day.

The Beach Itself

It would be a mistake to fill a Father’s Day in North Myrtle Beach so full of planned activities that there’s no time left for the thing that brought everyone here in the first place. The beach at Crescent Beach and Cherry Grove in the morning, before the crowds arrive, is as uncomplicated a pleasure as exists in American life. The water is warm in June — usually in the low-to-mid 80s — and the shore is wide enough that a family can spread out with chairs and a cooler and not feel like they’re sharing a parking lot with strangers.

For the oceanfront experience without the planning — no reservations, no equipment, no itinerary — the stretch of Windy Hill beach tends to be quieter than the sections closer to Main Street, making it well-suited for a morning where the goal is simply to be somewhere beautiful with people you love. From an oceanfront home rental, the beach is already in the backyard — which is, in the end, the cleanest version of the whole idea.

A Father’s Day Weekend Planner

For families arriving Friday evening and staying through Sunday, here is a framework that actually works — not scheduled to the minute, but sequenced so that the activities flow into each other and the day’s big moments land where they should.

Friday Evening — Arrive and Orient

Get to the rental, walk the beach, and find the nearest place to get dinner without making a production of it. LandShark Bar & Grill at Barefoot Landing is reliable for this — outdoor seating, live music, no dress code, and a menu wide enough that everyone finds something. The ICW view at night, with the lights of the waterway reflecting on the water, is a gentle way to announce that the weekend has begun.

Saturday, June 20 — Dad’s Day to Choose

Saturday is when the activities happen. Golf at Tidewater is best in the morning before the heat builds — tee times in the 8–10 a.m. range put you back at the rental by early afternoon. Alternatively, a fishing charter departs at first light and has dad back at the dock by noon, with enough time for a salt marsh kayak run in the afternoon or a horseback ride at Inlet Point Plantation before dinner. Reserve the Greg Norman Australian Grille or 21 Main for Saturday evening — these tables do not sit unsold on Father’s Day weekend.

Sunday, June 21 — Father’s Day

Keep it simple. Morning at Cherry Grove Pier with rod rentals. Brunch at Flying Fish. An afternoon on the beach at Crescent Beach with nowhere particular to be. The Barefoot Queen dinner cruise at 6 p.m. as a send-off — two hours on the waterway with dinner and entertainment, back at the dock before nine. If someone wants to extend the evening, Coconuts Tiki Bar is fifteen minutes away and open late.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Cherry Grove Pier (cherrygrovepier.com); Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (captainsmileyfishingcharters.com); Voyager Fishing Charters; Tidewater Golf Club (tidewatergolf.com); Barefoot Resort & Golf; Inlet Point Plantation (inletpointplantation.com); Cherry Grove Kayaking (cherrygrovekayaking.com); Barefoot Queen Riverboat (barefootqueen.com); Music on Main Concert Series, City of North Myrtle Beach (nmb.us); North Myrtle Beach Times (nmbtimes.com); Explore North Myrtle Beach (explorenorthmyrtlebeach.com). All event and venue information verified for June 2026.

4th of July in North Myrtle Beach 2026: Fireworks, Events & Where to Stay for Independence Day

There’s a particular kind of quiet that settles over the Grand Strand on the morning of the Fourth of July — the kind that comes before something big. By noon the beach chairs are staked, the flags are planted in the sand, and the smell of sunscreen and charcoal drifts up from a hundred oceanfront decks. By nightfall, the sky above Cherry Grove is all fire and color, and the boom of professional shells rattles windows up and down the coast. Independence Day in North Myrtle Beach isn’t just a holiday. It’s the peak of the whole summer, and the city knows how to throw a party.

In 2026, the Fourth lands on a Saturday — a natural long weekend that invites you to arrive Friday, settle in, and spend the full holiday at the beach without rushing. The City of North Myrtle Beach has confirmed a packed calendar of official events, from the All City Choir Cantata on June 28–29 to the Salute to America March on the morning of July 4th, followed by the Salute from the Shore military flyover starting over Cherry Grove Beach at 1 p.m., Music on Main featuring The Entertainers at the Horseshoe on Main Street that evening, and two of the finest fireworks shows on the South Carolina coast after dark. Add in the Rotary Club’s field of honor flags at McLean Park, Crooked Hammock’s annual Freedom Fest, and Barefoot Landing’s signature SummerFest programming, and you have a destination that makes an entire week feel like it wasn’t quite enough.

This guide covers every confirmed 2026 event, every fireworks show, and makes the case for why a Thomas Beach Vacations rental in North Myrtle Beach is the smartest base for your family this Independence Day.

