It has been about two decades since Hubby and I walked around Myrtle Beach together as newlyweds. Oh, do I have fond memories of those days! However, at that point, they weren’t spent finding “family friendly” activities to enjoy. I mean, we had only been married two years and were still without Littles. Fast forward to present day and we have three growing boys (two still at home) to think about when we travel as a family. Finding destinations that have the ability to pique all of our interests is a task and a half. So, imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I began to rediscover Myrtle Beach and realized how many family-friendly activities there were for a family with teens! Thanks to Vacation Myrtle Beach, we were able to cross things off our family bucket list we never knew we had on there!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Vacation Myrtle Beach. All activities and accommodations in this post were provided in exchange for a review of our experience. However, all opinions in this post are 100% ours and ours alone. This post does contain affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure policy for more information.
Family- Friendly Myrtle Beach
We arrived on a Thursday evening after an eight hour drive up from Central Florida. It’s a good thing our family loves to road trip!! Right? Our home for the weekend was The Caravelle Resort and we had the pleasure of staying in the main building across from the registration building. To give you a clear picture, the resort itself has nine buildings in total. Ours towered over the Atlantic coastline and had one of the best views of the open sky and ocean.

No, I’m not kidding!
We took that first evening to relax and get ourselves acquainted with our room, the resort and our schedule, since the next few days were packed with excitement, entertainment and endless fun.
Traveling with Teens…
If you’ve been following our journey at all, you know that we have three teenage boys, two of whom are still at home. That means any trip I plan has to have something exciting or they will be bored to pieces. When that happens, I take the chance of hearing nothing else except endless complaining.
So, to prevent such a conundrum this trip, I chose activities that centered around adventure and new experiences. I wanted us to do things we never thought we would or could do together as a family. I wanted us to explore, learn and create vivid memories that we would be able to talk about at holiday dinners for years to come.
So – what did I find? What did I work out activity-wise with our wonderful Vacation Myrtle Beach representative? Take a quick peek below at a few of the family-friendly adventures we enjoyed and the one Hubby and I did all by ourselves! (yes, without a chaperone, too – are you impressed?).
As a Family…
1. Ripley’s Aquarium
Ripley’s Aquarium was our very first fun stop of the trip. While we have strolled through aquariums before, it had been quite some time and the idea of visiting a Ripley’s something or other fascinated the boys. We literally spent hours roaming in and out of each exhibit within the venue.
To start our self-guided tour, we chose to head into the Pearl Harbor exhibit. Hubby, being retired military, always finds exhibits like this intriguing and we spent a good deal of time in there reading and tinkering with the various displays. The walls tell the story of this tragic event in history and the displays offer an opportunity for littles to connect with the older generation as they climb and turn and press and listen.

From there, we made our way to the shark tunnel, passing some fun photo opps along the way.  Yup – these crazy kids are mine!
I’m not complaining – this is how you have fun with teens!

I personally enjoyed walking through the shark tunnel. It provided a unique perspective on how marine life live together in the water.
Other exhibits we explored during our time there included Planet Jellies and Ray Bay ~ both of which gave us an opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the sea creatures there.  Three of us touched the backs of moon jellies, but we weren’t so lucky with the stingrays. They just weren’t interested in visiting near where we were sitting.

In the center on the bottom floor, however, there was also a pool filled with Horseshoe Crabs! Oddly enough, I was the only one willing to take the time here to pet one for a little while.
Now, if you’re adventurous and want something unique to do…
The Aquarium offers a variety of a camps, marine life encounters and even a Glass Bottom Boat adventure. The latter puts you in a boat out over a large water tank above the shark tunnel. From your seat in the boat, you can stare down to watch shark and fish passing by underneath you.
Ummmm ~ I wasn’t brave enough to take on that adventure (though wait until you see what we did do later in the weekend).
Ripley’s Aquarium was a few hours well spent for the four of us – yes, even the teen boys! Fortunately, my boys have always enjoyed learning something new and experiencing something they might never have thought to try. This place can be an educational gold mine, as well as a place to create fun memories for families with kiddos of all ages. Even my big guy (you know, the one I married…) had a great time!

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- Location: 1110 Celebrity Circle – Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
- Cost: Click here for options
- Hours: 9 am to 9 pm daily
- Website: https://www.ripleyaquariums.com/myrtlebeach/
- Calendar of Events: https://www.ripleyaquariums.com/myrtlebeach/events/
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2. The SkyWheel Myrtle Beach
Up, up and away!! Well, not quite, but we did find ourselves 187 feet up in the air with absolutely stunning views of the Atlantic coastline. The Skywheel is an iconic Ferris wheel that gives its riders a unique birds-eye view of the hotels that line the beach and the vast waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The attraction opened in May 2011 and was the first of its kind in America. That’s a pretty awesome title to carry!

