Myrtle Beach Parking: Beach and Boardwalk Options

Published on 7 min read
Aerial view of Myrtle Beach Pavilion and the surrounding amusement park, with a parking lot in the foreground.
A historic aerial postcard view of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion and amusement park, showing a nearby parking lot.

For a central beach-and-Boardwalk visit, choose Pavilion Parking Garage if you want a defined parking destination, or public metered spaces on 9th Avenue North if you are willing to look for an available bay. Both leave you with a walk to Plyler Park, beside the Boardwalk on Ocean Boulevard.

The price of a city space depends on whether it is an ordinary street bay or beach-access parking. Season also matters: central city meters have an off-season fee exemption, while private parking and hotel guest spaces are separate choices.

Where to leave your car

CriterionPavilion Parking Garage9th Avenue North public meters
Approach locationKings Highway sideNear Ocean Boulevard
Parking settingGarageOn-street bays

Pavilion Parking Garage gives you a specific place to head for when approaching the beachfront from Kings Highway. Use the vehicle entrance on Ninth Avenue North rather than treating the Kings Highway address as the entrance. From the garage to Plyler Park, the walk is about 0.3 miles and takes about 7 minutes. Allow extra time for collecting belongings and getting everyone ready before setting off.

Name
Pavilion Parking Garage
Location
Downtown Myrtle Beach, by 9th Avenue North and Kings Highway. Maps
Essential fact
A public parking garage by 9th Avenue North and Kings Highway, near the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk.

The public metered spaces on 9th Avenue North near Ocean Boulevard suit drivers who prefer a street bay on the beachfront side. Your walk starts wherever you find a permitted space, so choose the bay for its signs as well as its position. Plyler Park is the common destination for either option, giving you access to the central Boardwalk and the beach.

Pack what you can comfortably carry from the car to the sand and back. Chairs, a cooler and children’s beach equipment can make the onward walk more demanding than a lightly loaded Boardwalk stroll. Keep essentials together so you do not need to return to the car for individual items.

Before leaving either parking location, note where the car is and leave room in your visit for the return walk. With a paid street session, that means heading back before the parking time runs out, not starting the walk back when it expires.

Street spaces and parking charges

Ordinary city-metered street spaces on 9th Avenue North cost $2 per hour, with no daily rate. They fall within the central street-parking area between 6th Avenue North and 16th Avenue North. City-operated oceanfront beach-access and street-end spaces instead cost $3 per hour, capped at $15 per day. For a longer beach visit, the type of bay therefore matters as much as how close it is to the water.

Using visitor street spaces

Do

  • Choose signed city bays marked for paid public parking.
  • Pay the posted meter or pay-station rate for the space you occupy.
  • Use a visitor pass or non-resident placard only in its designated metered spaces.
  • Follow the payment display instructions at the bay or machine.

Don’t

  • Park in decal-only bays, even with a seven-day visitor pass or non-resident placard.
  • Use hotel guest spaces unless you are authorised to park there.
  • Assume that every space beside a beach access has the ordinary street tariff.

9th Avenue North is a vehicle access avenue to Ocean Boulevard, and ordinary visitors can reach its metered spaces. Temporary traffic restrictions can still affect your approach, so follow traffic controls rather than assuming the avenue will always be open in the same way.

If you pay through ParkMobile’s Basic Membership, its transaction fee is $0.35 per transaction. An extension is a separate transaction and incurs another fee. Choose enough parking time for the beach or Boardwalk visit and the return to your car, rather than allowing only for the time you expect to spend at your destination.

Display a valid disability placard or qualifying disability licence plate to park free at public-operated meters. Qualifying plates include Purple Heart, Disabled American Veterans and Medal of Honor plates, and a valid official disability hang tag also qualifies. This public-meter exemption is not a general exemption from private parking charges.

Valid out-of-state disability plates and placards, and other official evidence of disability, receive the same parking privileges when displayed. The exemption does not permit parking where all parking is prohibited or in spaces reserved for special vehicle types. A free meter session still requires a lawful bay, and the route from that bay to the beach needs to suit the person using it.

Free parking and the off-season

You can park free in central city-metered spaces from 1 October through the last day of February each year. The concession covers the beachfront district between Sixth Avenue South and 21st Avenue North, from the seafront west to Kings Highway. That puts the public metered bays on 9th Avenue North within the free-parking district for a Boardwalk visit.

Use those bays as an off-season alternative to a private parking space, while still observing their signs and restrictions. The seasonal concession removes the city parking charge, not the requirement to use a permitted space. Finding a public bay on 9th Avenue North can therefore make a beach or Boardwalk outing cheaper without changing where you finish the walk.

The concession applies to city meters, not automatically to hotel guest parking or private parking offers. A nearby private space may have its own charges and conditions, even when the public meters are free.

Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach are separate municipalities. The central Myrtle Beach concession is not a coast-wide free-parking rule, so do not carry it over to a space in North Myrtle Beach simply because both destinations share the beach.

Leaving the car overnight

An unoccupied car may remain overnight in a city-metered space on 9th Avenue North unless the space is marked “No Overnight Parking”. Leaving it overnight does not remove the obligation to pay when charges apply, and the signs at the individual bay still govern its use.

Sleeping in a vehicle in a public parking space is prohibited as camping. The rule covers using a vehicle as living or sleeping accommodation on a right-of-way or restricted public property when the circumstances indicate that use, regardless of intent. Permission to leave the car is not permission to spend the night inside it.

For hotel guests, an authorised hotel space is usually the more convenient overnight choice for luggage and access to your room. Included parking and a separately charged space have different effects on the cost of your stay. Use the arrangement attached to your accommodation, rather than treating any nearby hotel bay as public parking. Once the car is left there, a walkable Boardwalk visit can avoid another parking session altogether.

Is bringing the car worthwhile?

Driving to the central beach and Boardwalk

Pros

  • Carries beach equipment and children’s belongings from accommodation farther away.
  • Keeps a vehicle available for a wider road trip beyond the central beachfront.
  • Can help someone with limited mobility reach a suitable parking location closer to their destination.

Cons

  • Adds parking costs when you could walk from your accommodation.
  • Still leaves you carrying belongings on the final walk to the beach.
  • A nearby bay or a short walk is not necessarily suitable for someone with limited mobility.

If your accommodation is within a comfortable walk of the Boardwalk, leave the car there for a lightly loaded visit. Driving is more useful when the journey to the beachfront, rather than the walk from the parking space, is the main difficulty.

For limited mobility, consider the whole journey from the parked car to your intended destination, including getting out of the space, crossings and access to the beach. Choose for the person and their equipment, not distance alone. With children or bulky gear, reduce what you carry so the car’s convenience does not disappear on the final stretch.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, and key figures.

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