Why North Myrtle Beach for the 4th of July 2026

People who’ve done the Fourth in Myrtle Beach proper know what the traffic looks like by 8 p.m. North Myrtle Beach, roughly fifteen miles to the north, offers the same sparkling Atlantic coastline with a notably different character — quieter residential streets, wide stretches of uncrowded sand, and a community that celebrates Independence Day with genuine civic investment. It’s still lively, still festive, still fully summer on the Grand Strand, but the scale stays human. You can actually breathe.

Because the Fourth falls on a Saturday in 2026, this particular holiday is shaping up to be one of the biggest on record. A weekend holiday means more people traveling, more families extending their stay, and more events running from Thursday through Sunday. The North Myrtle Beach Parks and Recreation Department confirmed the city’s full roster of official programming months in advance — a sign of how seriously the city takes this particular week. The Cherry Grove Pier fireworks, the Salute to America March, the Music on Main concert, and the Salute from the Shore flyover are all locked in.

The city splits into four beach neighborhoods — Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, and Windy Hill — each within a short drive of every major event on the 2026 calendar. That geographic convenience matters most on a holiday when parking is premium and patience wears thin by 9 p.m. From an oceanfront rental in any of these neighborhoods, you’re never more than ten minutes from the fireworks, and you return each night to your own kitchen, your own deck, and your own view instead of a hotel corridor.

2026 Fireworks Schedule: Every Show on the Grand Strand

The Grand Strand puts on fireworks at multiple locations on Independence Day, which means guests staying in North Myrtle Beach have genuine options — and in some cases, from the right oceanfront deck, you can see more than one show without leaving your property. Here is the confirmed and expected 2026 lineup:

The fireworks don’t begin and end on the Fourth. Barefoot Landing runs its weekly SummerFest fireworks every Monday evening from June through August, and Broadway at the Beach fires displays on Tuesdays and Fridays all summer long. For families staying a full week in North Myrtle Beach, the holiday fireworks are a highlight in a much longer season of them.

Cherry Grove Pier: The Oceanfront Fireworks Experience

The Cherry Grove Pier fireworks are the centerpiece of North Myrtle Beach’s official July 4th programming, and for good reason. The pier stretches nearly a thousand feet into the Atlantic — one of the longest on the East Coast — and the professional shells launch from it at 9:30 p.m. directly over open water. No buildings. No trees. Just sky and ocean and color. You can spread a blanket on the sand a hundred yards away, wade in at the waterline, or watch from a nearby oceanfront deck. It’s an elemental Fourth of July experience, the kind you remember long after the sunburn fades.

The City has confirmed specific traffic and safety protocols for the 2026 show: the 3500 block of North Ocean Boulevard — the area where the pier sits — will be closed to vehicles, and the 300 feet of beach on both sides of the pier will be cleared at 7 p.m. That means staking your spot earlier in the afternoon is the move, particularly with Saturday crowds expected to be among the largest in recent years. Once the show ends, North Myrtle Beach Police initiate a reverse traffic pattern in Cherry Grove to handle the volume leaving the area, so plan for some patience getting out.

Cherry Grove is also where the Salute from the Shore flyover begins at 1 p.m. — more on that below. Guests who book a Cherry Grove vacation rental can spend the entire day in one neighborhood and never miss a thing: flyover at 1 p.m., cookout on the deck through the afternoon, walk to the beach for the fireworks at 9:30. Boulineau’s Food Plus, Cherry Grove’s long-running neighborhood grocery, stocks everything you need for the grill.

Barefoot Landing SummerFest & the July 4th Show

Barefoot Landing sits on the Intracoastal Waterway at the southern end of North Myrtle Beach and runs one of the most consistently impressive fireworks programs on the entire Grand Strand. Every Monday evening from June through August, the complex launches a display over its central lake as part of SummerFest — an ongoing summer programming lineup that includes live music at the Pepsi Amphitheater Stage, strolling performers, stilt walkers, and family entertainment every night of the week. On July 4th, the regular Monday show steps aside for a dedicated Independence Day spectacular at 10 p.m. that draws a crowd substantially larger than the weekly audience.

Knowing where to stand makes a difference at Barefoot Landing. The Pepsi Amphitheater lawn gives you clear sightlines across the water. The floating bridge near Ron Jon’s Surf Shop positions you almost directly beneath the bursts. Crooked Hammock Brewery’s outdoor seating has a direct line to the show and the advantage of a full bar, which makes the wait considerably more pleasant. All of these spots fill up well before 9 p.m. on the Fourth — arrive by 8 p.m. at the latest if you want a prime position.

