Our Myrtle Beach Spring Break with Kids!

Considering a trip to Myrtle Beach? Here is a recap of our Myrtle Beach spring break with kids - and some ideas for planning your vacation!

We just got back from a 5 day Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach with our kids, aged 4 and 6.

We live in Charleston, and Myrtle Beach is just a 2.5 hour drive north, but I actually had never been as an adult.

Our son is obsessed with putt putt, so we decided that a week in Myrtle Beach would be easy, convenient, and fun for the whole family.

Here's everything you should know about our trip - and some great tips for you if you are planning a family Myrtle Beach trip of your own!

Our Myrtle Beach Spring Break with Kids!

We traveled to Myrtle Beach in mid April 2025 and stayed for four nights. We were there from a Monday to a Friday.

Because it is a fairly short drive from our house, we were able to leave after breakfast and be there for lunch on Monday and stay until lunch on Friday and drive home in time for dinner.

I thought that this was a good length of time to be there. If it had been a bit warmer, another beach day would have been nice. But, as it was, it was great.

Where we stayed

We stayed at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach. This is an oceanfront resort and is a part of the Kingston Resort.

We booked this hotel, honestly because it was a Hilton property. We did not pay with points, but we racked up a ton of them using my husband's Hilton AmEx and a 2x points special Hilton had running.

We love that each room is a suite - a living room with a dining table and tiny kitchenette (just a mini fridge, microwave, and sink, but so nice to have!) as well as a bedroom.

We also had a balcony with what I would call a partial ocean view - but honestly we saw a lot more beach than I thought we would from that angle! The balcony was quite large too, so plenty of space for sitting, enjoying the view, and storing your beach gear.

The hotel itself was fine - about the quality that I would expect from an Embassy Suites. I think it is in need of a cosmetic refresh, but it was clean and we felt safe with no problems.

The Pools + Beach

The big appeal at this hotel was the water area. There is a large heated pool, a hot tub, 2 water slides with a "kids pool" at the bottom (unheated), and a splash area for little kids (unheated).

We were there for spring break, but it was pretty chilly. The unheated pools were, at the risk of sounding dramatic, almost unusable. Some kids were in there, but our kids lasted 5 minutes or less before heading to the heated pool.

Because of this, the heated pool and especially the hot tub were very very crowded. It was spring break, we expected it, but I just want to be transparent. It was very similar last spring break at Hammock Beach resort in Florida - I think spring break is just hit or miss on weather!

In addition to the pools, this hotel is directly on the beach! Literally, step out of the hotel and there was the (very short) walkway to the sand.

It was very nice being that close to the beach, and the beach was great. Soft sand, plenty of depth, and the water was shockingly clear for the Carolinas. There are some shells, but not loads and nothing exotic.

Overall, we were happy with the hotel. The grounds are great, free breakfast was clutch, the rooms are spacious. As I said, it needs a little refresh, but it's not terrible in that way.

Where we ate

The hotel included a free breakfast for everyone. This was clutch - it was the traditional buffet with varying hot food as well as cereal, fruit, and pastries. It was so easy to just go downstairs and eat and not have to pay $40 a person to do so!

Additionally, the hotel had a free happy hour every evening. Each adult got 2 free drinks (from a limited, but totally sufficient, menu) and kids got unlimited drinks.

The bartender was mixing up every color of Shirley Temples - they had Blue Smurfs, "Purple Drink", and a Mermaid drink during our stay. Huge hit!

The happy hour included limited snacks, such as chips and dip, fruit (a weak selection) and trail mix. Unfortunately, there was a very long line and the snacks were cleared out quickly, and while they did refill them it was sort of a long time in between refills.

Definitely don't come thinking you can make it into dinner - you can't. But stop by for an appetizer and drink before heading out to dinner!

We brought sandwich stuff to make for lunch. This was perfect with a big hotel breakfast and eating out for dinner - the last thing that I personally wanted was more french fries at lunch time. There was food available by the pool if that's more your speed.

