the big christmas light shows in myrtle beach
One of our favorite things about Christmas is experiencing all the light shows around town. We’re lucky to have five big options to choose from –– and six if you want to count the forthcoming Conway House Decoration Contest and awesome private home displays! Here are our reviews of the big Christmas light shows in Myrtle Beach.
winter wonderland of lights
This happens at the MarshWalk in Murrells Inlet. It’s a free, walkthrough setup that spans the full length of the MarshWalk. On Fri, Sat and Sun there are bounce houses, vendors, Santa, barrel rides, an elf and more fun. The barrels rides cost money but everything else is free (aside from purchases made at vendors and food/drink).
PARKING | The MarshWalk stays so crowded so parking is always a little difficult. We always just head to a farther away spot on a side street to avoid the annoyance of 10+ minutes searching for a spot and fighting to get back onto 17.
HOW TO SEE ALL OF IT | Unless you park at one extreme end you’ll have to walk north, south and east along all section of the boardwalk to see it all.
HOT CHOC | Brown Fox Coffee Box is extending hours on the weekends to meet everyone’s hot chocolate and latte needs.
TL;DR | Stroller friendly. Porta potties available. Free, except certain elements on Fri–Sun. We like to go Mon–Thur to avoid crowds. 5-stars from us!
winter wonderland at the beach
We wrote a whole post about this one so you can read all those details here. Here are the quick facts if you want the bare minimum info.
SUMMARY | Stroller friendly. Porta potties available. Free. They have a Family Fun Festival happening Dec 1–3 with special activities like drone light show, s’mores, art walk, tree lighting and more. More details here.
The great christmas light show
The Great Christmas Light Show is in NMB. This is not firsthand experienced but based on info I’ve gathered and heard:
TIME YOUR VISIT | This is a drive through light show ($20-25 per vehicle) and it’s really beautiful and well-done but it gets very congested. We’ve done similar drive through lights shows in the past and you either need to get there about an hour before the gates open or drive through near closing time. Otherwise you’re just sitting bumper to bumper almost the whole time.
SANTA’S VILLAGE | This is only open Thur–Sun until Dec 15 and it opens nightly from Dec 19 until Dec 30 (closed on Christmas Day). The photos from this do look very cute so it’s worth the stop and prioritizing going on those days. There are elements in Santa’s Village that cost extra (train ride, hot chocolate, treats, gifts, elf hunt, etc).
night of 1000 candles
We wrote a complete write up here for this one and here is our summary as well.
SUMMARY | Purchase tickets in advance, it sells out. Stroller-friendly but it’ll be crowded and dark in places. Lots of walking. So, so, so beautiful. Try to know the layout of the gardens beforehand.
celebration of lights (conway)
Conway’s Celebration of Lights is just part of the magic of Conway at Christmas. Conway has a lot more going on downtown. See their schedule here.
DETAILS | It’s another drive-through option with a $2 per person fee. It’s only open Thurs–Sun from 6–9pm. Access it from Ash Pond Road and Marina Drive. When we went on a Friday around 6pm and there was no traffic to get into the display. It’s a pretty short and sweet display but there are some favorite scenes and it’s definitely worth the small price and ease of navigating.
PAIR IT WITH | Since the drive-through lights will only take you about 5 minutes, plan on spending some time wandering around the rest of Conway’s Christmas features. The gingerbread houses are accessible in Black Water Market, the water tower is lit up, Riverfront Park has a big tree and some lights in the trees, and visit Christmas Village setup Thur–Sun from 5:30–10pm (Santa, shopping, Shoo-Fly Express).
boondocks adventure farm
Also a fairly new spot which we haven’t experienced firsthand at Christmas.
It is located in Nakina, NC and about 45 minutes from central MB, just across the NC state line. Key features are a live stage, fireworks show, hayride, grinch experience, photo opps, and more. Tickets are $24.99 for kids and adults plus $5 for parking.
OPEN | They’re open Friday–Sundays at 5pm. See more and purchase tickets here.
grand strand christmas light show
This one is brand new and we don’t have any firsthand experience with it yet. It is a 1/2 mile walk through lights display and offers a Santa experience, hot chocolate, and vendors on sight. See more info here.
