Where to find the freshest local seafood: A guide to Myrtle Beach seafood markets
The Grand Strand area is renowned for fresh local seafood. With access to the Atlantic fishing fleet and it’s proximity to tidal estuaries teaming with shellfish, locals and visitors have plenty of choices to shop for their favorite delicacies.
What do they mean by fresh and local?
This is the most often asked question according to seafood market managers. Availability of different species are seasonal. A variety of seafood from shellfish like shrimp and crab to deep water fishes like grouper and mahi are delivered directly to our docks seasonally. Other catches are packed and shipped on ice within days of being caught up and down the Atlantic seaboard. Market owners have relationships with local fisherman and packing houses to assure the catches they provide are as fresh as possible. But the best way to know what is in season and locally sourced is to simply ask before you buy.
Local fish markets from North to South and what you need to know.
Many local seafood markets from Georgetown to Calabash provide more than the basics of fresh fish. Some have dine-in options, others will cook for you, and there are even options to buy shrimp and crab straight right off the boat. Here is a round-up of local seafood markets and what you can expect to find.
Waterfront Seafood Shack Market and Eatery
9945 Nance St, Calabash, NC 28467 910-575-0017
This quaint market run by Captain Bob Taylor of the Calabash Fishing Fleet sits on the docks at the Calabash waterfront and offers outdoor waterfront dining overlooking the Calabash River where his shrimp and commercial boats come in to deliver their fresh catches.
Specialties: The Calabash Fisheries commercial boat provides a variety of local fish that may be unique compared to other markets because they catch them themselves including triggerfish, vermillion snapper and rose fish. Captain Taylor suggests that customers, “be adventurous and willing to try something different.”
Beyond the fish: Boat slips are often available at the docks to allow boaters to stop in for a meal or purchase that big one that may have gotten away.
1108 Sea Mountain Highway #1, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582 843-249-2008
Open since 1970 and operated by Timmy Platt, the market was originally started to sell fish seined along the beach by his father Eugene Platt. Platts is still a family business and has continued to grow in both selection and services.
Specialties: They prepare popular “Low Country Boils” that include red potatoes, sausage, corn on the cob, shrimp, crab legs and clams in two sizes. The small pot serves 6 for 89.99 and the large serves 12 for 159.99
Beyond the fish: Platts will cook your selections for you on-site. Steaming is free for most seafood purchased but they will also grill or fry for $3 per pound. They will also cook fish caught by customers of local charter fishing customers as long as it has been cleaned.
Bimini’s Oyster Bar and Seafood Market
930 Lake Arrowhead Rd, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572 843-449-5549
Bimini’s is a well known restaurant and Oyster bar but visitors may be pleased to learn that they opened a full featured seafood market right next door about five years ago. The market provides all the fish selections one might expect, but also myriad food services geared toward the traveler or party planner.
Specialties: Pre-order specialty trays, salads and dips including shrimp cocktail trays and a customer favorite Shrimp Curry Salad. They also make a variety of sauces in-house including cocktail, remoulade, and ponzu..
Beyond the fish: Bring your cooler and let the staff pack your fresh selections on ice or rent a steam pot, oyster knives, trays and everything else needed to serve guests during your stay.
6401 N Kings Hwy, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572 843-492-0374
Mr. Fish has been a staple of Myrtle Beach seafood since 1982. With their more traditional restaurant right next door, the seafood market also offers indoor and outdoor seating and is dog friendly. Your selections can be cooked and served on site with beer and wine. Owner Ted Hammerman says he encourages customers to let them cook the crabs selected there and to “leave the crabby mess with us.”
Specialties: stuffed deviled crabs, homemade she-crab soup with heavy cream, and a wide variety of sauces and spices made in-house, including raspberry wasabi, remoulade, and roasted garlic pepper.
Beyond the Fish: Mr. Fish does oyster roasts in-house and hosts an oyster festival once a year. Watch out for their next event in March 2023.
400 S Kings Hwy, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 843-945-5040
Located along the banks of the historic Wither’s Swash in Myrtle Beach, this dine-in market may be new to the scene but it’s owner has worked in the seafood business for years up and down the Grand Strand. William Benfield, who formerly operated the Berry’s Seafood Market in North Myrtle Beach and has worked to provide fish wholesale to local restaurants, opened this market and eatery with it’s colorful name and wall murals in July 2021.
Specialties: Cackalacky’s does a lot of crab business, fried or steamed, but also sells local finfish including croaker, spot, black bass, and mullet in their seasons. Benfield says that their crab cakes are one of their specialties and that they make smoked mullet dip in the Fall.
Beyond the Fish: Benfield points out that the site where his seafood market sits on one of the original settlements in Myrtle Beach, known as Wither’s Swash and that native American’s were known to fish the area. Some of the history of the area can be seen documented in murals painted both inside and out by local artist April Bensch.
3476 US-17 BUS, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 843-651-1666
Seven Seas has served the Murrells Inlet community 39 years and also provides fish wholesale to about thirty area restaurants. Manager and partner Henry Ford says that 90% of their seafood comes right from boats in Murrells Inlet. “I can tell you the boat it came off of and the captain that caught it,” he said of their vast selection of seafood.
Specialties: They steam shrimp and blue crabs and prepare low-country boils including potatoes, corn, sausage, onions and shrimp. Their ten-person boil is $150 and their meal for twenty is $275.
Beyond the Fish: Ford says Seven Seas is well known for it’s homemade She-Crab soup and for fresh baked goods such as their Key Lime pie.
4368 US-17 BUS, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 843-651-5707
Manager John Roof says much of their fish come from their boat ‘Gracie’s Way,’ that runs out of Murrells Inlet and catches snapper, trigger fish and other reef fishes. “We get everything local we can get,” he said. They also wholesale to some local favorite restaurants like Gulfstream Cafe and Bistro 217. Harrelson’s will steam and season your order on-site and will also clean shrimp, both for a $2 per pound fee.
Specialties: They make their own She-Crab soup, sauces, and seasoning.
Beyond the Fish: Crab-cakes are made by Murrells Inlet local An Mathis Springs, known as the “Crab Cake Lady” and whom Roof says catches the blue crabs herself and is “world famous” for the delicacies.
Marlin Quay Marina, 1508 S Waccamaw Dr, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 843-318-1363
Captain Charlie Werner and his crew run two shrimp boats, the ‘Lila Lee’ and the ‘Linda Ann;, and a crabbing vessel out of Murrells Inlet, S.C. Fresh shrimp and blue crabs are sold straight off the boat to the public at Marlin Quay Marina.
Shrimping season opens September 1, 2022.
Customers should watch his Facebook page and can meet him at the dock when the boat comes in or call 843-318-1363 to reserve. Prices vary depending on the market.
Specialties: Fresh live blue crabs and shrimp straight of the boat.
Beyond the Fish: Capt. Werner has some additional plans in the works for Fall 2022 and says to watch his Facebook page for future announcements.
This story was originally published August 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.