For dinner, we did a few different things:

1. Night one ate dinner at the Black Drum Brewing restaurant at the hotel. It was OK, nothing great and definitely not a brewery - they just served a lot of beers.
2. Night two we ate out at a taco place in a strip mall after playing putt putt. It was good and easy and cheap!
3. Night three we ordered pizza to the hotel. We ate leftovers for lunch the next day!
4. Night four we ate at the Coastal Grill in the hotel. It was also ok, but fast and with a view of the ocean!

The food in the hotel was, as you might expect, mediocre and overpriced but convenient. If you have the ability to go out, I would recommend it!

What we did

We had 3 full days and 2 half days at the resort. We spent both of the half days at the pool before and after check in.

The 3 full days were split a bit.

Tuesday we did beach in the morning, lunch and a bit of a break in our room, the pool in the afternoon, then went to play putt putt and ate out in town for dinner.

Wednesday was the coldest day. We went to Ripley's Aquarium in the morning. I could write a whole post on it but we were SHOCKED. Because it was a Ripleys I had low expectations, but it was actually great.

They had:

• LOTS of touch tanks including jellyfish and stingrays
• A human conveyor belt through a shark tank with saw fish and hammer heads and tons of cool stuff!
• Sloths
• Axolotls
• Lots of themed exhibits
• A glass bottom boat you can (pay extra) ride around in the shark tank!
• 2 indoor kids playgrounds

This aquarium is expensive - it was about $115 for the 4 of us to go. But, it was a great cooler or rainy day activity.

We played putt putt after the aquarium and ate lunch at Jimmy Johns haha.

That afternoon it warmed up and the sun came out and we had pool time, then ordered a pizza!

We also walked down the boardwalk to the Hilton a few doors down. They had another couple pools that we were able to access but never got around to swimming in, because it was a bit of a walk with the kids.

On Thursday it was cooler in the morning so we played putt putt first, then came back and ate leftover pizza for lunch in the room.

We did beach and pool in the afternoon and then had dinner in the restaurant!

Putt Putt Places we Enjoyed

We ended up playing five different putt putt courses in five days while we were there. We all played one per day (not including the first day) and my son and husband went back out one night for another round.

Here's some of our favorites!

Captain Hook's

The consensus favorite was Captain Hook's Adventure Golf. This location actually had two courses, and we chose one that had a giant rock skull and cave hole, among others.

They had great animatronics and different features and everyone thought it was their favorite!

Treasure Island

Treasure Island was a very close second place. This course had great elevation change and interesting water holes. The holes were not difficult for kids, yet were a lot of fun.

Jungle Safari

Jungle Safari is the one that the boys went to on their own, but they really enjoyed playing it at night. There was some decent elevation, but lots of all fake animals and cool holes.

My 6 year old son even got a hole in one on holes 1, 9 and 18, so there's good opportunity for kids to celebrate, even though none of the holes were "automatic holes in one."

Red Dragon Cove

On the way out of town, we stopped at Red Dragon Cove because my son is obsessed with a TikToker that played there once. It also had two courses, one with elevation and one that was flatter.

We played the flat one because that course had a hole on a pirate ship, which my kids loved. Overall, this particular course wasn't the best, but it was very clean and seemed newer than the others.

Hawaiian Rumble

The final one on my list is actually the first one we went to. It's called Hawaiian Rumble and is (probably self-proclaimed) the "#1 mini golf course in America."

It was a nice course, and wasn't overly difficult for kids, but it lacked some of the interesting aspects that some of the other ones had. But there is a volcano that goes off at the top of the hour!

Final Thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by our week in Myrtle Beach. Maybe I had low expectations, but the beach was nice, the putt putt was amazing, and we had a great family-friendly trip.

I don't know that I would fly in for the experience, but if you are within driving distance and planning a family beach trip, this could be a great option for you!

Video Recap

Click here or the image below to watch my full video recap of the trip!