Surfside Beach

The test is statutory: § 38-75-310(5) draws Horry County's coastal area as everything east of US 17 or Bypass 17, whichever runs farther west. Surfside Beach sits east of the Bypass, which puts the town inside it — and inside that line, wind and hail can legally be excluded from a homeowners policy and bought separately, with a second deductible. A specific address can sit on the far side of that road from the rest of its street, so the declarations page and your insurance agent settle it — not the town name. How wind and hail coverage works here →

That is a per-parcel question, not a per-town one — zones change block to block and sometimes lot to lot. What decides it is the FEMA flood zone for the specific parcel: inside a Special Flood Hazard Area (the A and V zones) federal law directs a regulated lender not to make, increase, extend or renew the loan unless the building is covered for the term of it. Zone X carries no federal mandate, though a lender may still require coverage as a matter of its own policy. Pull the zone for the actual address before you write an offer, never a neighborhood-level impression. Flood zones, decoded →

South Carolina assesses an owner-occupied legal residence at 4% and everything else — second homes, rentals, land — at 6%, under S.C. Code § 12-43-220. Those ratios are state law, so they apply the same in Horry and Georgetown counties. The 4% is not automatic: you have to apply for it, and the Horry County Assessor's guidance is blunt about the consequence of not doing so — an automatic 6% assessment. The rest of the bill depends on the taxing districts the parcel sits in, so ask the county assessor for the real figure on the real address before you rely on any of it. Horry County property taxes, explained →

State law changed recently, so old advice circulates. South Carolina repealed its former golf cart statute effective 22 May 2025; the current rules are in S.C. Code § 56-2-90. The owner gets a permit decal and registration certificate from the DMV with proof of ownership and liability insurance for a five-dollar fee. Absent a local ordinance, operation is daylight hours only, within four miles of the address on the registration certificate, and only on roads posted 35 mph or less. Municipalities may set hours, methods and locations by ordinance — Surfside Beach is a town and does regulate carts, so check the current town ordinance for a specific address rather than a neighbour's recollection. Surfside and Garden City compared →