Pawleys Island Myrtle Beach

Pawleys Island, thirty minutes south of Myrtle Beach, is the Hammock Coast's flagship — a narrow island of old beach houses and live oaks that has received summer visitors since the 1700s and wears its famous self-description proudly: 'arrogantly shabby.'

Pawleys Island Tour | Things to do near Myrtle Beach

Carmen and Brian

Carmen and Brian's Pawleys Island tour: a beach access with its waterway and marsh views, sandpipers working the marsh edge, then a drive into the historic district — the island of old beach houses and live oaks that has been a resort since the 1700s. The gentle introduction to the Hammock Coast's flagship island.

Key takeaways

Beach, creek marsh and the historic district in one tour
Pawleys has welcomed visitors since the 1700s
The marsh side gets as much attention as the ocean side

PAWLEY’S ISLAND Near Myrtle Beach, SC - FULL DAY TOUR [Seafood – Beach & Pier – Shopping]

Beachin with the Boones

The Boones' full-day Pawleys Island tour (2026), spun off from their 12-beaches series by popular demand: seafood, the beach, shopping — and an honest run at the island's famous pier, which turns out to be private, so the tour adapts and shows the outdoor Pawleys they could reach. A complete day in the town, wrong turns included.

Key takeaways

A full-day Pawleys itinerary: seafood, beach and shopping (2026)
The island's pier is private — the film says so plainly when they find out
Made by popular demand after the channel's 12-beaches tour

The PIT Restaurant in Pawleys Island, just south of Myrtle Beach. Great food and drinks.

Beachin with the Boones

The PIT — Pawleys Island Tavern — the Boones' pick for food and drinks in Pawleys: dollar bills papered over the walls and even the bathroom door, PIT fries loaded with chili, bacon, jalapeño and pimento cheese, crab balls, and a fried grouper basket. The island's beloved dive, reviewed with affection.

Key takeaways

The PIT (Pawleys Island Tavern): the island's famous dive bar-restaurant
Loaded PIT fries and the fried grouper basket lead the order
Dollar bills cover the walls — a decades-running tradition

The island tour

Carmen and Brian's tour takes a beach access with its marsh views, then drives the historic district. The Boones' full-day film — spun off from their 12-beaches series by popular demand — builds a whole itinerary: seafood, beach and shopping. It also delivers the island's most useful honest note: the famous Pawleys pier is private, and the film says so plainly when the hosts find out, then adapts to the outdoor Pawleys everyone can reach.

Eating and the island's own words

The PIT — Pawleys Island Tavern — is the island's beloved dive: dollar bills papered over the walls, PIT fries loaded with chili, bacon, jalapeño and pimento cheese, and a fried grouper basket. The CVB's own portrait supplies the phrases the island runs on — 'time moves differently — slower, softer, and just a little saltier' — and its claim to be America's oldest seaside resort, which is the island's own billing and presented as such. Two short 2019 clips from MyrtleBeach.com close the set as period pieces, the island as it was marketed at the end of the 2010s.

Sources: the 6 videos on this page, two of them short 2019 period portraits kept for the record.

Watch: Pawleys Island, guided

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Pawleys Island: Historic Resort Tranquility

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

The CVB's short Pawleys Island portrait: 'In Pawleys Island, time moves differently — slower, softer, and just a little saltier.' The film calls Pawleys the oldest seaside resort in America, walks the causeway over the salt marsh to the wide, uncrowded beach at Pawleys Island Point, and ends in the historic district — 'arrogantly shabby' and proud of it.

Key takeaways

Pawleys bills itself as America's oldest seaside resort
The causeway crossing and the Point are the arrival ritual
'Arrogantly shabby' — the island's own famous self-description