In making a prosecutorial determination whether a particular ship is a gambling ship within the meaning of this definition, it will be presumed that a ship which operates one or more gambling establishments on board is a 'gambling ship,' unless it cruises for a minimum of 24 hours with meals and lodging provided for all passengers, or unless it docks at a foreign port. The Big M Casino boats operating on the historic Little River waterfront have grown in popularity over the years, and the legislative battles to remove the boats are long over.Section 1081 defines 'gambling ship' to mean a vessel used principally for the operation of one or more gambling establishments. The Stardancer Casino Boat, one of the first three boats to operate in South Carolina, closed operations several years ago. Pictured at right is the arrival of Aquasino during its trip from the Miami area, and its first entrance to her temporary home via Little River Inlet.

This boat replaced the SunCruz casino boat when the company filed for bankruptcy in late 2009. She ran her local maiden voyage on May 14, 2010. The Southern Elegance casino gambling boat was replaced by the Diamond Girl Two, which was more recently replaced by an even more beautiful vessel, the Big M Gambling Boat (pictured above returning to port), owned by Diamond Management, a Myrtle Beach company.Īnother gambling boat that no longer sails out of Little River is the Aquasino, which relocated from South Beach, Florida.

Many vacationers have found the gambling trips to be a fun excursion on their travels to the Myrtle Beach area.

Since their arrival in the late 1990s, the casino gambling boats have been steeped in controversy, and bills threatening to ban operations failed to pass the South Carolina legislature, and the boats continue operating legally. The boats take their passengers on infamous 'cruises to nowhere' a few miles off the coast, into international waters, outside the USA jurisdiction, where it's legal to gamble. There are two Las Vegas style casino gambling boats in the Myrtle Beach area, docked at the historic waterfront in Little River, a quaint, unincorporated village on the northern end of the Grand Strand.

Casino boats international waters rules