Our family visited North Carolina’s Outer Banks recently on summer vacation and had such a memorable trip. I am one of those wierdos that does a ton of research ahead of time and even types up an itinerary with as many things booked in advance as possible.
You can find my specific itinerary at the end of this post. But read along for all of the tips, suggestions, links and other information I learned on our family vacation to the OBX.
WHERE AND WHAT IS THE OBX
The Outer Banks is a stretch of barrier islands along the northern part of North Carolina that spans about 100 miles. It includes several different towns and villages that each have their own distinct vibes and things to offer. I recommend checking out the Outer Banks webpage for all the details on each. This way you can decide what suites your family and the activities you want to experience most while you are picking where you will stay on your beach vacation.
WHERE TO STAY
We stayed in Southern Shores, very close to Kitty Hawk. I picked this spot because it felt in the middle of everything we most wanted to do. The other big deciding factor for us was accommodations that would fit all of us. We were doing a whole extended family vacation thing for 12 people. This included my family of 5. My brother-in-law and his family, another 5 total. And my parents-in-law.
So while there are several hotel options available, we opted to rent a house. Which was perfect for our needs. It even had a private pool. We booked our rental homes through Coast Realty.
PRE-ARRIVAL
If you are renting a house, I highly recommend ordering groceries in advance and having them pre-stocked or scheduling a delivery time that you feel comfortable with. The benefit of having it pre-stocked is if you run later than expected arriving or get antsy and want to check out the beach you aren’t stressed over missing the delivery window.
This is the second time I have had groceries set up before our arrival and absolutely love this! On this trip we used Delivery Genie and were able to have everything we needed and wanted there in the fridge and neatly on the counter when we arrived. All we had to do was grill up the burgers and hang by the pool. No spending valuable vacation time at the grocery store!
Book In Advance
The other thing I always try to do is book as much as possible in advance. Just like with grocery shopping, I also don’t want to sit around trying and figure out what everyone wants to do when we could actually be doing it. Even if the “it” is just sitting at the beach.
So, unless you are one of those families that can pick a Netflix movie in only a few minutes rather than scroll and debate, scroll and debate you will be better off doing a little research and booking ahead of time. Otherwise you will surely be stuck in the spiraling conversation “What do you want to do? I don’t know…what do you want to do?”
Even if you have the kind of family that can pull the trigger on a decision quickly, you run the risk of the pre-planners or early birds beating you to the punch. The worst and most disappointing thing is getting your whole crew excited for a tour, successfully getting everyone loaded up and there only to find they are sold out and it isn’t happening.
So, what to do? Here are some of things we did and lessons I learned along the way.
BEACH DRIVING
Tips
This was one of the best things we did on the whole trip. For one thing, the first ORV (Off Road Vehicle) Ramp I wanted to check out was 1 1/2 hours from Southern Shores, where we were staying to Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The drive there was beautiful and allowed us to see a ton of the Outer Banks. For another, it was such a unique experience. We had never done anything like that before.
I will say, you definitely have to do your research on this one, it is not for every kind of vehicle and you have to have a permit on most beaches.
For starters, you absolutely have to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle for this activity. I did notice a Jeep dealership in Kitty Hawk that advertised renting jeeps, so if you don’t own one, you can still mark this one as a must do!
Even with a 4 wheel drive Dodge Ram, my brother-in-law got stuck. Luckily we had a truck with chunky mud tires and were able to tow him out. The sand is super soft and there are a lot of trenches. We found it best to stay in the tracks of trucks that had already gone through.
The biggest suggestion here is to be sure to air down your tires! On the way down we stopped at little bait shop and saw a sticker making fun of people who don’t. So, we definitely didn’t want to be those guys! Tourists, ugh! The recommendation is to lower the tire pressure to at least 20 PSI or lower.
Another suggestions is to pack in a little shovel and anything needed to tow, you know, just in case. We saw a few jeeps and trucks needing a little tug.
