Horry County, SC Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Horry County Code § 13-1 makes it unlawful to possess an opened container of any alcoholic beverage in any public place not licensed for on-premises consumption, covering unincorporated neighborhoods like Carolina Forest, Garden City and Little River that have no city hall of their own to write separate rules. Section 5-2 goes further on the sand: possession or consumption of any alcoholic liquor, beer, ale, porter, wine, or similar malt or fermented beverage is prohibited on public beaches and public beach accesses, with no exception carved out for a covered cup or sealed can.

"Public beach" is defined in section 5-1 as the area between the Atlantic's mean low-water mark and the easternmost private or public property line, bulkhead, or seawall, so the ban follows the sand, not a fence line. Both offenses are enforced by the Horry County Police Department and prosecuted in magistrate's court. Neither section sets its own fine, so violations default to the Code's general penalty at section 1-8(a). Because this is county code, it governs only the unincorporated area; Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway, Surfside Beach and Atlantic Beach each enforce their own municipal alcohol ordinances on their own beaches and streets.