Has anyone been to Nags Head?

[pstepka]

I'm in the process of booking a 4-family vacation for August 2005. We were originally going to stay at Sea Pines in Hilton Head, but I have since found the Nags Head area and have been trying to find out more about it. We've been to Sea Pines so we know what this is like (wondeful!). I have been searching but can't find any active message boards so I'm falling back on the tried and true DIS! I'm SURE some of you vacation other places than Disney (once, anyway!)

So, I'd love to hear from anyone who has vactioned in Nags Head and has some info they'd like to share. Feel free to email me direct, if you'd like.

Pam
pam@stepka.net

 

[orvilleair]

Try vacationbuzz.com and obxer.com for bulletin boards about Nags Head and the Outer Banks. vacationbuzz has beach reports that you can review.

As for finding a rental, there are a ton of realty companies to deal with, but the largest in the area is Sun Realty. Go to their website and check on availability of the condo/house you want.

Also, on this board there was a similiar thread entitled outer banks. Do a search and you'll find additional info. A place with a pool is a big plus.

I went to Nags Head in June of this year.

Good:
Kids loved it. Very relaxing. Weather. Ocean temp was warmer than usual. Sunsets on Jockeys Ridge. Affordable.

Bad:
Biting flies, little jellyfish (they were harmless but distracting) in the ocean. fishing.

It's a nature lover's dream with mini golf, restaurants, shopping, museums to appeal to the average vacationer. It's worth checking out at least once.

 

[krissy3483]

The Outer Banks are absolutely beautiful...very serene. I haven't been there in a few years, but I would say that Nags Head is definitely one of the more populated areas of the outer banks. That is where most of the hotels are, and there is an aquarium near there as well which I enjoyed. There is mini golf and lighthouses to climb, and the Wright Brothers museum, but mostly there is just the beach. If you enjoy spending most of your time on the beach, you'll definitely enjoy it, it is an absolutely beautiful area.

 

[pstepka]

Thanks for the info! I've found a bunch of different houses that are possibilities in Nags Head and Sea Pines and we're trying to decide where to go. We definitely want a private pool and a SHORT walk to the beach. We also would like to be able to walk to a place on the beach that has drinks/food (like the Sea Pines Beach Club).

I'll have to check out those sites...thanks so much.

 

[2BigKIdz]

vacationbuzz.com and obxconnection.com are two good message boards. We have spent the past 13 summers vacationing in Nags Head. I would recommend Kitty Dunes realty or Kitty Hawk Realty, they have great selections and their rates are reasonable (links below). It is a beautiful place, I love it there. Not a lot to do in the area. There is one small carnival type park, several mini-golf places and that's about it for the youngsters. No central boardwalk or anything. The jellyfish are worse in August I think than earlier in the summer. Feel free to pm me with any questions, I know the area very well.

kitty dunes
kitty hawk
vacation buzz
obx

 

[2BigKIdz]

house

This is the last house we rented. It is very nice and a short walk to the beach, does have an ocean view. The pool and hot tub are awesome. Each bedroom has it's own tv and the masters have their own bathroom, made for a very nice trip. Restaurants are within walking distance, but not extremely close. The Red Drum is one and we eat there every trip atleast once, it is great.

 

[disney4us2002]

We went to Nags Head last summer and stayed 'between the roads' and it was about 2 minutes to cross the street to the beach. I haven't been to Hilton Head so can't compare the two, but there isn't a lot to do outside of 'beaching' in Nags Head. OTOH, if you are into walking, bicycling, or running there is an awesome paved path that runs for miles along the beach area. I would run while the kids rode bikes with me every morning - very safe and very nice!

There was some weird offshore phenonmenon last summer and the ocean was cold - I'm talking brrrrrr, 60-65* water temp. NO ONE was swimming. The air temps were normal 90's.

We took the kids to Jockey's Ridge and they tried hanggliding one afternoon. It was reallllllly hot on the dunes. Another time we went to the Wright bros museum and first flight site.