The Skywheel holds 42 gondolas, each accommodating up to about six individuals (1300 lbs total). Each is also capable of accommodating wheelchairs and scooters (with the exception of the VIP gondola). What is really sweet is the fact that each one is temperature-controlled.  So, if it’s warm outside, it will be cool inside. If it’s cool outside, it will be warm inside.
Okay, confession time…
Heights like this are not “high” on our family’s priority list of activities to seek out. A good handful of us (I won’t name names) aren’t too keen on being that far off the ground. However, we braved the experience together anyway. Fortunately, the Skywheel operators do not place strangers together in a gondola, so it was our party of four and that was it. Phew!

The site says the average number of rotations is about four. Surprisingly, we went around about five or six times. Bonus, right? The first few times we went upward, you could see a few of us with our knuckles turning white, but we all seemed to loosen our grip on the comfy seats with each rotation. To be honest, the ride as a whole was very smooth, rather comfy and actually breathtaking!

The views were spectacular! Oh, my goodness! You can see for miles and miles out across the ocean, down the beach north and south, and back west quite a distance. The horizon was so crisp and defined. Had it been time for the sun to set, we would have seen the most beautiful front row seat for the day’s curtain call.
UH-OH!Â
Okay, so let’s say you find yourself not so much a fan of those heights and want to cut your ride short a rotation or three early.  Fortunately, there is an emergency call button in every gondola that guests can press to notify the operators they are in desperate need of exiting the car. Don’t press it too quickly, though ~ you may find yourself a little more comfortable with each trip around.
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- Location: 1110 North Ocean Blvd • Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
- Cost: Adults $14, Children ages 3-11 $9, Children under 2 FREE (there are annual passes and a unique VIP ticket experience you can purchase. Check the website for more details).
- Hours: 11 am to 9 pm
- Website: https://skywheelmb.com/
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3. Brookgreen Gardens
I had a friend who visited Brookgreen Gardens just a few weeks prior to our arrival in Myrtle Beach. She did a Facebook Live from the grounds there and I just fell in love with the idea of visiting. Brookgreen Gardens is home to over 2000 works of art created by over 400 artists. It is also a wildlife preserve. If so desired, it could take any guest an entire day to walk the grounds, study the art and enjoy the creatures and critters who call this place home.

Sadly, our particular adventure took place in the rain, and rain in October in Myrtle Beach is a little chillier than rain this time of the year in Florida. Still, we wanted to see the fountains and sculptures, so we braved about thirty to forty-five minutes of walking in the light rain to grab some beautiful photographs and read about some of the art. We had to save the nature preserve for another trip.
The sculptures were exquisite and the lush scenery was the perfect backdrop for each of them. The fountains were clean and the sound of flowing water is always a plus in my book. As an FYI, for those with Littles or even those who have teens, there are many sculptures bearing the human frame in its natural state – so you’ve been warned.  Our boys handled the personal tour with extreme maturity – for that, I was grateful.

Needless to say…(the above is not one of the sculptures to which I was referring)Â
The artistry of both the landscaping and the artwork was jaw-dropping. This would make for a beautiful romantic walk or a quiet journey for someone who wanted to simply enjoy the tranquility and beauty of nature. I personally could have spent a great deal of time here alone with my thoughts (as dangerous as that might be). Honestly, I do hope to return some day.
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- Location: 1931 Brookgreen Drive – Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
- Cost: Daily General Admission Tickets for 7 consecutive days
*Children 3 and under – Free*Children 4-12 $10*Adults 13-64 $18*Seniors 65 & Over $16
- Hours: 9:30 am to 5 pm (no pets allowed)
- Website: https://www.brookgreen.org/
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As a couple…
Believe it or not, Hubby and I stole away to spend some time together during our stay. The boys had some homework they wanted to get done before the weekend was over, so they stayed up in the suite while the two of us escaped to Duplin Winery.
Duplin Winery
Duplin Winery is the largest producer of muscadine wine. If you’re not familiar with muscadine, it’s one of the sweetest grapes around and makes some of the sweetest wines out there (which makes it very difficult to sip slowly). Duplin Winery sits on Hwy 17 and has a full store, a patio with a bar and musical entertainment, and the opportunity to enjoy wine tastings.

