The city of Myrtle Beach no longer offers free parking, meaning all visitors must pay up at every beach access and street. 

Visitors must pay $3 per hour to park, or $15 for a full day in central areas. City Council’s decision went into effect Nov. 1, 2023. Public Information Officer Mark Kruea said the goal is to simplify procedures for the enforcement officers. 

“It helps us create more parking but also to do a lot of the public beautification that you’ve seen over the last number of years downtown,” Kruea said. 

In the past, parking was free from Nov. 1 to March 1. Most of the parking revenue comes from the busiest eight months of the year from March to October, according to Kruea. This change in policy should not affect the number of people who visit Myrtle Beach, despite Surfside Beach’s select free public parking spaces. 

He said the extra money now generated from November to March will be used toward city projects. 

Any future project for the city may include streetscape improvements or building renovations along Ocean Boulevard. Additionally, parking meter revenue helps to fund events held in the downtown area. 

Yearlong parking, he said, will combat the issue of drivers parking wherever they feel like. 

“People either think the rules don’t apply to them or they couldn’t find a space where they wanted to park,” Kruea said, “so they made their own space.”