OBX first time visit!

[irishsharon]

Hi I am planning on renting a house through homeawayrentals in the outer banks.Planning the last week in Aug. as it is cheaper.I was just wondering if anyone could tell me a little bit about what to expect,things for the kids to do and also since it is cheaper to get a house not on the water is there beaches we can drive too and park the car?An information to help plan this trip would be very welcome P.S my in-laws are also coming with their dog so want to make sure everyone has fun....my boys are 9&6

 

[moates]

Hi Sharon! I lived in NC for the past 7 years and my very favorite place to vacation are the northern OBX beaches. My boys are 9 and 7 . I've never used homeaway for a rental place but rather a company called Kitty Dunes Realty.

The first year that we vacationed there was the first week of September and unfortunately we were there during the time that a tropical storm was rolling it. Water was rough and cold. I've been in June, July and August as well and had great weather so hopefully you'll be fine!

When researching the OBX you'll see that there are numerous towns listed, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, etc. Those towns really all run into one another with little differentiation as to when one stops and the other begins, so don't let the name of the town deter you from renting an otherwise great house. The towns of Duck and Corolla are a little bit further out. There are areas that direction that are ONLY accessible by a 4WD vehicle, no paved roads, no grocery stores, nowhere to eat out, et cetera. Avon is considered the OBX as well but is really far out and there's little to do out that way other than the beach, so I'd personally not recommend that unless that's what you're looking for.

The towns of Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head (and possibly the other towns too, just not 100% sure) all have beach accesses with parking lots every few blocks, we've never stayed directly ocean front, way too expensive and even though we usually stay close to the ocean, we have way too much stuff to lug, so we load up the car, drive the couple blocks to the ocean and then settle in for the day. Some of the beach accesses have showers and bath houses, some of them are more basic. Check out this website for a list of life guarded beaches and their offered amenities, sorry i can't post a link but its outer-banks dot com. Pets are allowed on some of the beaches as well, some of the beaches require them to be on a certain length leash while others have no leash regulations.

As far as things to do... there's tons! Your boys may like to check out the lighthouses, you can even climb the one at Cape Hatteras... be forewarned, it's a long climb, in a tight space with lots of people but it is so cool once you get to the top. There's an aquarium at Fort Fischer which is a little small, in my opinion and since we've been a couple times, we now skip it. Jockey's Ridge is a huge sand dune and really neat!

I sure hope this helps, let me know if you have any specific questions once you get into planning your trip a little more!

 

[got2sammies]

There are plenty of things for your boys to do! Do you want something educational? There is the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk and The Lost Colony play that tells the story of the english settlement that disappeared. Check the website for shows/times cuz I know they stop sometime in August. There is a small outlet mall (Tangier Outlet) and a nice movie theater on the bypass road. The Dunes at Jockey's Ridge are a good climb and there is agood BBQ joint right there. There is even a nice aquarium in Manteo, which is about a 30min-1 hr drive depending on your location. There are also a couple of fishing piers.
have fun!

 

[of2dbeach]

Jockeys ridge is a fun place to fly kites thats what we do when we visit our kids who live there
My step dad works at the aquarium and last time we were there they had a hedge hog out the kids could touch. My Autistic son LOVED him lol. they also have a touch tank inside .There is a pier they re- did i think 2 years ago its very nice but I cant think of the name. They have fish tanks inside but I think the fee was like $15 a person to go inside it. Also the Right brothers mueseum is there and that was interesting to go into . Most people there are surfers including my son. it will be a very busy time on the island but alot of fun. we will be back there again in June

 

[mcorbo]

Going that time of year, make sure you get hurricane insurance. My brother goes just about every year that week and has been evacuated from the island due to incoming hurricanes several times.

 

[parrothead64]

Where, what town, do you plan on staying in the OBX? It is a long stretch and some things are closer than others depending on where you are staying. You may stay in Hatteras Village, and The Wright Brothers Memorial is a hour an a half ride each way with good traffic. It's not like going to the Jersey shore where everything is right there. Establish your base and than questions can be answered more easily.