The two of us joined two other couples along with our bartender, Matt, in one of the four tasting rooms. During that time, Matt educated us on the finer points of muscadine wines and provided us with approximately twelve different wine samples to try. All the while, we were munching on homemade chips / crackers and a delicious dip made with cream cheese and a muscadine pineapple habanero salsa.
OH – EM – GOODNESS!!! Yum!Â
If anything, this event taught Hubby and me something very valuable. We are both suckers for the sweeter wines. In fact, we don’t care for dry wines at all. So, there – we can say that we learned something pretty deep about ourselves on this trip to Myrtle Beach!

For those who are connoisseurs, Duplin Winery offers a membership club, which provides discounts and a variety of other perks. For more details on that, feel free to click here. They also honor the military and provide discounts on purchases to those who have served in the US Armed Forces.
Duplin Winery was a gem of a find for the two of us ~ a very special place to escape. In fact, we enjoyed our first visit so much, we went back the next night to enjoy one more glass of sweetness before the trip was over.
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- Location: 4650 Highway 17 South, North Myrtle Beach, SC (next to Barefoot Landing)
- Cost: Free to enter / Wine Tasting is
- Hours:
- Shopping: 11am – 8pm
- Wine Tastings: 11am – 7pm
- Closed on Sundays
- Website: https://www.duplinwinery.com/
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Looking for a place to stay…
The Caravelle
As noted above, our host, Vacation Myrtle Beach, arranged for us to stay at The Caravelle Resort. The resort itself consists of nine different buildings, ranging in accommodation types and styles (from efficiencies to suites). Our reservation had us in the main building across from registration and we stayed in an oceanfront executive suite. This served us well for many reasons!
Our room was designed to provide the best of views! Upon entering the room, we walked directly into the main bedroom that held two double beds, a dresser, a small flat screen television and a closet. The view from the window there was that of the west, providing a picture perfect horizon during sunset. From there, we walked through a full kitchen, equipped with a stove, oven, full refrigerator and double sink. Plates, utensils, cookware and more were found in the cupboards.

Why is a full kitchen awesome?
For a food allergy family, a full kitchen is a blessing!! We were able to prepare food for our son to have on hand just in case a restaurant or venue had nothing he could eat safely. We were also able to save money on the trip by cooking full dinners and enjoying breakfast right there in our room.
The bathroom to the left was divided into two separate rooms – one holding the full tub/shower and the commode, the other a sink with a long counter.
Walking even further, we found the living area with a couch, chair, dining room table and accompanying chairs, another dresser and a television. Here’s a Facebook video giving you a tour of where we stayed:
ROOM TOUR
The view was spectacular!Â
Being on the eleventh floor, we had a stunning, picture perfect view of the sunrise each morning.
Here’s some fun news! The Caravelle Resort itself will be celebrating 60 years of service next year! Happy early birthday, Caravelle! Now, while it does show its age to some degree, the resort has been undergoing renovations to keep guests coming back and comfortable. We happened to be in one of those renovated rooms.