For the most memorable way to experience the show, the Barefoot Queen Riverboat runs a special July 4th Fireworks Cruise along the Intracoastal Waterway, complete with dinner and a full bar. The boat docks back at Barefoot Landing for the fireworks finale, giving passengers a front-row floating seat while the rest of the crowd competes for shoreside real estate. These cruises sell out early every year — book well in advance. Guests staying in Windy Hill are just minutes from Barefoot Landing, making that neighborhood the natural base for those who want this show as their centerpiece. Browse Windy Hill vacation rentals to see what’s available.

Salute from the Shore & the Salute to America March

The afternoon of July 4th in North Myrtle Beach is anchored by two back-to-back events that carry a genuinely different emotional weight than the fireworks. The first is the Salute to America March, organized by American Legion Post 186, which begins at 11 a.m. on July 4th. Flag bearers carrying the American flag, the South Carolina state flag, and the POW/MIA and Purple Heart flags march through North Myrtle Beach honoring all current and former military members, gathering at the Horseshoe on Main Street where live music begins at 1 p.m.

At that same 1 p.m. moment, the Salute from the Shore begins. F-16 fighters from Shaw Air Force Base — accompanied by vintage Warbird aircraft — make a low pass over the full length of the South Carolina coastline starting at Cherry Grove Beach in North Myrtle Beach and traveling south all the way to Beaufort and Bluffton. People line up along the water with flags raised, and when the planes come through, the sound arrives before the aircraft does: a low, building roar from the north that rolls in fast, and then the jets are overhead and already gone, banking south into a sky that feels very large in that moment. It’s one of the most moving things the Grand Strand does all summer.

Because the flight path originates at Cherry Grove, guests staying in that neighborhood experience the flyover at its lowest and loudest. The planes are practically overhead. Be on the beach by 12:30 p.m. to find your spot before the crowd closes in around you.

A Full Week of Confirmed 2026 Patriotic Events

North Myrtle Beach doesn’t treat Independence Day as a single evening. The City’s official programming runs from the last weekend of June through the holiday itself, and the private venues and community organizations fill in around it. Here’s everything confirmed for 2026:

Rotary Club Field of Honor at McLean Park (June 28 – July 13)

From June 28 through July 13, the Rotary Club of North Myrtle Beach plants a field of American flags at McLean Park honoring veterans, active duty and retired military, fallen service members, and first responders. The Opening Ceremony takes place on June 28 at 10 a.m. at McLean Park. Families can sponsor a flag for $100, with the honoree’s name, service branch, and rank displayed. It’s one of the quieter events on the calendar and one of the more genuinely affecting ones.

All City Choir Cantata: “In God We Still Trust” (June 28–29)

The City of North Myrtle Beach’s All City Choir presents its 2026 July 4th Cantata, titled “In God We Still Trust,” at Living Water Baptist Church in Longs on Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29, both at 3:30 p.m. The concert is free, but tickets are required and available at City Hall or the J. Bryan Floyd Community Center. This is a standing-room event by reputation — arrive early and collect your tickets well before the date.

Crooked Hammock Freedom Fest (July 3)

Independence Eve arrives at Crooked Hammock Brewery at Barefoot Landing with the annual Freedom Fest on July 3rd. The full-day event brings live music, patriotic crafts for kids, specialty hot dogs from the Happy Camper food trailer, and the beloved midday hot dog eating contest. Crooked Hammock is one of the best outdoor gathering spots in North Myrtle Beach on a regular Saturday — on July 3rd, 2026, the night before a long holiday weekend, it’s as close to electric as this beach town gets.

Windy Hill Golf Cart Parade (July 4, Morning)

The Windy Hill neighborhood welcomes the morning of July 4th the way it always has: a patriotic golf cart parade winding through the community’s streets, with residents competing in earnest for the best red, white, and blue decoration. It’s casual, free, and the kind of neighborhood tradition that reminds you why families book the same beach town year after year. Check local Windy Hill community boards closer to the date for the exact start time and route.

Music on Main: The Entertainers at the Horseshoe (July 4, Evening)

The City of North Myrtle Beach’s Music on Main concert series runs every Thursday evening from June through September at the Horseshoe on Main Street in Ocean Drive. In 2026, however, July 4th falls on a Saturday — and the city has confirmed an additional special performance: The Entertainers take the Horseshoe stage on the evening of July 4th, bridging the gap between the afternoon’s march and flyover and the night’s fireworks shows. The 2026 Music on Main series has been themed “Celebrating America’s 250” in recognition of the country’s approaching 250th anniversary, with select bands performing patriotic tribute sets throughout the summer. Admission is free; bring a chair.

