Broadway at the Beach or Barefoot Landing?

Choose Broadway at the Beach for an attraction-led outing, or Barefoot Landing for a waterfront meal with shopping. Broadway brings together Ripley’s Aquarium, WonderWorks and entertainment-led dining around a lake. Barefoot’s Intracoastal Waterway setting suits a meal and a browse, with House of Blues adding a reason to plan an evening around a concert.

Both let you make a casual visit without committing to a paid attraction. The useful distinction is what you want to spend your time doing, rather than which complex has more to offer. If you have room for an attraction visit and dinner, Broadway first and Barefoot afterwards gives each a different role in the day.

Broadway at the Beach vs Barefoot Landing

Criterion	Broadway at the Beach	Barefoot Landing
Waterfront setting	Lake	Intracoastal Waterway
Entertainment mix	Aquarium, WonderWorks, dining entertainment	Waterfront dining, shopping, concerts
General admission	Free per person	Free per person
Ordinary visitor parking	Free per car per visit	Free per car per visit

Neither complex has an entry-cost advantage for an ordinary stroll. You can walk around, look into shops and decide whether to eat without buying an attraction ticket. What changes your spending is what you add: a meal, purchases, an attraction or a concert. Treat those as choices within the outing, rather than as the price of getting into the complex.

Broadway at the Beach is the stronger choice when a named attraction is the reason to go. That gives the visit a centrepiece, with shopping and food around it. Barefoot Landing is the better fit when the meal and waterfront setting are the centrepiece, and you want shops to browse before or afterwards.

The entertainment mix is not a ranking. A family wanting an aquarium visit and a traveller wanting dinner by the water are choosing different experiences, even when they start with the same casual shopping-and-dining idea. Choose the activity you would regret missing, then let the rest of the visit remain flexible.

Attractions and waterfront dining

Broadway at the Beach

Pros

• A brief lake-side stroll can stand on its own, without turning into an attraction-filled day.
• You can give the visit one clear focus, then add food and browsing as time allows.

Cons

• Combining several attractions commits more of your day and increases spending.
• The public lake-side walk is outdoors, so poor weather can interrupt a stroll.

Barefoot Landing

Pros

• A meal and a browse make a complete outing without needing a concert.
• You can keep shopping informal and give most of your time to dining.

Cons

• Building the visit around a concert commits you to that evening’s performance rather than an open-ended stroll.
• Expecting an attraction-packed visit can leave the shopping-and-dining outing feeling too limited.

Broadway at the Beach is worth visiting if Ripley’s Aquarium or WonderWorks is something you actually want to do. The aquarium provides the marine-life focus, while WonderWorks offers interactive science-themed activities in its distinctive upside-down building. Choose one as the main visit rather than automatically adding both. The Hangout puts entertainment-led dining into the same outing, so a meal can be part of the activity rather than simply a pause between shops.

The lake-side walk is also a reason to leave space between activities. Heroes Harbor, with its replica Morris Island Light beside the water, gives the public spaces an identifiable landmark. You need not make every stop a purchase.

Barefoot Landing is worth visiting when a waterfront meal is the main event. Flying Fish Public Market & Grill gives seafood a place in that plan, with shopping before or after the meal. The Intracoastal Waterway makes this a different waterside outing from Broadway’s lake. House of Blues Myrtle Beach adds a concert destination, but it works best as a deliberate evening plan rather than something you assume you will casually drop into.

For shopping, the seasonal retail windows matter most at the ends of the day. In January and most of February, Barefoot opens earlier but closes earlier than Broadway. In peak summer, Broadway keeps its shops open later, which helps if browsing is something you want to leave until after dinner.

Retail season	Broadway at the Beach	Barefoot Landing
1 January–26 February	Sun–Thu 11am–7pm; Fri–Sat 11am–9pm	Daily 10am–6pm
27 February–27 March	Sun–Thu 10am–8pm; Fri–Sat 10am–9pm	Sun–Thu 10am–8pm; Fri–Sat 10am–9pm
28 March–11 April	Daily 10am–10pm	Daily 10am–10pm
12 April–21 May	Daily 10am–9pm	Sun–Thu 10am–8pm; Fri–Sat 10am–9pm
22 May–18 June	Daily 10am–10pm	Daily 10am–10pm
19 June–15 August	Daily 10am–11pm	Daily 10am–10pm
16 August–6 September	Daily 10am–10pm	Daily 10am–10pm
7 September–31 October	Sun–Thu 10am–8pm; Fri–Sat 10am–9pm	Sun–Thu 10am–8pm; Fri–Sat 10am–9pm
1–25 November and 27 November–23 December	Sun–Thu 11am–7pm; Fri–Sat 11am–9pm	Sun–Thu 10am–7pm; Fri–Sat 10am–8pm
Thanksgiving Day	11am–6pm	—
Christmas Eve	11am–5pm	10am–5pm
26–30 December	Sun–Thu 11am–7pm; Fri–Sat 11am–9pm	Sun–Thu 10am–7pm; Fri–Sat 10am–8pm
New Year’s Eve	11am–9pm	10am–7pm

