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Coastal destination reveals exciting new ways for travelers to experience The Beach this year and beyond

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With 60 miles of breathtaking beaches and 14 unique coastal communities, there's always something new and exciting to explore in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This year particularly brings travelers an array of all-new activities, attractions, restaurants, lodging and transportation options that are guaranteed to create lasting memories at The Beach.

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"Myrtle Beach International Airport saw record attendance in 2022, and we're determined to continue that upward projection through 2023," said Karen Riordan, president and CEO of Visit Myrtle Beach. "We believe more people are visiting the Grand Strand than ever before because the destination is constantly expanding, renewing and offering a truly unique experience for every type of traveler."

Visitors can enjoy new developments in 2023 and beyond, like:

All-New Activities & Attractions

Can't-Miss Culinary

Lodging & Transportation Developments

Images and renderings can be found here. For more information on what's new in Myrtle Beach, head to www.visitmyrtlebeach.com.

About Myrtle Beach, S.C.Myrtle Beach isn't just a beach. It's The Beach. Popularly known as the Grand Strand, Myrtle Beach is one destination made up of 14 unique communities that stretch 60 miles along the northeast coast of South Carolina. Families, couples and those in search of a warm welcome will find more than just a day at The Beach when they come together to connect and enjoy vibrant entertainment and family attractions, including world-class golf, shopping and fresh coastal Carolina cuisine. From the moment you arrive, you'll find you belong at The Beach – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. For additional information on tourism offerings in the Myrtle Beach area, go to visitmyrtlebeach.com or call (888) Myrtle-1.

SOURCE Visit Myrtle Beach

On the receding shorelines of low-lying Vypin Island off India’s western coast, T. P. Murukesan fixed his eyes on the white paint peeling off the damp walls of his raised home and recounted the most recent floods.

“The floods are occurring more frequently and lasting longer,” he said. The last flood was chest-height for his young grandson. “Every flood brings waters this high, we just deal with it.”

Sea level rise and severe tidal floods have forced many families in Murukesan’s neighborhood to relocate to higher grounds over the years. But the retired fisherman has almost singlehandedly been buffering the impacts of the rising waters on his home and in his community.

Known locally as “Mangrove Man,” Murukesan has turned to planting the trees along the shores of Vypin and the surrounding areas in the Kochi region of Kerala state to counter the impacts of rising waters on his home.

Tidal flooding occurs when sea level rise combines with local factors to push water levels above the normal levels. Mangroves can provide natural coastal defenses against sea level rise, tides and storm surges, but over the course of his life forest cover in the state has dwindled.

Murukesan said he grew up surrounded by beautiful, abundant mangroves that separated islands from the sea. Now, only fragmented patches of mangroves can be seen in Kochi, the state’s financial capital.

“They protected our houses against floods, sea erosion, and storms, used to be an inseparable part of our life, our ecosystem,” he said. “Only these can save us.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is part of a series produced under the India Climate Journalism Program, a collaboration between The Associated Press, the Stanley Center for Peace and Security and the Press Trust of India.

Murukesan said he has planted over 100,000 mangroves. He plants saplings on alternate days and does most of the work himself. Some help comes in the form of saplings from the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, a non-government organization based in Chennai, India.

His efforts come up against a strong trend in the opposite direction.

Ernakulam district, which includes Kochi, has lost nearly 42% of its mangrove ecosystems, including major decreases in the southern Puthuvypeen area in Vypin, according to a study released last year by the Indian Space Research Organization and the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies.

Mangrove cover in the state has reduced from 700 square kilometers (435 square miles) to just 24 square kilometers (15 square miles) since 1975, according to the Kerala Forest department.

“The construction of coastal roads and highways has severely damaged mangrove ecosystems in the state,” said K K Ramachandran, former member secretary of the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority, a government body mandated to protect the coastal environment. “There should be an incentive for people who are making efforts to protect them.”

Murukesan’s dedication to the cause has won him praise, awards and the audience of senior politicians but not incentives beyond the immediate benefits to his home.

He said the mangroves he planted in and around the area in 2014 have grown into a dense thicket and are helping reduce the intensity of tidal flooding, but he’s nevertheless continuing his efforts.

Despite the thousands of new mangrove trees, other factors like climate change mean tidal floods have become more frequent and severe, sometimes keeping children from going to school and people from getting to work. It's all mentally exhausting, Murukesan and his wife, Geetha, said.

“I have to travel a lot to collect seeds. My wife helps me in the nursery as much as she can. I am tired but I cannot stop,” he said.

Geetha said they do the tough work “for our children,” preserving the forest for decades to come.

“It keeps us going,” she said.

Vypin is at high-risk for tidal flooding, said Abhilash S, director of the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at the Cochin University of Science and Technology.

“The sea level has risen and has damaged freshwater supplies. Sea erosion and spring tides have worsened. Coastal flooding is a common occurrence now," he said. “The carrying capacity of the backwaters has reduced due to sediment deposition and encroachment, and the rainwater enters residential areas during the monsoon season.”

