8 South Carolina Laws Visitors Break Without Realizing It

A family from Michigan wraps up a seafood dinner in Murrells Inlet, loads into their rented golf cart, and putters home after the streetlights flick on.

Big mistake.

That ride can turn into a ticket.

These are the South Carolina laws visitors break without ever realizing it.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. State laws and local ordinances change and can vary from one town to the next.

1. Grabbing Shark Teeth From the River

Hunting fossil shark teeth is a Lowcountry rite.

Every summer, people wade into the state’s rivers after the black, palm-sized teeth left by prehistoric megalodons.

But combing a public riverbed for them without the right paperwork is illegal.

The state owns the bottoms of its rivers and waterways, and recovering fossils or old artifacts down there takes a hobby license from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA).

It’s only a few dollars.

Divers and waders working the Cooper River or the Edisto also have to log what they pull up and send reports back to the state.

Skip the license, and a fun afternoon of fossil hunting becomes a violation you’ll answer for.

2. Driving Your Golf Cart After Dark

Rented golf carts are everywhere on the barrier islands, and visitors treat them like a free pass to buzz around town.

Not after dark.

A street-legal golf cart has to stay within four miles of the address on its registration, ride only on roads posted at 35 miles an hour or less, and roll in daylight only.

The driver has to be at least 16 with a license on them.

So the sunset cruise back from dinner is the part that trips people up.

Towns can tighten the hours further, so the rules on Hilton Head or Isle of Palms may be stricter than the town next door.

3. Bringing Glass Onto the Beach

Pack a cooler for a beach day, but be careful, because the bottles inside can cost you.

Grand Strand towns ban glass on the sand.

Myrtle Beach bans glass containers and bottles on the beach.

Alcohol is off the sand too.

Break this law, and you’re looking at a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500.

Cans and plastic are fine.

The rule keeps broken glass out of the sand where a barefoot kid or grown-up could find it, and lifeguards enforce it all summer.

4. Camping in the Left Lane

Slow cruising in the left lane feels harmless.

But it’s a quick way for a visitor to get a ticket.

The state’s Move Right law reserves the far-left lane on interstates and other controlled-access highways for passing.

Roll down I-26 or I-95 in that lane without overtaking anyone, and you’re breaking it.

It’s a $25 fine, with no points and no court costs.

It’s cheap, but you shouldn’t do it.

Once you’re around the slower car, the right lane is yours again.

5. Leaving Your Beach Gear Overnight

Beach chairs and tents left on the sand overnight become a problem from May through October.

That's sea turtle nesting season.

Loggerheads crawl ashore after dark to nest, and a female will turn back from beach gear, deep holes, or bright lights.

Hatchlings tumble into the same holes and can't crawl back out.

Hilton Head Island keeps a lights out rule from May 1 to October 31 and asks that beachfront lights near the sand go dark or shielded by 10 p.m.

You're also supposed to haul your gear off the beach each night and fill in any holes you dug.

Flatten the sandcastle on your way out.

6. Lighting Fireworks on the Sand

South Carolina sells fireworks that many states ban, so visitors stock up at the roadside stands and head for the beach to set them off.

Wrong beach.

Grand Strand towns ban fireworks on the sand and on other public property, while the stands a mile inland sell them all day.

Myrtle Beach makes it a $250 fine for a first offense, and $500 after that.

Aim a firework at a person, an animal, or a golf cart, and the fine is the same.

Private property with the owner's okay is the only legal launch pad.

7. Surf Fishing Without a License

Casting a line into the surf looks about as regulated as building a sandcastle.

The law says otherwise.

Anyone 16 or older who fishes from the beach, the bank, or the shoreline needs a saltwater recreational license.

A short-term nonresident license is cheap and takes only a couple of minutes to buy online.

The exceptions are narrow.

Fish off a licensed public pier or a charter boat, and you're covered by theirs.

Wade into the surf on your own, though, and the license is on you.

8. Tossing a Cigarette Butt

A cigarette butt flicked out a car window is the smallest thing on this list, and South Carolina still calls it littering.

The state's litter law counts cigarette butts the same as any other trash tossed on a road or a beach.

A first offense runs a fine of $25 to $100, and the court can tack on eight hours of picking up other people's litter.