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Hello everyone, my wife and I are thinking of moving from Seattle to the Murrells Inlet area. Our second choice would probably be Wilmington. We are fed up with the Seattle rain and really want a warmer climate. My wife is a nurse so she can probably get employment pretty easily. We also have a 3 year old son so schools are a major concern for us.
I have a couple of business ideas and I would really appreciate some input from some locals. I am considering buying a 26’ center console boat or a large pontoon boat and doing some inland fishing charters or tours. I am an avid fisherman so this would not be completely new to me. Would some of you please be kind enough to tell me if this is a terrible idea or not? Also, would I be able to find a reasonably priced marina to operate out of?
I am also open to any other business suggestions that are on or near the water. Thanks in advance, I would really appreciate your input.
Murrells Inlet is a beautiful water/inlet area. It has wonderful restaurants and a few stores. One being a huge gift store, from a converted home with a huge and inviting porch on it.
There is a fishing boat(marina) area........I for one, don't know who would be in charge of that.
Whether one family owns that pier area or not. But, also I think they have sightseeing boats going out from there in the summers.
There is a large paddle wheel boat going out the inlet from the Zoo location in Socastee area also.
The Calabash, in NC also has a fishing fleet......and restaurants.
Jan and Feb are the harshest months here......but one can still go golfing most every week of those months. I'd say the weather beats Seatle, I lived there also for a short while.....even tried to swim in the summer
Mostly I'd say in Murrells Inlet one would open a restaurant......although the slowest months would be in the winter.
The inlet is not all that deep and going in and out depends on the tide.....but from what I understand some larger boats don't do well. ( reading that they once tried the casino boat but it didn't work because of the depth levels)
There is the new Waccamaw Hospital and the MB Strand Hospital nearby........
I'm sorry for this short info, but........I come here in the winter months and have to try and catch all the news I missed....... Great here though
The Murrells Inlet area goes beyond the little fishing village. There are several developments stretching across route 707 up towards Socastee, many of them pretty nice. Murrells Inlet is spread across two counties & school districts, as well. The Georgetown County schools in this area are part of the Waccamaw Schools. They are building a new Middle School to keep up with the growing population & the HS & Intermediate Schools are pretty new and quite nice. The High School just won the Palmetto Finest award as the top HS in the state.
The Horry County schools for MI would be the St James district and from what I understand, they are pretty good, too.
OK, now for the fishing business... there are a few charter boats operating out of Murrells Inlet, the majority are on the ocean side and dock along the Creekwalk & fishing pier. The larger boats offer deep sea excursions & the smaller ones mainly stay in the creeks & back bay. There are a couple that advertise & operate on the Waccamaw River. There are also some charters that go out of Georgetown where you have access to all the rivers, the ocean and Winyah Bay. Commercial marinas are not abundant. There are a couple in Georgetown & some dock space along the Riverwalk. There is the Waccawache Marina at the river end of Wachasaw Road in MI. There is a very nice, small marina in the Reserve Club but I do not if they allow commercial vessels. You have the option of boat ramps to trailer the boat also. Hagley Landing & Waccawache landings are the most popular. The Reserve Marina charges $5 to launch. The fishing season started this month and folks catch through December.
Awsome information!! I am sooo looking forward to the move! Regarding the culture shock, I have lived in Alabama and in Texas so I am pretty sure of what to expect and am excited about it. I really appreciate the fishing info. I am not planning on getting rich, just making a living doing something I love. I really think this will be good for my son also. He needs to grow up in an area where he can be outside playing more often.
We will probably be looking for a rental house in the Murrells Inlet area in the mid-May timeframe. Please let me know if you happen to know of any nice houses available. I suspect we will be looking in the $1,000 to $1,400 range.
Picked up a brochure today from one the local Murrells Inlet fishing guides, Wally Lee. His rates for a half day trip in the inlet or river on a 22ft pontoon boat is $375 for 1-2 people & $375 for 3-6. Includes rod/reels, bait & you can fish on his saltwater license.
Fishing in Murrells Inlet is not as great as it use to be due to all the competition for the fish;-) My father use to run flounder trips before he purchased a Gulf Stream headboat. Of course if you run offshore the fish are there but in the Inlet, not so much. With that said, your ideas of tours might not be that bad but Capt Dick's does this on a larger scale so it might work for smaller tours but you would need to get the word out and marketing to the weekly rental crowd would be a good start. You do not mention having a Captain's License and I believe it would be required when running trips for hire. As long as you do not buy a home that restricts a boat in your yard you might be able to launch your boat at the public boat landing in Murrells Inlet for your trips and could avoid the expenses of monthly dockage until you built up your business. The landing is accessible even at low tide for a boat that size. You could also run trips on the river and out of McCleanville where the fishing is much better and it is only 45 minutes away by car. There are many possibilities for you and your boat and as previously mentioned the schools on the Waccamaw Neck are some of the best. Good Luck!
thanks creekgirl4life, I am really leaning toward the inlet fishing for family trips. The main reason is that fuel costs have skyrocketed and will continue to rise. Plus the family fishing seems a bit more relaxed. I do plan on getting my capt six pac license so everything is legal. I would prefer to find some private dock that the owner isnt using and would rent for a reasonable price. No reason I could not do chartes from mccleanville also. I am aware of capt dicks so the plan is to do something different that the family will enjoy.
Location: Sunny Phoenix Arizona...wishing for a beach.
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Originally Posted by crillis
Hello everyone, my wife and I are thinking of moving from Seattle to the Murrells Inlet area. Our second choice would probably be Wilmington. We are fed up with the Seattle rain and really want a warmer climate. My wife is a nurse so she can probably get employment pretty easily. We also have a 3 year old son so schools are a major concern for us.
I have a couple of business ideas and I would really appreciate some input from some locals. I am considering buying a 26’ center console boat or a large pontoon boat and doing some inland fishing charters or tours. I am an avid fisherman so this would not be completely new to me. Would some of you please be kind enough to tell me if this is a terrible idea or not? Also, would I be able to find a reasonably priced marina to operate out of?
I am also open to any other business suggestions that are on or near the water. Thanks in advance, I would really appreciate your input.
Just make sure you can make you can make a living........Good Luck! I'm jealous.
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