Murrells Inlet's tidal estuary system drains 24 square miles of salt marsh twice daily, and the outgoing tide at dusk pulls enough water through the inlet to drop the channel level by four feet in ninety minutes. That hydraulic rhythm has shaped the harbor since Murrellsville was platted in 1731, and it still dictates when the fleet departs — captains time their sunset runs to ride the ebb current south past the marshgrass islands, engines barely working against the flow. The inlet itself is a natural deepwater cut between the Atlantic barrier islands, and its position 12 miles south of Myrtle Beach keeps the evening light clean, the water traffic light, and the western horizon open across three miles of unbroken cordgrass. Today the murrells inlet sunset booze cruise tours operate as BYOB charters, a licensing workaround that turned practical necessity into regional signature. South Carolina's on-water alcohol laws restrict commercial sale but permit personal coolers, so the inlet's evening fleet — pontoon boats, double-deck party barges, and pedal-powered pub rafts — runs a bring-your-own model that appeals to bachelor parties, reunion groups, and couples who prefer their own provisions to a cash bar. Most vessels hold 20 to 49 passengers and depart from the docks along U.S. 17 Business between 5:30 and 6:30 PM, depending on the sunset table. The cruises follow a standard 90-minute route: south through the main channel past Drunken Jack Island, west into the marsh creeks where herons roost and dolphins hunt mullet in the shallows, then a slow drift offshore to catch the sun dropping behind the mainland pines. The inlet's ecology adds substance to what could be a simple booze-and-views outing. Bottlenose dolphins work the channel year-round, hunting the tide line where baitfish concentrate. Brown pelicans dive the breakers at the inlet mouth. Ospreys nest on the channel markers, and great blue herons stalk the oyster beds at low water. A marine biologist accompanies one of the sunset tours, narrating the estuary's food web and the cord grass's role as a nursery zone for juvenile shrimp and crabs. The marsh itself is a designated Wild and Scenic River corridor, and the North Inlet–Winyah Bay Reserve extends federal protection to 24,000 acres of wetland surrounding the inlet. Even the party boats stay inside the no-wake zones to avoid disturbing the rookeries, and most captains cut engines for five minutes at sunset, letting the boat drift in silence while passengers watch the light flatten and the water turn bronze.