On the main building’s property, guests can find a game room, fitness room, seasonal gift shop and seasonal ice cream parlor on the ground level. Our particular building (out of the nine) had two pools, one indoors and the other outdoors, as well as a lazy river and hot tub. The restaurant on site is called Santa Maria. Here, guests can enjoy a hearty buffet or have Judy or Robert serve up a friendly smile with a made-to-order omelette or batch of freshly made waffles.  Since there is so much more to share, I’ll go into more details about the resort and its offerings in another post. Stay tuned!
In fact…
I can’t wait to share The Caravelle Resort’s involvement with various charities! Over the years, they have raised money for organizations such as The March of Dimes, The American Cancer Society and Backpack Buddies!
So, if you’re looking for a place to stay that is centrally located, The Caravelle Resort is perfectly situated between Barefoot Landing and The Boardwalk, making it easy to get anywhere. With easy access to the beach, it also makes for a very convenient walk along the water’s edge. Whe it comes to shopping and dining, we found a grocery store or two and a pizza joint within easy driving distance!
Be sure to check out the website as you begin planning your family friendly adventure to Myrtle Beach.
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- Location: 6900 North Ocean Blvd – Myrtle Beach, SC 29572
- Website: https://www.thecaravelle.com/
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Looking for someone to help you with planning a trip out to Myrtle Beach?
So, there you have it ~ a short glimpse into some of the fun we had as a family in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In planning the trip, I had the pleasure of working with Susan from Vacation Myrtle Beach. Susan took care of every last detail and set up all of our activities. I had nothing to worry about except to show up to each venue. Feel free to give their website a glimpse to see all the all the latest deals, specials and opportunities that await your family in this east coast treasure chest of fun. Despite a busy weekend, there are still many more adventures for our family to enjoy, so we plan on venturing back to Myrtle Beach in the future for sure!
Is Myrtle Beach on your family bucket list? Which of these above adventures intrigues you?
CHECK THIS OUT!!!
Vacation Myrtle Beach is giving away an Oceanfront Condo, valued at nearly $100,000 (or $50,000 CASH, winner’s choice)!!!  One lucky winner will own this condo (this is not a timeshare). For more details, all you have to do is click the graphic or click this link: The Great Vacation Myrtle Beach Condo Giveaway. Good luck, everyone!
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That resort looks great. Every time I have passed the Myrtle Beach exits on 95 I have always wanted to get off the highway and spend a few days there. I have friends in Charlotte who love going there for a short vacation.
Do not let go of that desire, Lora!! One of these trips, I hope you get the chance to get off the exit and spend some time there!
Looks like a great trip! I’ve always wanted to visit Myrtle Beach!
Keep it on that bucket list, Sydney!! I went over 20 years ago when it was just my husband and me. This trip was all about family and we had a great time! Here’s hoping you get there someday soon!
What a fun vacation! I had no idea there was a Pearl Harbor exhibit in Myrtle Beach. We’ve been to Pearl Harbor with our son and he loved experiencing the history and exploring the battleships. We’ll have to check out the Myrtle Beach exhibit when we go!
Hi, Malia!! The Pearl Harbor exhibit is one room inside the Ripley’s Museum, but there’s quite a bit in there to explore! If you can get over there, enjoy!!! We had a blast! My goodness, though ~ what a memory your son will carry with him!! Visiting the REAL Pearl Harbor is on my bucket list!
Wow, so much to do! Looks amazing, it’s one of the places we’re considering for our honeymoon!
Well, first off – congrats on the upcoming nuptials! Hubby and i first went to Myrtle Beach when we were still in the newlywed phase and had a great time. Wherever you go (and Myrtle Beach is a good place to consider), enjoy and have fun!!! If you’re into wine tastings, the Duplin Winery would be something to keep in mind 😉.
I love Myrtle Beach.. o e of my favorites so glad you guys were able to have some adult time, it’s an amazing place to visit!
It’s soooo nice that the boys are older and are responsible enough for us to trust them. We have definitely entered a new phase of life – now to figure out what to do with it! LOL. As for Myrtle Beach – I’d love to know if you have any recommendations for us to explore should we ever get to go again. Thanks in advance, Holly!
Since I Iive in North Carolina, I’ve been to Myrtle Beach several times. This resort looks wonderful! I’m going to check it out.
Sounds like a plan, Cathy!!!! North Carolina is such a beautiful state itself!
Looks like a great vacation spot. Finding something fun for teens is a challenge and it looks like this was a hit!
It is definitely a struggle to find things that keeps their attention long enough – lol. Fortunately, mine have been exploring since childhood and they love traveling, but I will say this particular trip was quite successful. Everyone was happy with the venues we visited.
One day I will get there – it’s far from California but my father was born thrre – someday
That would be quite a trip! Just keep it on your bucket list, though 😉. You never know when the opportunity will arise. (I’m on the East Coast and just made it over to the West Coast a few months ago – first time since 2002!).
Your post brought back amazing memories. I used to live in SC & Myrtle Beach is our weekend getaway. I could stay there for a week and never ran out of things to see and do.
And there’s a plethora of seafood restaurants 😋
Awww – I’m glad it made you smile! Hubby and I used to live in SC, too, and hopped over to MB I think twice while we lived there. It was nice to get back and share a few of those memories with the boys. Next trip, I’ll have to try one or two of those seafood restaurants. Believe it or not, they were not on the itinerary! LOL.
