NC Outer Banks & Coast
There are over 320 miles of North Carolina Beaches. Most are located on the
Barrier Islands. The sounds separate the islands from the mainland, they are
north to south: Currituck, Albemarle, Roanoke, Croatan, Pamlico, Core and Bogue
Sound.
This page lists the best beaches in North Carolina on the
mainland and the NC Outer Banks. Find oceanfront hotels, cheap
motels, resorts, villa rentals, condos and more beach accommodations
at discount rates; oceanfront and on the beach.
Kure Beach, Fort Fisher and Carolina Beach are located on
Pleasure Island near Wilmington.
Jacksonville NC is the location of the US Marine Corp base.
It is in Onslow County, Closest beaches: Hammocks Beach State Park
on Bear Island.
New Bern is noted for the Tryon Palace where the British
appointed governor of North Carolina lived just prior to the
American Revolution. Beaches are 35 miles away.
Hotels near NC beach attractions
Travel North to South
- Knots Island - just south of the Virginia
line, main road is NC 615 - quiet isolated area
with private homes, Mackay Island National
Wildlife Refuge - hiking, biking, bird watching
- Currituck Banks - Carova Beach, North Swan
Beach, Swan Beach, Ocean Beach, Currituck
National Wildlife Refuge
- Corolla - northern
Outer Banks - location of the Currituck
Lighthouse.
-
Duck
-
Kill Devil Hills is near Jockey Ridge Park
where you can hand glide or fly kites.
-
Kitty Hawk has a monument dedicated to the Wright Brothers
who flew the first airplane (glider).
-
Nags Head
- Jockey Ridge State Park
- Roanoke Island
- Bodie Island
- Pea Island national Wildlife Refuge
- Rodanthe
- Waves
- Salvo
- Avon
-
Cape
Hatteras
- Famous for the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and shipwrecks
- National Seashore
-
Buxton
- Frisco
-
Ocracoke Island
- Portsmouth
- Cedar Island
- Cape Lookout National Seashore
- Harkers Island
- Shackleford Banks
- Beaufort
-
Morehead City
-
Atlantic Beach -
is on Bogue Sound and is close to Havelock, Pine
Knoll Shores and Morehead City. It is the most
southern point of the Outerbanks and known as
the Crystal coast.
- Pine Knoll Shores
- Indian Beach East
- Salter Path
- Emerald Isle
- Hammocks Beach State Park
- Camp Lejeune
- Sneads Ferry
- Top Sail Island is close to Sneads Ferry and
Jacksonville on the mainland. There are many
shipwrecks off the coast here. You can go scuba
diving and search for sunken treasure. At low
tide you can even see the tops of sunken ships
from the beach.
- Surf City
- Top Sail beach
- Shell Island
-
Wilmington
- Wrightville Beach is the closest beach to
Wilmington (10miles)
- Pleasure Island - Carolina beach town, Kure
Beach, Fort Fisher
- Carolina Beach State Park
-
Brunswick Islands
NC Coast Attractions Highlights
Ferry service
- Knots Island to Currituck
- Cedar Island
- Hatteras
- Knotts Island
- Ocracoke
- Pamlico River
- Swan Quarter
see
ncferry.org for schedule (link opens in new
window)
NC Lighthouses8 total
- Bodie Island Lighthouse - built 1872 located North of
Hatteras Island on the Oregon Inlet
- Bald Head Lighthouse - located on Smith Island, 1st in NC,
Built 1795. rebuilt 1817 - guides ship around Cape Fear and
Frying Pan Shoals.
- Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - built 1870, covers the area
around Cape Hateras and Diamond Shoals
- Currituck Lighthouse (Whalehead) - built 1875 located on the
Currituck sound at Corolla, covers the coastline between Cape
Henry Lighthouse VA and Bodie Island Lighthouse.
- Ocracoke Lighthouse - built 1823 on Ocacoke Island, one of
the oldest lighthouses still operating in US,
- Oak Island Lighthouse - built 1950s, brightest lighthouse in
US, near Southport NC
- Prices Creek Lighthouse - built 1848, no tours, 2 miles from
Southport, covers the Cape Fear River area, it has been
inoperable since the second battle of Fort Fisher during the
Civil War.
- Cape Lookout Lighthouse - built 1859 on the Core Banks,
covers the Lookout Shoals area. take boat from Harkers Island,
Morehead City or Beaufort.
There are lots of seafood festivals,
events and fishing tournaments taking place all year round throughout
the North Carolina Coastal Region
Related Websites
Outer
Banks NC vacations - We have been taking vacations for
years to the Outer Banks and come to love it, as you do, or soon will.
Outer Banks Vacation Rentals Find the perfect rental on TripAdvisor.