Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge: opening hours, rules and how to plan around them

The Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge carries local traffic over the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway at mile 353.3 in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, between Barefoot Resort and the Barefoot Landing shopping district. It is a swing span: rather than lifting, the centre section rotates to open a channel for vessels that cannot clear the closed bridge.

Closed vertical clearance is low enough that most sailboats and many taller motor yachts must request an opening, while smaller powerboats pass underneath without one.

Vessels call the bridge tender on VHF channel 9. Requests are handled on signal during normal operating hours, subject to the restricted periods below. The tender confirms the opening by radio and swings the span when road traffic is clear.

Openings typically take several minutes end to end. Drivers arriving mid-opening usually wait between five and ten minutes.

Like other Grand Strand waterway bridges, Barefoot Landing operates under Coast Guard drawbridge regulations that limit openings during commuter peaks and busy seasonal periods, so road traffic is not held repeatedly at the worst times of day. During a restricted period the tender may hold a vessel until the next scheduled opening.

Restricted windows and seasonal schedules change. Before relying on a specific time, confirm the current rule in the Coast Guard's published drawbridge regulations for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in South Carolina, or ask the tender directly on channel 9.

An opening is short but unpredictable, and there is no signed advance warning on the approach. The practical fix is to check before you leave rather than at the bridge.

Our live bridge status page reads AIS vessel tracking near mile 353.3 and translates it into a plain sentence: whether a boat is approaching and whether an opening looks likely in the next few minutes.

Hail the tender early — a mile or so out is normal — so the span can be scheduled against road traffic. State your vessel name and direction of travel. If you arrive inside a restricted window, expect to hold station or work the current until the next permitted opening.

Currents at this stretch of the waterway can run hard on the tide, so allow room to wait safely rather than approaching the closed span.

This guide is written for planning, not navigation. Regulations are set by the U.S. Coast Guard and operated by the South Carolina Department of Transportation; those sources take precedence over anything here, and over any inference made from vessel tracking.

For the wider picture — where Barefoot Resort sits, alternate road routes when the span is open, and local conditions — read the Barefoot Resort local guide.