We ate in a seafood restaurant called "Dirty Dicks" and the kids gotta kick out of getting tee shirts that said "I got crabs at Dirty Dicks".

All in all, it was a very laid-back type of vacation which my hubby prefers. My ideal vacation is WDW or the equivalent. I want to stay on the go and do, do, do. We tend to switch off. We rented thru Sun Realty and liked the house very much. There were lots of houses with signs thru Sun and another company, Joe Lamb Jr.

 

[SC Minnie]

We had DH's family vacation there last July (25 of us in one house). The house we rented was enormous- right on the ocean with a private pool. We also went through Sun Realty and was very pleased-- DH set the whole thing up.

Everyone had a wonderful time and that is saying a lot from the crowd . There was plenty to do or nothing at all. Because we had the pool and ocean righ there the kids could play in the water while the parents chilled.

The Wright Bros. Memorial is nearby, Cape Hatteras is a day trip, the aquarium is an hour or so away so there are 'other' things to do.

I live near the NC Welcome center. I can pick up some tourist info if you want and mail to you. PM me and let me know.

 

[kadaten]

Just back from a week at Nags Head....six families, 18 people total! Great place for a family vacation As for the "lack of things to do", that's why we chose the OBX!! We wanted a laid back area, no strip, etc. WDW is my idea of vacation, but the rest of my family was in for wearing nothing dressier than a swimsuit for a week, so that's where we went! There was lots of swimming in the pool, burying Grandpa, and sandcastle building to while away the days

Some of our party had a chance to mini-golf, do the Wright Brothers Memorial, and drive down to Hatteras to climb the lighthouse. Had dinner one night at Kelly's, ice cream at Dairy Queen, and prepared lots of fun, family meals in house. One of the cousins went hang-gliding and some of the girls went shopping. There are LOTS of bike rental places and plenty of paths along the beach road for you to ride if you're so inclined.

We were in Nags Head, in a house called the Nags Header, that rents through Carolina Designs Realty. One thing I REALLY like about this company is that they provide your bed linens. Most do not! We did have to bring our own towels and beach towels. Our house was comfortable, but not too swanky. I avoided those since we had 5 kids along....I didn't want to worry about stuff!!

We were oceanfront with a private pool and hot tub. 7 bedroom house (really 8, but they don't include the private upper floor as a bedroom for some reason), 7 with their own bath, plus there were 1.5 other baths inside and one out with a full shower and also a "get the sand off" shower. I loved our house as it has a full sun-deck that shades most of the pool area, so when our little kids had had enough sun, we could retreat to the pool for fun, but not worry about frying them Typical rental...there were a few maintenance issues, but the handyman came to take care of them (screen out on screened-in porch, leak in bathtub). Every bedroom had a tv and vcr, 4 had dvd players, too. Living room had big tv, dvd, vcr....small collection of movies, but we'd brought our own. Some games in the closet and the kitchen was well-stocked...at least 2 of everything (pan-wise).

We were at milepost 11.8, which was only 5 or 6 houses down from the Nags Head Fishing Pier. GREAT seafood at their restaurant. You can go on the pier for sightseeing for $1.50 (I think) or $8 to fish...both passes good all day. Kids liked walking down there and back in the morning, hunting for seashells....and at night to watch the ghost crabs scuttle along the beach.

After 5:30pm you can call the local fire department and ask about bonfire permits on the beach. If the winds are low enough, they'll issue you a permit to burn on the beach Lovely way to end the day.....the kids loved it, even though we didn't do s'mores or anything. Just enjoyed the night air, sound of the waves, etc.

Some links:
Carolina Designs Realty

The Nags Header -- the house we rented

Outer Banks Visitor's Bureau

Other realty companies:
Seaside Realty
Twiddy Rentals--not Nags Head, though.....they do Duck and Corolla
Vacation Realty