Backwaters in the state of Kerala are networks of canals, lagoons and lakes parallel to coastal areas, unique ecosystems that help provide a buffer to rising sea levels.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, global mean sea level rose by 4.5 millimeters per year between 2013 and 2022. It’s a major threat for countries like India, China, the Netherlands and Bangladesh, which comprise large coastal populations.

NASA projections show that Kochi might experience a sea level rise of 0.22 meters (8.7 inches) by 2050, and over half a meter (nearly 20 inches) by 2100 in a middle-of-the-road climate warming scenario.

“Many families have left,” Murukesan said.

Fishing families living within 50 meters (55 yards) of the shore get a financial assistance of 10 lakh rupees ($12,000) through a rehabilitation scheme run by the Kerala government. Only few of those not covered under it have means to relocate to safer places.

Some fishing families shift to government shelters in the monsoon season and return after it ends. A few have built stilt houses that stand on columns to fight tidal floods.

Murukesan knows the sea is rising, but it’s the backwaters that make him more anxious. The backwaters have become shallow due to the silt deposited by heavy floods. During heavy rain events, the water inundates the island.

“We are caught between the sea and the backwaters. They are likely to swallow the island in some years, but I am not going anywhere," he said. “I was born here, and I will die here.”

This story was originally published April 18, 2023, 3:24 AM.

My late grandfather served overseas in the army in World War II, three of my uncles served in the Vietnam War, and my younger brother currently serves in the U.S. Coast Guard. Thankfully, Grandpa Byers lived a long life after his service until he passed away in 2013, and my uncles and brother are alive and well today.

The upcoming Memorial Day federal holiday is all about looking back. Looking back to remember and honor those men and women who did die while serving in the U.S. armed forces to defend the freedom of our country and protect lives around the world.

It’s been a tradition since 1868. This year, Memorial Day falls on Monday, May 29. And the City of Myrtle Beach is in the midst of strengthening its tribute to the city’s reputable history that is grounded at the former U.S. Air Force Base at Warbird Park.

Warbird Park proudly stands on the outskirts of The Market Common and the Myrtle Beach International Airport just west of Business 17 on land that was once an army airfield where soldiers trained. Just days before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, City Council agreed to sell the town’s new airport to the U.S. War Department for $3,500 to serve as the Myrtle Beach Aerial Gunnery and Bombing Range.

The Myrtle Beach Army Air Field was deactivated after the war, and the airport was returned to the City of Myrtle Beach in 1947. But, as the Cold War heated up in the mid-1950s, the city again gave the airport to the federal government, and the property became the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. Its mission: to act as an essential defense line for our country, as threats to our national security have evolved over its 50-plus-year tenure, including as home to the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing.

I can only imagine Myrtle Beach back in that day, crawling with airmen in uniform from the base to the beach to the shag and dive bars along the boulevard. The Air Force base operated until March 1993, when it was turned back over to Myrtle Beach.

Today, the memorial Warbird Park is site of several old fighter planes: the A-10 Thunderbolt II, nicknamed “The Warthog,” providing air support for troops during Operation Desert Storm; the F-100 Super Sabre, which was tasked with locating and destroying North Vietnamese enemy air defenses in the Vietnam War; and the LTV A-7 Corsair II, initially in service with the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and later adopted, with some modifications, by the U.S. Air Force.

Warbird Park is also home to a 9/11 Memorial, a beam from the North Tower of The World Trade Center, as well as a Wall of Service and Circle of Heroes, and will soon showcase a new World War II Memorial.

The city’s design plans for the new memorial include a 1,000-square-foot monument that’s tall enough to see from Business 17, featuring a plaza with the world’s seven continents engraved into the concrete, markers showing where all the world war battles took place, and a star marking Myrtle Beach to signify how our little town played a role in the war. The city also plans to have a black granite wall showcasing photos of the city’s contribution to the war, markers of the different battle groups that trained here in Myrtle Beach, a sculpture, and poems.

Light columns surrounding the plaza will represent each branch of the military.

At press time, construction was expected to begin on the World War II Memorial in March 2023, with plans to reveal it to the public on Veterans Day 2023. Warbird Park’s expansion plans also include adding more parking spaces and a trail system.

I look forward to exploring the park’s newest memorial when it opens and being reminded of how the Myrtle Beach name is forever inserted in the history of World War II. All three of my sons have visited Warbird Park with me in the past, pointing in awe up at the massive fighter planes mounted on cement and over at the planes taking off and landing next door at the active airport.

When you visit, there is no charge for admission to the park, and there are picnic tables placed under pleasant tree shade. For more info and updates, visit warbirdpark.com.

Weeks after Myrtle Beach leaders derailed plans for a 200-home development inside Market Common, Horry County officials were given details on a large project that would alter the scope of Carolina Forest.

A common refrain of ‘not in my backyard’ seems to be popping up in discussions from residents in both communities in attempt to block future developments.

Market Common residents have said they don’t want to be the next Carolina Forest, mean lots of homes. Carolina Forest residents do not want to be the next Market Common with mixed development including businesses near homes.