Greg Rowles Legacy Theatre (Ongoing through the Week)

The Greg Rowles Legacy Theatre on Main Street in North Myrtle Beach runs its patriotic Music and Memories show throughout the Independence Day period. It’s a good evening option for families who want something air-conditioned and indoors after spending the afternoon at the beach — particularly for groups with military members, who have historically received special pricing during the July 4th week. Check the theatre’s current schedule for 2026 performance dates and availability.

Murrells Inlet Boat Parade (July 4, 2 p.m.)

South of North Myrtle Beach, the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk hosts its annual patriotic boat parade at 2 p.m. on July 4th, with festively decorated boats parading past the waterfront to cheers from the crowd lining the walk. The MarshWalk fireworks follow that same evening at 10 p.m. It’s a full-day destination for families who want to venture down the strand and are staying for more than a few days.

Choose Your Beach Neighborhood for Independence Day 2026

One of the real advantages of booking a vacation rental through Thomas Beach Vacations is the ability to pick the neighborhood that matches your family’s Fourth of July priorities. The four sections of North Myrtle Beach each put you in a different relationship to the 2026 event calendar:

Cherry Grove — Best for the Flyover & Pier Fireworks

Cherry Grove is North Myrtle Beach’s northernmost neighborhood, anchored by its famous pier and a wide, gently curving beach. In 2026 it’s also Ground Zero for the Salute from the Shore — the F-16s start directly overhead here at 1 p.m. before traveling south. The Cherry Grove Pier fireworks at 9:30 p.m. are walkable from every rental in the neighborhood. Browse Cherry Grove vacation rentals — the inventory includes some of the largest oceanfront homes available on the North Myrtle Beach market.

Ocean Drive — Best for Music on Main & the July 4th Concert

Ocean Drive is the historic and cultural heart of North Myrtle Beach — birthplace of the shag dance, home to Main Street, and the neighborhood directly surrounding the Horseshoe where The Entertainers perform on July 4th evening. For families who want to walk to the concert, have dinner on Main Street, and then head to the fireworks from there, Ocean Drive is the natural base. Browse Ocean Drive vacation rentals here.

Crescent Beach — Quiet, Central, Family-Focused

Crescent Beach occupies the geographic center of North Myrtle Beach, sitting equidistant from Cherry Grove and Windy Hill. It’s the most residential in feel of the four neighborhoods — quieter streets, strong family character, excellent beach — and it offers easy driving access to every 2026 event without being in the thick of any single one. Crescent Beach vacation rentals tend to be strong value for the Fourth of July week.

Windy Hill — Closest to Barefoot Landing

Windy Hill is the southernmost section of North Myrtle Beach, positioned directly between the beach and Barefoot Landing on the Intracoastal. The neighborhood’s July 4th golf cart parade runs in the morning, the Freedom Fest is a five-minute drive at Crooked Hammock on July 3rd, and the Barefoot Landing fireworks show is closer from here than anywhere else in NMB. Windy Hill rentals include oceanfront homes and condo units across a range of budgets.

Book Your 4th of July 2026 Vacation with Thomas Beach Vacations

The Fourth of July is the single most competitive week on the North Myrtle Beach rental calendar every year — and in 2026, with the holiday landing on a Saturday and a full long weekend in play, demand is going to be higher than normal. The best oceanfront homes with private pools, elevated decks, and direct beach walkovers go first. Often they go in winter, booked by returning families who know from experience not to wait. If you’re reading this while availability remains, that’s your signal.

Thomas Beach Vacations manages one of the deepest inventories of oceanfront properties in North Myrtle Beach — from expansive multi-bedroom homes in Cherry Grove that sleep an extended family of fourteen to well-appointed two-bedroom condos in Windy Hill sized for smaller groups. The team knows the inventory well and can match your group’s size, budget, and neighborhood preference to the right property. Call, browse, or do both.

Frequently Asked Questions

There’s a version of the Fourth of July that lives in the memory for years — the one where the house smells like sunscreen and grill smoke, the kids are still sandy from the afternoon, and somewhere around 9:30 p.m. the sky over the ocean just lights up and everyone goes quiet for a moment. That version of Independence Day exists in North Myrtle Beach, and in 2026 — with the holiday on a Saturday, a city-full of confirmed events, and two of the best fireworks shows on the South Carolina coast — the ingredients are all here. Thomas Beach Vacations can help you find the right property to make it happen. Browse the full collection at northmyrtlebeachvacations.com or give us a call at (866) 249-2100. This is a week worth doing right.

If you are still looking for a place to stay for the holiday weekend, availability is moving fast. Our guide to North Myrtle Beach rentals for July 4th weekend 2026 covers which neighborhoods put you closest to the fireworks, what’s still available, and how to book direct before it’s gone.