Discover the Best North Carolina Beaches for Your Perfect Getaway

“Such a gorgeous part of the beach. Happy to see the folks taking such good of the sea turtles. Clean, we’ll kept. The shower area was clean and we’ll kept.”

– Julie

“Clean bathrooms plenty of showers. Nice walkable beach. Not too crowded with beautiful view.”

– Aliza Redman

“Hands down one of my favorite beaches I have ever been to! Beautiful water, clean, and lots to do in the area. Huge pier for fishing. Highly recommend this beach!”

– Amanda Maguire

“Loved this beach. Clean sand , not too crowded first weekend of July, beautiful waves, and a delightful number of shells. We had a nearby AirBnB (Manda’s “Beach Shack”, which was perfect for an easy-access weekend stay), so we didn’t have to worry about parking.”

– H. M. Rogers

“My entire family takes a beach vacation every other year. We have always stayed in, or very close, to Kure Beach in N.C.. We absolutely love this beach! It’s by far our favorite. It is quiet, private, clean, and very reasonably priced. There is plenty to do, such as, fishing, walking/visiting Fort Fischer State Historic Park, the Pier isn’t too far away, and there is plenty of restaurants and activities around the area. You won’t be disappointed.”

– Gina Horn

“My first time visiting Kure Beach was truly remarkable. The water was crystal clear, and the sand was fine. There weren’t many people around when we visited, which added to the charm. I appreciate that the pier was free to walk on and offered fantastic views of the beach and wildlife.”

– Chieyenne

“Quiet, clean, and great for families but not handicapped friendly. The only access from Rouge Wave building to the beach was several flights of stairs. We brought a rolling cart to haul umbrellas, chairs, cooler, and other things but ended up not using it because of the stairs.”

– Merge K

“Beautiful Beach! Uncrowded and clean. We stayed oceanfront and had access to this beach. This beach was nice because you could walk to the Avon pier. The water was really nice and blue when we went, minus when it was stormy. A great family-friendly beach for sure! Lots of space to roam around and set up umbrellas and tents for a day full of soaking up the sun and playing in the sand and the sea.”

– Megan Moon

“Beautiful beach, convenient parking, restrooms available, free to access the beach. Nice sand and water. Super crowded, no lifeguards, some restrictions on where you could erect beach shelters. Great experience overall.”

– Kent 19

“Sunset Beach is aptly named—there are always great views of the sunsets since the beach is unobstructed by buildings along the dunes. My family has been coming here for a decade. Reasons for this include the lack of commercialism on the beach, lack of crowds (once you move away from the pier), beautiful waves and clean beaches, sea turtles, etc. Sunset Beach is a haven and great place to relax!”

– Kelly Gaylord

“Great place for a quiet vacation with friends or family. My only complaint is that, if the beaches are the reason for everyone to come here, why is there seaweed all over the beaches and no one cleans it up. I visit lake Michigan shoreline all the time and everyday they clean the beaches.”

– Josh Zacher

“This is my home away from home! I have been coming here since I was a child! There is no better place for that small town beach feel and great seafood!”

– Even

“A place to explore. Go early, there are trails to traverse! The park has a small beach and a marina, a campground and you might come across some picnic areas in out of the way places along some of the trails. I came upon a picnic area along the swamp trail near the conjunction of the flytrap trail. It’s an amazing and peaceful place.”

– Yvette Roman

“Nice park with well marked trails
Easy hike to the wetland area to see pitcher plants and fly catchers. For easy access with accessibility issues there are both plants behind and left of the park station.
We were visiting from out of state but I could see all the nice fishing, boat launches and camp sites with outhouses. I have never been to a park with camp sites with outhouses at each site! What a concept!
Overall a very nice state park.”

– Mark Dale

“Of course hearing about the Wild Horses & the ability to drive on the beach was a pull to come here!
Nice, large bathroom facilities to use before hitting the beach.
You must air down before getting to the beach. So, ensure you have a good spot picked out to do so. There are signs prohibiting this along the road near the neighborhoods right before beach entry. A Police was also stationed right at the entrance to ensure there was no stopping along the roadside to air down.
It was my first experience driving on a beach. It could be extremely bouncy in some places, so drive with care. We just drove, and did not put try to obtain a parking pass. Overall, it was a nice experience, but I was disappointed we did not see any Horses. The beach may have been a bit too busy at that time of day. I did see piles along the dunes, so I knew they had been around. I really felt sorry for the people that paid for the Horse Tours, as they sped past us on the beach. They didn’t see any on that trip either. Guides took them into the housing area, and stopped on parts of the beach pointing out different things.
I would love to go again one day, and pick a quieter time to see if we can see the beautiful Horses!”

– Haute Interiors LLC

“All of the beaches at the Outer Banks in NC are just beautiful, but we got to experience Corolla beach for a week and fell in love with the wife Sandy beaches, the sand dunes, the trails through the wetlands and everything the city has to offer.”

– Jamie Wojciechowski

“Holden Beach is a beautiful, relatively quiet, family-style beach. You won’t find much nightlife, but some of the busy beaches are within an hour drive. It’s nice to get away from the hustle and bustle sometimes and Holden is a wonderful spot to unplug and relax.”

– Ellison Lambert

“Love Holden Beach…I’m from Oak Island (long Beach) my husband is from holden beach so we’re always coming down. Worth the trip, great family beach!!”

– Whitney Jenkins

“So it seems like October through March you can bring your dogs anytime of day! We brought our kiddos and Saint Bernards here this past weekend. Everyone had a flipping blast !”

– Rachel Bolin

“Don’t know how you can’t give a beach less than five stars, especially with views like this😮‍💨 this beach is always clean and it’s so fun to watch the surfers and fishermen. It’s always lovely and relaxing.”

– Anna Homola

“This beach was the perfect one for dogs and families! Dogs are allowed on leash all day here, although not everyone abided by the leash rule. Clean, beautiful beach that the dogs loved. We saw several people pull up their 4WD vehicles onto the beach which looked like a great option. The waves were a decent size the day that we were there and we had to make sure the dogs didn’t over do it on exercise. But it was fabulous!”

– Rachel Middleton

“If you have a 4×4, worth a visit. $50 a day, pass ends at 10am the following day. $250 for a season pass. Beach front is about 1000 yards, not designed for shredding, more like a drive on, find a spot, and hang out type of place, but also easy to navigate and open 24hrs.”

– James Stewart Jr

“Very relaxing on an October day. Nobody in the parking lots or beach, but you still have to pay$6/hr to park until the end of October. I’m sure the restaurants and other businesses would appreciate discounted parking after Labor Day to help drive sales!”

– Jon Mason

“We had a great time on the boardwalk on a Thursday night, timed to enjoy the fireworks in the summer. There was a nice live music band playing for a while until they were rained off, but a DJ took over and kept the energy up even as it rained.

It was uncertain whether the fireworks would go ahead given the weather, but it turned at the perfect moment to allow them to go ahead.

We got lucky with our positioning at the very end of the boardwalk to watch the fireworks at the point where it meets the beach, and it afforded us a great view away from the lights of the ferris wheel etc, so we’d definitely recommend that.”

– Paul