The last suggestion I have here is to check out the tide schedule. We went as the tide was going out, which was perfect. Some beaches may become impassible at high tide. A quick check of the tide schedule here, will tell you all you need to know as far as that goes.
Permits
So if beach driving is now absolutely on your summer vacation wish list to the OBX, you need to get your permit. You can do that here.
When we went the 10-day permits were $50 per vehicle and each vehicle must have their own.
This website also lets you know where the ramps (access points for ORV) are located. I started to notice them as we made our way through Rodanthe and Waves. The are marked with large brown, wooden signs that indicate the RAMP number.
The same website where you purchase your permits also shares lots of other tips and instructions, including a video (which you are actually supposed to watch).
We packed in lunches, beach chairs, a tent, fishing gear, a kite (don’t forget the extra kite string), speaker and books. Also, for beach fishing don’t forget a rod holder for the sand. Grab this on on Amazon before you pack up. And just hung out for a few hours looking at great views of the Atlantic Ocean and relaxing and fishing. We first came in at Ramp 55 and found it to be a little more crowded than we were hoping for. So we made a loop back out and went further back up the coast to Ramp 49 and found it to be a little roomier. While we didn’t make it that far back up, Ramp 45 seemed to be a really cool spot. But we were so settled into our spot we just didn’t want to leave until we had to.
JOCKEY’S RIDGE STATE PARK
There are several activities inside Jockey’s Ridge State Park. There are hiking trails, you can fly kites on the dunes, and hang glide off the dunes.
Our group was most interested in sandboarding! This one is best for those in your group who can tolerate some fairly strenuous physical activity. This is a great experience for the older kids in your family. Driving on the beach in the soft sand is hard, so is climbing the steep sand dunes. But, if you can manage it, it was so much fun and another unique experience that you won’t get to do on every beach vacation.
When we went the sit down sleds were $25 each and the stand up, more like snow boards, were $35. We found that we had just as much fun watching each other make their attempt at sledding down the dune as we did actually going down ourselves. We’d all cheer if someone made it down without falling and of course laugh if they took a spill. Mean…I know. So we ending up wishing we had rented few boards and just took turns.
What we quickly realized we need a lot more of, was water! We went in early June and the temps were in the high 80s. We are from Georgia, so we are totally used to heat and humidity. Plus there was a nice breeze that made it pretty tolerable. But, we definitely worked up a sweat hiking up the dunes. Had we planned better and packed more water, we would’ve stayed out there longer than we did. Even though we played for about an hour and half. Your rentals are good for four hours at the rates I mentioned earlier.
We also learned that the boards didn’t need a lot of wax (which they provide). But they went much smoother if you buffed the wax in. So plan to bring an extra small towel. We were wishing we had tucked a microfiber towel in a pocket!
If this one is on your list now, you shouldn’t need to make reservations in advance for the boarding. However, if you want to give hang gliding a try, I would reserve your spot for sure. You can read more about Jockey’s Ridge State Park and the activities offered here.
When you arrive, you will park in the main parking lot. The first building is a really small museum with a few displays you can look over. To rent the boards or sign up / check in for hang gliding you will go through the musuem to the next building in the back which is a small Kitty Hawk Kites. There you can sign your waivers, pick up your boards or anything else. They do have a small selection of sunscreen, in case you forgot. They also have kites there you can purchase for the dunes.
When you are leaving there are plenty of places to rinse the sand off before hopping back in your car.
KAYAK AND SUP TOUR
We are big fans of kayak tours. On a kayak tour in Jekyll Island one time, our guide once said “The definition of ADVENTURE is you don’t know the outcome.” This has become a family motto in a way.
We opted for a tour with Outer Banks Kayak Adventures. At first we were planning on the Alligator River Refuge at Buffalo City tour. This one seemed to me to have the highest probability of seeing any wildlife. Did you know that Dare County has the highest concentration of black bears on the Eastern United States coast? This tour seemed likely we would be able to see one. But the likelihood we would also see an alligator had a few in my crew giving a hard no on that one. No sense of adventure!