“We don’t want to see another Carolina Forest,” Paul Meunier, president of The Reserve at Market Common, said. “If it gets to have so many houses down here, it’s no longer like the area we bought in.”

As opponents lined up against both, common themes emerged with concerns about overcrowding, traffic, public safety and flooding dominating the conversation.

“You keep on adding people and adding people, and it’s going to affect quality of life down the road. You can’t look at it in a myopic way,” Carolina Forest resident Sherry Reed said.

Here’s a look at what might happen in both areas in the coming months.

Although the popular shopping district expects to hit full retail capacity by the end of 2023, the inability to add 200 more rental units means lost revenue and a likely delay in building renovation work, property manager Heather Gray said earlier this month.

In late March, the city council’s vote to halt MarketWalk — a planned residential plaza at the intersection of Farrow Parkway and Phillis Boulevard — cut nearly $472,000 a year in anticipated rental income.

MarketWalk’s defeat came on the heels of major pushback from a nearby homeowners’ association and other Market Common residents who said the prospect of marathon stop lights and even more congestion at a gateway to the community should matter more than putting more rooftops into the district.

Market Common owner HomeFed could return to the idea of a hotel on the property — the original plan for the area.

At issue is whether to convert 175 total acres for commercial and retail use — anchored by 1,154 homes.

Although the residential and commercial components must be decided separately, they’re designed to complement one another.

Planning documents for a proposal called Chatham Crossing show a request to flip 34 acres along Postal Way — which feeds onto U.S. Highway 501 — from light industrial into a more versatile retail zoning to include multi-family residential, townhomes, gas stations, self-storage, restaurants/bars, retail, grocery stores and gyms. Medical offices and repair services also would be permitted.

Norm Fay, president of the Covington Lake HOA inside Carolina Forest, said pulling land out of commercial zoning to make room for housing would affect future growth within the area by limiting retail options for existing residents.

“Down the road, this area is going to need commercial property along 501. To take away that commercial property, I think, is absolutely wrong,” he said.

County officials said if the rezoning is approved, no homes would be put into Chatham Crossing. Construction would start in June 2026, with full build-out by the spring of 2028.

A neighboring 129-acre parcel abutting Chatham Crossing would go from undeveloped commercial land into a planned mixed-use development called The Waters. That brings the possibility of mobile food trucks and a farmers market along with the 1,154 homes.

As part of the deal, project managers would make $1.7 million worth of infrastructure and road upgrades to support the additional population, including adding a third lane to Postal Way and building two roundabouts within the subdivision.

When fully built out, the Waters planned development district could add an estimated 10,000 more daily trips along the roadways, according to a traffic analysis. It currently sees 17,500 trips.

CONWAY — Parking meters could be coming to downtown Conway later this year as city officials try to accommodate additional visitors coming to the popular restaurants and stores in the Horry County’s seat.

The city said it is receiving bids from vendors to supply 500 parking meters that will be installed on all on-street parking in areas of the downtown commercial district currently marked as two-hour parking. The meters that would charge $1 per hour will give Conway money to pay for future parking options that could be more lots or a garage.

Conway officials said the estimated $250,000 cost of the proposed parking meters will come from the hotel and restaurant taxes, often paid by visitors.

“We’re beginning to have a real parking issue in the city of Conway which is a good thing,” Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy said at the April 17 City Council meeting. “It says that we have a vibrant downtown that people enjoy shopping and dining and strolling and sightseeing in downtown Conway.

“But the more people we have, the more visitors we have, the more cars there are and what we predict is, in a very few years, a parking garage is going to be absolutely necessary with a huge cost.”

In recent years, Conway has become a popular destination for visitors and resident in like its neighbor 15 miles to the east — Myrtle Beach.

The city of 25,000 residents additionally has seen some of the most rapid population growth in South Carolina, a 45 percent increase since 2010 that was the state’s 13th fastest, according to U.S. Census data.

With Myrtle Beach seeing around 20 million visitors annually, Conway business leaders have said their goal is to attract one percent of that number as they travel on U.S. 501, a major thoroughfare that cuts through the city on the way to the beach.

The adjacent tourist hub of Myrtle Beach uses paid parking, however, the practice is seasonal.

Russell Fowler, one of the owners of The Haberdashery clothing store that has been around for nearly 35 years, said they noticed many of the problems with parking though the years are attributed to a lack of policing the two-hour rule, not availability of parking spaces.

“We have a lot of people who own businesses and people who work in businesses that do park in the parking places, not just for two hours but all day long and if those people were removed from the parking places, our customers would have no problem parking,” Fowler said.

Blain-Bellamy said the city is unable to enforce the current two-hour time limit, through the practice of chalking tires to monitor parking.

Scott Slatton, director of advocacy and communications for the S.C. Municipal Association, said that their organization isn’t aware of a state law that prohibits marking tires, but with a growing trend of app-based parking payments, the practice is waning.

“There are federal court rulings that have both affirmed the practice and then also prohibited the practice as an invasion of privacy,” Slatton said.