Meals, rain and summer evenings

Allow roughly $25–$45 per person at either complex for a casual sit-down main course and a non-alcoholic drink. The choice of meal matters more than the complex: burgers, sandwiches and other casual dishes tend towards the lower end, while seafood choices move you higher. Add starters, dessert or alcoholic drinks and a fuller meal can reach roughly $45–$65 per person. Allow extra for tax and a tip at a table-service restaurant.

Broadway offers a sheltered activity when rain interrupts the walk. Ripley’s Aquarium is indoors, but its admission is separate from entering the complex. Choose it because you want the aquarium visit as well as shelter, not because a rain shower obliges you to turn a low-spend outing into a paid one. Moving between shops and restaurants still involves being outdoors.

House of Blues Myrtle Beach concerts require a separate ticket for everyone entering the show. A dinner-and-shopping visit to Barefoot does not include concert admission. Choose a concert as the evening’s main activity, then leave enough time to eat beforehand rather than expecting the meal and performance to happen whenever you arrive.

• Broadway’s Summer Nights runs nightly from 8 June–30 August, with entertainment including Mr. Nigel, Over the Moon Variety Performances and character appearances. Fireworks take place on Tuesdays at 10pm, weather permitting.
• Barefoot’s SummerFest runs from 8 June–31 August, with nightly entertainment.
• Barefoot’s Pepsi Stage has live music Tuesday–Sunday, 7pm–10pm, from 5 June–30 August.

These seasonal events give an evening stroll a focus without making it a concert-led visit. The Pepsi Stage music and a House of Blues show are different plans, so choose which one you mean when you set aside an evening for live entertainment.

Retail hours do not govern every venue at either complex. Broadway’s restaurants, attractions and nightlife keep their own hours, as do Barefoot’s restaurants, entertainment and attractions. An evening meal or show is therefore a different plan from arriving late to browse shops.

Visiting both in one day

Broadway at the Beach is in Myrtle Beach, not North Myrtle Beach. Barefoot Landing is in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Treat them as two separate destinations rather than neighbouring parts of the same complex, especially if you have only a short break from other plans.

Starting from Broadway after a daytime attraction visit, continue to Barefoot for dinner and, if you want it, evening entertainment. That order puts the activity that needs your attention first and leaves the meal as the second outing’s focus. You can browse Broadway around your chosen attraction, then make Barefoot’s shops and waterfront part of the time before dinner.

The drive from Broadway at the Beach to Barefoot Landing is about 10 miles and takes about 18 minutes. Leave additional time to get back to your car, park at Barefoot and walk to your restaurant. Summer traffic can also extend the transfer, so avoid leaving Broadway at the last moment for a fixed concert start.

Keep the meal and visits separate from the driving time. An aquarium or WonderWorks visit, shopping and dinner each need their own share of the day. If you want a House of Blues concert afterwards, make dinner an earlier part of the Barefoot visit rather than trying to squeeze it in after a long afternoon at Broadway.

With only enough time for a meal and a little browsing, stay at one complex. The extra departure, drive and arrival can take away the unhurried part of the outing. Having both nearby is useful when they serve different purposes, not a reason to turn a short visit into two rushed stops.

Which outing fits your plans?

• For an attraction-led family outing, choose Broadway at the Beach, with Ripley’s Aquarium or WonderWorks as the main activity and food around it.
• For a rainy-day indoor activity, choose Broadway if separate aquarium admission suits your budget and you want the marine-life visit.
• For a waterfront meal with shopping before or afterwards, choose Barefoot Landing, particularly when the Intracoastal Waterway setting is part of the appeal.
• For a planned House of Blues concert, choose Barefoot, and make dinner fit around the performance.
• For low-spend strolling, either complex works. Entry and ordinary parking costs tie, so choose the setting you prefer and limit optional spending.
• For an attraction visit and dinner with enough time for both, go Broadway first, then Barefoot.
• For a short window, choose one complex and enjoy the activity or meal rather than spending part of it transferring.

Let your main activity decide, and leave the rest of the outing flexible.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, opening hours, and services.

• Broadway at the Beach — fares and charges
• Barefoot Landing — fares and charges
• Broadway at the Beach Management — opening hours
• Barefoot Landing Management — opening hours
• House of Blues Myrtle Beach — service
• Broadway at the Beach — service
• Barefoot Landing — service