Instead we opted for the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Kayak & SUP Tour which took us into the Roanoke Sound. I was excited that this one offered stand up paddle boards as an option. We had a great time and saw a little bit of wildlife. Our guide said there were sea turtles from time to time, but we didn’t catch sight of one that morning. We did get to see a few sting ray though, which we’d never seen outside of an aquarium before.
Which ever tour suites your crew, I highly recommend seeing the sights from the water.
MANTEO & GHOST TOUR
Our favorite of all of the island towns we visited was Manteo, pronounced (we learned) Manny-o. We joked that it was probably similar to how we Georgians pronounce Atlanta, which is Atlannuh. Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills where we spent much of our time had the more typical beach shops where you can buy beach chairs, towels, swim suites and other beach knick-knacks. Manteo was very walkable and we found a bunch of cute and unique boutique shops. We ended up coming back there on our way back to Georgia just to gift shop around and walk a bit before hitting the road.
What brought us to Manteo was a ghost tour. We are also big fans of ghost tours on vacation. They are fun and sometimes cheesy. But they are a great way to see the area, learn some of its history and have fun. We had a little time before our tour started so we ducked into the Tranquil House Inn and had a couple of drinks at the bar of their restaurant, 1587 Restaurant & Lounge. The drinks were fantastic, probably the best all week. Here we learned that you can take your cocktails to go and walk the town. Um, yes.
What we also soon after learned was that while you can walk Manteo with your Blackbeard’s Smash, you can not while on the tour. They explained it was an insurance thing, which was probably wise.
As for the ghost tour, it was one of those family activities that was great for the whole crowd. It wasn’t very scary, so younger children could very well join. We had a set a grandparents in our party and I was worried about how they would do on the 1 1/2 hour walk. But it was absolutely fine. Everytime they stopped to tell a story there was always somewhere for several people to sit. So each time they were able to sit for 10 minutes or more and rest. Also, the walks in between the stories were short and at a very relaxed pace.
Our tour was with OBX Ghost Tours.
WRIGHT BROTHERS NATIONAL MEMORIAL
Even if you are not a museum going bunch, you gotta check out the Wright Brothers National Memorial. One of the most historic spots on the Outer Banks is Kitty Hawk thanks to Orville and Wilbur Wright who were incredible engineers that dedicated their life to figuring out how to take flight. And they did it right here! You can take a stroll through the museum (which is kept very cool and comfortable) going at what ever pace you choose. Behind the museum is the spot where the first successful flight took place. Lasting 12 seconds at 120 feet and 6.9 miles an hour. You can walk the runway where this happened.
The memorial is a fairly good walk, grandparents opted out of this one. But it is well worth it! The breathtaking views of the Outer Banks are amazing. You can see the Atlantic Ocean, the sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge, and I can’t be certain but it seemed like you could see all the way to the Albemarle Sound.
FOOD
Our family favorite was the Outer Banks Brewing Station. I picked this spot for the live music and it did not disappoint. The main restaurant was built to mimic the old lifesaving stations in the early 1900s, which also looks a bit like a church. We had to google it to be sure. When you walk through the main restaurant, there is a super cool yard area with an outdoor bar, lots of picnic tables, a massive pirate ship for young children to climb on and is where the live music is located.
The wait for a table outside was long for our large group, so we opted for inside. But we ended up having so much fun waiting for a table in that atmosphere, I wish we had just kept waiting and ate outside. Inside was great too, don’t get me wrong! The outside area was just so comfortable. You can imagine that this is a popular place for everyone. Plenty of room for kids to run around if your family has small guys. Great cocktails and beer and music for the grown ups. A must for sure.
