We (my husband and 18 month old)are heading to Myrtle Beach for a week in May. I just found out that "bike week" starts May 9th. My question to everyone is do they ever show up early? We are leaving on the 9th and I was wondering if the end of our vacation would be effected. We seem to have very bad luck - the last time we took a vacation was June of '07 and we coincided with "bike week" up in North Conway, New Hampshire! Two vacations, two bike weeks, what bad luck. Nothing personal of course, I just don't like the sound of reving bikes 24/7. So, do they show up early and how bad is it? Thanks!

You can count on "them" showing up early...at least a day or 2 early..we usually do.

I hope you did not take offense to my posting (it seems like you might have. I just wanted to know what to expect. Thnaks for your reply.

That time of year there are many options available on the NC/SC coasts. It IS bad.

Yes, they will show up early and stay late for sure. You will get the sound of those revving cycles any time there is nice weather in MB but it is horrendous during bike week. I am sure you will have a great time anyway but bring the earplugs.

We once manged, through poor planning, to arrange to spend a night at Myrtle the night before (Friday) Bike Week was scheduled to start. Fortunately we were able to get a room, although the desk people told me that they would not have had one on Saturday. We did not notice any bad behavior, and everyone we spoke to (mostly people with children, as we had DS) were polite and friendly. There were a lot of them, though, and as my sister pointed out, fifty thousand people is a lot, whether they be Baptists, bikers, nudists, or what have you. We had absolutely no people issues, but it WAS noisy from the motorcylcles, even in the middle of the night, and things were really crowded. If it were my choice, I would leave a day early, before the serious crowds arrived.

Sorry, motorcycles.

No,I didn't take offense..I actually was trying to be funny...guess it didn't work....
Hopefully you have an Oceanfront room, away from the street where all the noise will be,of course.
Just sit back and enjoy all the beautiful machinery, and there are some beauties....
By the way...we really aren't bad people, just love the feel of the wind our faces and the feeling of freedom on the bike.

The earlier bike week is Harley week and is not as bad as the Memorial Day Black Biker week.

I agree with everyone who has posted so far. You will get some bikers showing up a day or two "early." I don't think you'll have any issues except noise and traffic. Just watch for the bikes, they can be hard to see.

Thank you all so much for your responses. We have a timeshare for the week. If we need to, we will leave a day early. I don't mind the people, even the crowds - its just the noise factor that gets to us. We leave New York to get a little peace and quiet...if you know what I mean. Thanks again, happy traveling everyone!!!!!

Oh, don't leave early......you never know, you might enjoy it

You don't say how you are travelling, and congestion may enter in. Don't leave early. Just allow for it.