Minutes from the resort strip, the Grand Strand turns genuinely wild. This guide assembles the nature films — a big-cat preserve, two alligator parks, and the documentary that maps them all.

Jay Prehistoric Pets Visits Myrtle Beach Safari!

Myrtle Beach Safari

Reptile YouTuber Jay Brewer (Jay Prehistoric Pets) brings his daughters for a full day at Myrtle Beach Safari, and the preserve's own film of the visit is the most complete look at the experience: a welcome from the T.I.G.E.R.S. team — The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species — who live on site with more than 100 animal ambassadors, then encounter after encounter. Like all Safari footage, this is a hosted media visit: guests on the Wild Encounters Tour don't film — the preserve's photographers document it, and the flood of photos is part of what Jay raves about.

Key takeaways
  • T.I.G.E.R.S. = The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species
  • 100+ animal ambassadors live at the preserve with the Antle family team
  • Guest cameras stay away on tour — the preserve's own photographers shoot your visit

Huntington Beach State Park - Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Exploring the Grand Strand

A full day at Huntington Beach State Park: driving the moss-draped entrance road and the causeway (alligators in the freshwater lagoon beside it), the never-crowded beach where groups spread 40–50 feet apart, the campground, the gift shop, and a walk over to Atalaya Castle's walls — a relaxed, watch-it-like-you're-there visit filmed with an annual state parks pass.

Key takeaways
  • Day entry was $8 per person, or $99 for the annual SC state parks pass, when filmed
  • Alligators are commonly seen in the lagoon along the entrance causeway
  • The park limits entry, so the beach stays uncrowded even in July

BROOKGREEN GARDENS Full Tour & NEW Conservatory in Murrells Inlet near MYRTLE BEACH, SC!

Carmen and Brian

The newest full tour of Brookgreen Gardens, built around the brand-new conservatory that opened this year. Carmen and Brian tour the conservatory first, then the sculpture gardens and the Lowcountry Zoo — the complete current state of the grounds in Murrells Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach.

Key takeaways
  • Features the new conservatory, opened the year of filming
  • Full circuit: conservatory, sculpture gardens and Lowcountry Zoo
  • Brookgreen is in Murrells Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach

The Safari

Two films cover Myrtle Beach Safari (T.I.G.E.R.S. — The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species): a hosted full-day visit by reptile creator Jay Brewer and his daughters, and the CVB's overview — a guided Wild Encounters walk through 50 acres meeting tigers, wolves, leopards and chimpanzees, among 100-plus animal ambassadors including 60-plus big cats, Bubbles the elephant and a liger. Both note the house rule honestly: guests don't film on tour; the preserve's photographers document your visit. Tours run March through October.

The wild coast

Huntington Beach State Park appears twice — the causeway is the best alligator viewing in the park, with hundreds of bird species recorded — and the CVB's wild-places documentary tours five protected places most visitors drive past, told by the rangers who protect them. Brookgreen Gardens gets its newest full tour (new conservatory included) and its own segment: 9,000 acres that are simultaneously an accredited museum, zoo and botanical garden. A Pawleys Island tour closes on the marsh edge, sandpipers working the tide.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page.

Outdoor Things to Do in Myrtle Beach: Gardens, State Parks & Wild Places | Myrtle Moments Ep 4

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

A Visit Myrtle Beach 'Myrtle Moments' documentary on the wild side of the Grand Strand: five places most visitors drive straight past — Brookgreen Gardens' 9,000 acres of sculpture, zoo and botanical gardens, both oceanfront state parks, and the longleaf pine and salt-marsh preserves inland — told through the rangers and conservationists who protect them.

Key takeaways
  • The episode tours five natural places within minutes of the resort strip
  • Brookgreen Gardens alone covers 9,000+ acres of a former rice plantation
  • Both Myrtle Beach and Huntington Beach state parks appear as the coast's protected wild places

T.I.G.E.R.S. Myrtle Beach Safari

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Visit Myrtle Beach's overview of T.I.G.E.R.S. Myrtle Beach Safari, from a lifelong local who calls it one of the most remarkable things he's ever seen. The facts: a guided Wild Encounters Tour walking 50 acres of preserve to meet tigers, wolves, leopards and chimpanzees; a preserve home to over 60 big cats, trained falcons, Bubbles the elephant and a liger; tours running March through October.

Key takeaways
  • Wild Encounters Tour: guided walk through 50 acres
  • 60+ big cats, plus Bubbles the elephant and a liger
  • Tours run March through October

Brookgreen Gardens: Sculpture, Zoo and Gardens in Murrells Inlet | Myrtle Moments

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

A Myrtle Moments segment with Brookgreen's vice president of marketing, Lauren Joseph, on what the place actually is: a cultural historic landmark of more than 9,000 acres in Murrells Inlet that is simultaneously an accredited museum — holding the finest collection of American figurative sculpture in the country — an accredited zoo, and a botanical garden. 'More than you imagine' is their tagline; the segment makes the case.

Key takeaways
  • 9,000+ acre cultural historic landmark in Murrells Inlet
  • Accredited museum: finest American figurative sculpture collection in the country
  • Also an accredited zoo and botanical garden in one property

Watch: Myrtle Beach Wildlife And Nature, guided

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

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

Huntington Beach State Park Tour! A Myrtle Beach Area Hidden Gem!

Carmen and Brian

Carmen and Brian tour Huntington Beach State Park, the 'hidden gem' just south of Myrtle Beach in Murrells Inlet: the causeway over the salt marsh — their pick for the best alligator viewing in the park, with observation stations on both sides — the birdlife (hundreds of species recorded here), and the wide, uncrowded beach that runs more than two miles toward the jetty, one of their favorite stretches of sand on the Grand Strand.

Key takeaways
  • The marsh causeway is the park's best alligator-viewing spot
  • Hundreds of bird species have been recorded in the park
  • The beach runs over two miles toward the jetty

More Myrtle Beach essentials

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