Looks like a fun place to stay and fun activities. The photo of the shark and your son is cool.
Thanks, Jennifer!! I was soooo glad I captured that photo. Yes, MB has tons of fun activities for the whole family – all age groups, too!
I have teenage boys and it can be tricky finding something that we all like to do. It sounds like you had a great time and there was something for everyone.
Heather, we had a GREAT time! I was so glad the boys enjoyed where we went and what we did. Teen boys, as you well know, can get bored pretty quickly, so I consider myself blessed when the boys take the time to explore, enjoy and take it all in.
I have always wanted to visit Myrtle Beach but never have. This looks like an amazing trip.
You never have – YET (wink, wink). Don’t count it out, Cindy. Keep it on that bucket list until you get the chance to manually check that block!! There’s a lot to do and…I mean, the ocean!!! Here’s hoping you get the chance to visit the area at some point soon!
It says a lot for a destination and your planning that teens found enough to do for several days. I hope to see Myrtle Beach one day!
I have yet to go to Myrtle Beach. Our go to was Charleston when we lived up there. It looks really cool and family friendly!
Ah, yes! We love Charleston, too! We visited both areas when we lived in South Carolina so many years ago. Myrtle Beach is definitely family-friendly – and they pride themselves on that 😊. In fact, they are working very hard at becoming a go-to for families with children who have special needs!
Beautiful! I have not been there in years and this makes me want to go back!!
Yay!!! I hope you get the chance to visit the area again!
We haven’t been to Myrtle Beach before. It looks awesome! I didn’t know Ripleys has an aquarium like that. Well done for stealing away with your husband…I can’t yet imagine what that will be like when our kids are older to just leave them and go out!
When they were younger, I never dreamed there would be a day I would be able to trust them on their own myself – lol!!! We’re very fortunate, though, and they really are great kids. It was a nice way to enjoy a piece of the trip with just Hubby. As for you getting to MB? I hope you get to cross it off that bucket list soon! We really did have a great stay!
I love that picture of your kid in the shark head! How funny!! This looks like a great beach for families.
LOL – he is quite the character!!! We had a great time and hope to get back at some point.
I’ve never been but my husband has and shares his very fond memories often. We need to plan a trip down there!
I agree! How much fun would that be to go places where he has memories that he can share on the spot and then you two can create new ones together!
We went to Ripley’s Aquarium in Tennessee and our family absolutely loved it! Sounds like we need to check this one out too!
Oooh, sounds like WE need to see the one in Tennessee ~ LOL! We had a lot of fun exploring what they had at Ripley’s and it’s in a location where there are a lot of other things to do, as well!! You could make an entire day of it (at least!)!
This looks like a great place to visit as a family, thank you for sharing your information
Absolutely my pleasure! We had a great time!!
Awesome, I entered the giveaway. Maybe I will win and get to go do all the fun things you did!
Sweet! That would be awesome! Keep me informed 😉. We really did have a great time!
Somehow, I’ve never been to Myrtle Beach! I seem to have been all around the area, but not there. It looks like such a fun place to visit; I know my family would love it. It looks like you had a fun time!
LOL – I feel the same way about Savannah, Georgia! We are always nearby, but never get the chance to stop. Here’s hoping we BOTH get the chance to stop by these destinations and enjoy some time there. Myrtle Beach was a great trip for our family, so I would hope it would be for yours!
Looks like a great trip! And I’m convinced that you can never go wrong with a well designed aquarium, everyone has a good time!
Right? There is always something fascinating to see!
Looks like a fantastic vacation destination. I will need to put this on my bucket list. Thank you for a great review.
My pleasure, Shirley! I hope you get the chance to experience Myrtle Beach and have as much fun as we did!
Wow, beautiful! I’ve never been to Myrtle Beach, but have heard so many great things about it over the years that we’ll have to make it there when our son is a little older! And thanks for pointing out the kitchen- our son has several food allergies also, so having a kitchen is such a stress-reliever!
Ah, yes! We are quite familiar with traveling while having to manage food allergies! The kitchen definitely came in quite handy and I’m so glad we had it! Here’s hoping you get the chance to explore Myrtle Beach when your son gets older. Just an FYI, I may have some other posts you find interesting, too, as we have been traveling with food allergies for over a decade. If I can help in any way, let me know! Happy exploring, Robin!
I haven’t been to Myrtle Beach since I was 15! We wont talk about how long ago that has been! Looks like lots of fun for a family!
LOL – I know the feeling! Hubby and I were there back in…oh, I want to say 1997 or 1998???? We were still in the newlywed phase, too, so the idea of family activities was nowhere on our radar. There are so many things to do there for all ages, though. We had a blast!
What a fun adventure! The picture of your teen getting eaten by the shark was hilarious! Thank you for sharing 🙂
He’s quite the comic when he wants to be – lol!!! I’m good with it….gives us some hilarious stories to recall as the years go by.
What a great trip, have always wanted to go to Myrtle Beach!
We had a fantastic time and I’ll be going back later this year – so I’m excited to explore even more of what MB has to offer!
Looks like a fun weekend, as a family and as a couple!
We went to Myrtle Beach a couple years ago! My family and I loved it 🙂
It’s a GREAT family vacation destination!! Glad you guys had a good time!