Calabash is the Grand Strand's favorite day trip — and it is not in South Carolina. The little town sits just over the North Carolina line, 20 to 45 minutes up Highway 17 depending where on the Strand you start, and it bills itself as the Seafood Capital of the World.

A Day in CALABASH, North Carolina! Things to do Near Myrtle Beach, SC!

Carmen and Brian

Carmen and Brian make the day trip up Highway 17 to Calabash, North Carolina — a 20-to-45-minute drive depending on where you start on the Grand Strand — and tour the self-proclaimed Seafood Capital of the World. The film covers the town's restaurants and shops and explains what Calabash-style seafood means: lightly breaded, deep-fried and served in generous portions.

Key takeaways
  • Calabash is in North Carolina, about 20-45 minutes from Myrtle Beach via Highway 17
  • The town bills itself as the Seafood Capital of the World
  • Calabash style = lightly breaded, deep-fried seafood in big portions

The Not So Hidden Town Of Calabash NC | Shops & Restaurants | Grilled Pound Cake?

Hitch Hiking Yeti

The Hitch Hiking Yeti spends a day in Calabash, the small Brunswick County, North Carolina town whose name became a style of fried seafood. He walks the waterfront restaurant row, eats Calabash-style plates and browses the shops, showing why the little town draws crowds far out of proportion to its size.

Key takeaways
  • Calabash-style seafood is the town's claim to fame
  • The restaurant row sits along the Calabash River waterfront
  • Shops and gift stores cluster with the restaurants in the small downtown

Captain Nance's Seafood - Calabash, NC (The Seafood Capital Of The World)

NCMemoryMakers

NCMemoryMakers visits Captain Nance's Seafood on Nance Street in Calabash, reached by turning off Highway 179 onto River Road toward the waterfront. The review explains the town's lightly breaded, deep-fried Calabash style and works through a full seafood dinner on the river, weighing portion sizes against the price.

Key takeaways
  • Captain Nance's sits at 9939 Nance Street on the Calabash waterfront
  • Reached via Highway 179 and River Road
  • The film defines Calabash style as lightly breaded and deep-fried

What 'Calabash style' means

Every film on this page circles the same definition: seafood lightly breaded, deep-fried, and served in generous portions — a style born in this town's waterfront restaurants and named for it. Carmen and Brian's day-trip film tours the town's restaurants and shops and explains the style; the Hitch Hiking Yeti walks the waterfront restaurant row along the Calabash River; Timothy French's Main Street America profile weighs the town as a visit — or a move — with its working waterfront and shrimp boats at the center.

The restaurant row, plate by plate

Four institutions get full meals. Captain Nance's, on the waterfront off River Road, is filmed twice — NCMemoryMakers weighing portions against price, Carmen and Brian choosing the outdoor deck for the river view. Beck's, one of the town's originals, passes a return visit two years on. Ella's, serving for roughly seven decades, stays a thumbs-up on a rainy-day second review. The Waterfront Seafood Shack covers the order-at-the-window end of the row — fried plates, outdoor seating, fresh off the boat.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page. Calabash is in Brunswick County, North Carolina; this page frames it as what it is for Strand visitors — a day trip.

Captain Nance's Waterfront Seafood Restaurant in Calabash, NC | Things to do Near Myrtle Beach

Carmen and Brian

Carmen and Brian eat at Captain Nance's in Calabash, touring the indoor dining rooms before settling on the outdoor seating for the river view. The review covers the Calabash-style fried seafood plates and treats the waterfront setting — boats and marsh along the Calabash River — as half the experience.

Key takeaways
  • Captain Nance's offers indoor and outdoor seating on the Calabash River
  • The outdoor deck view is the reviewers' highlight
  • Classic Calabash-style fried seafood is the draw

Beck's Calabash Seafood Restaurant - Calabash, North Carolina

NCMemoryMakers

NCMemoryMakers returns to Beck's in Calabash — one of the town's original seafood restaurants — for a full dinner review. The film covers the fried Calabash-style platters the house is known for and the old-school dining room, and the couple, who first reviewed Beck's two years earlier, judge it still worth the drive.

Key takeaways
  • Beck's is one of Calabash's original seafood restaurants
  • Known for traditional Calabash-style fried seafood platters
  • The reviewers returned after two years and rate it a repeat visit

Ella's Seafood Restaurant-Calabash, North Carolina (2nd Review)

NCMemoryMakers

A repeat visit to Ella's of Calabash, a family seafood restaurant the hosts note has been serving for about 72 years. Filmed on a rainy May day in 2022, the review covers a lunch of Calabash-style fried seafood and finds the longtime local favorite unchanged — a thumbs-up, as on their first visit a year before.

Key takeaways
  • Ella's has served Calabash for roughly seven decades
  • A family-run local favorite for Calabash-style fried seafood
  • The hosts' second review, a year on, stays positive

Watch: Calabash Day Trip, guided

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Calabash Waterfront Seafood Shack | Fresh Seafood on the Waterfront | Calabash, NC

vafunseekers

VA Fun Seekers eats lunch at the Waterfront Seafood Shack in Calabash, an order-at-the-window spot behind the waterfront where the kitchen turns out fried Calabash-style seafood. The film walks the ordering setup, the outdoor seating and the souvenir shop, and samples the fresh-off-the-boat plates.

Key takeaways
  • Order-at-the-window waterfront shack in Calabash
  • Fried Calabash-style seafood with outdoor seating
  • A small gift shop sells shirts and souvenirs on site

Would you visit or move to Calabash, NC? | Main Street America

Timothy French

Timothy French profiles Calabash for his Main Street America series, asking whether the tiny North Carolina seafood town is worth a visit — or a move. The tour covers the waterfront restaurants, the Calabash-style cooking that made the town famous, and the slow pace of a community built on shrimp boats and frying.

Key takeaways
  • Calabash profiled as a small town with an outsized food reputation
  • The working waterfront and shrimp boats anchor the town's identity
  • Framed for visitors weighing a day trip or relocation

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