Our next fav was Art’s Place. The burgers and cocktails were amazing! I take back what I wrote earlier, this was my favorite cocktail, called the Spray Tan. I don’t know…maybe it was tie with the mule from 1587. They also serve beer from local breweries. The thing to remember here it is a small beach spot. And a very popular place as well. In fact we intended on coming here for brunch, but we were at the tail end of breakfast hours and they were full, so no eggs for us. But, we ended up hanging around on their porch for about 30 minutes to wait for lunch. It was worth it.
There was a little shopping center that was walking distance from our rental that has a great pizza spot, Southern Shores Pizza & Deli! The teenagers in our group were volunteered to walk over and grab pizza to bring back to the beach where we were spending the day. They have gluten free, which is a must for some our group. For the gluten yes members, the Sicilian Pizza was incredible.
Also in the same shopping center was Steamers. Great service and great food here as well. We had oysters for starters, that didn’t last long on our table.
Miller’s Waterfront, in Nags Head, was on our dinner spot stops as well. This one is busy! But great! They advertise having the best sunset view and they aren’t wrong. We had a great time taking photos at sunset on the pier behind the restaurant. Also, behind the restaurant was live music and a small outdoor bar. We had already eaten when we discovered this, but it looked like they had a small menu, appetizers for sure. So if you show up and are looking at a long wait, head around back and see what is happening.
Our last OBX meal was at Poor Richard’s Sandwich Shop in Manteo. It was so yummy! We had the special of the day, which was a fried chicken sandwich, and it was massive!
OTHER FUN THINGS
While we were down in Hatteras to go beach driving, we popped in to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. The Outer Banks have had an estimated 3,000 shipwrecks! Plus, a history of piracy. This museum has a great display of items and teaches what causes the downfall of ships around these islands.
Mini golf and Go Carts were on the itinerary. These activites are always a great time. Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills are spotted with several spots that offer both in the same place. We opted for Mutiny Bay Adventures. Our plan was to go right after dinner but it seemed so was everyone else’s, it was pretty busy for mini golf. By the time we finished that and headed over to the go carts, the crowd had slimed down quite a bit. Maybe if we went before dinner we could’ve ducked the crowd a little. Either way, we had a great time.
Golf is always on the vacation agenda for my husband, no matter where we are going. There are several golf courses in the area. I booked tee times for the guys at The Pointe Golf Club. Price wise, it seemed to be in the middle of the pack. The guys all loved the course and had fantastic things to say about the greens, the course and the time they had. In fact, playing this course was on the top of each of their lists of favorite vacation moments.
BEACH
Of course we hit the beach, that is what we came for! There are so many pristine beaches to hang out on. The beach we hung out on most, that was closest to our house was near the Kitty Hawk Pier. A couple of things stood out to me about the beaches here. One, I’ve mentioned a couple of times, is that the sand is soft! So walking through it is quite like walking the beach in somewhere like along 30A in Florida where is seems more compact. So using a wagon to haul your beach day gear is very helpful. But make sure you bring one that the has the big wheels! Something like this one on Amazon. I had one with the regular wheels and I ended up abandoning it at the start of the beach.
The second thing I noticed is the waves seemed rougher than our usual beach vacation spots. A boogie board is a must have for the kiddos on seaside vacations and with the surf here, they will get good use of them.
WHAT WE DIDN’T HAVE TIME FOR, BUT WILL DO NEXT YEAR
- Visit the Elizabethan Gardens
- Explore the towns of Corolla and Duck
- Check out the WILD HORSES of Corolla, maybe even take one of the Wild Horse Tours
- Visit the ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE to spot black bears
- Visit at least one of the many light houses. Like Bodie Island Lighthouse.
- Get on a boat! Take a boat tour of some kind. Even if its a Dolphin Tour to check out the bottlenose dolphins in the area.
Here is our family’s Outer Banks Vacation Itinerary.
If you are planning your trip to the OBX then I hope some of this was helpful. If I missed anything that should absolutely be on the to do list or a helpful tip or suggestion for others, let us know about it in the comments. Happy beaching!