 

[artesian]

Hurricane ins is a good idea. We got delayed a few days this year and evacuate the year before. Without it you lose out on any refunds. We stay in Corolla which is north and absolutley love it. We like the fact there there is nothing. So aside from a food run when we arrive we basically stay in the house all week taking advantage of the beach life and loving every minute. We have used www.twiddy.com now for 5 years. Easy to deal with an never an issue. Good luck

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Hi Sharon! I lived in NC for the past 7 years and my very favorite place to vacation are the northern OBX beaches. My boys are 9 and 7 . I've never used homeaway for a rental place but rather a company called Kitty Dunes Realty.

The first year that we vacationed there was the first week of September and unfortunately we were there during the time that a tropical storm was rolling it. Water was rough and cold. I've been in June, July and August as well and had great weather so hopefully you'll be fine!

When researching the OBX you'll see that there are numerous towns listed, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, etc. Those towns really all run into one another with little differentiation as to when one stops and the other begins, so don't let the name of the town deter you from renting an otherwise great house. The towns of Duck and Corolla are a little bit further out. There are areas that direction that are ONLY accessible by a 4WD vehicle, no paved roads, no grocery stores, nowhere to eat out, et cetera. Avon is considered the OBX as well but is really far out and there's little to do out that way other than the beach, so I'd personally not recommend that unless that's what you're looking for.

The towns of Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head (and possibly the other towns too, just not 100% sure) all have beach accesses with parking lots every few blocks, we've never stayed directly ocean front, way too expensive and even though we usually stay close to the ocean, we have way too much stuff to lug, so we load up the car, drive the couple blocks to the ocean and then settle in for the day. Some of the beach accesses have showers and bath houses, some of them are more basic. Check out this website for a list of life guarded beaches and their offered amenities, sorry i can't post a link but its outer-banks dot com. Pets are allowed on some of the beaches as well, some of the beaches require them to be on a certain length leash while others have no leash regulations.

As far as things to do... there's tons! Your boys may like to check out the lighthouses, you can even climb the one at Cape Hatteras... be forewarned, it's a long climb, in a tight space with lots of people but it is so cool once you get to the top. There's an aquarium at Fort Fischer which is a little small, in my opinion and since we've been a couple times, we now skip it. Jockey's Ridge is a huge sand dune and really neat!

I sure hope this helps, let me know if you have any specific questions once you get into planning your trip a little more!

Thank you for posting this info, it is very helpful as we are also considering the NC Outer Banks for our summer vacation

 

[3boymthr]

We also rented from Kitty Dunes. Great rental at a great price - they discount their rates a LOT for the last week of August, which is when we went last year. We stayed in Soundfront in Colington Harbor (where a lot of the Kitty Dunes Rental soundfront and canalfront properties are located), which is nice, but where many of the residents live so not as beachy as I would have liked and about a 20 minute drive from the beach. Next time I would pay the extra to stay in Kitty Hawk or Nags Head. We hit the beaches in Kitty Hawk as PP mentioned lots of easy access and plenty of parking the last week of august. The beaches were gorgeous, not too crowded, the water was perfect, but getting a little rough and aside from the beach there was just so much to do. We went to the Wright Bros. Memorial and the lighthouses. We planned to hit the go-karts. I have some wonderful photos. These are my most remembered images :

If going the last week of august, invest in the trip insurance and have an alternate route home (oh, and keep the car gassed up - not us but lots of others ) Oh, and call ahead to book hotels along your drive because they will all fill up VERY quickly.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I agree. trio insurance is a must.. We are also booked to go the last week of of August last summer and Irene hit.
We were booked in Corolla with http://www.southernshores.com/.

I have also stayed in Nags head in the past but prices have really gone up.

IF you want to go go down in the lower section check out Outer Beaches Realty.

 

[HM]

If you can afford to do it, I think paying extra to be on the beach (or at least second row) is worth every penny. There is nothing like sitting out on the deck watching the ocean and being able to go down to the beach multiple times a day without having to pile everyone and all your stuff into a car or trudge it all a good way to the beach from a house way back off the beach.

 

[North of Mouse]

Hi I am planning on renting a house through homeawayrentals in the outer banks.Planning the last week in Aug. as it is cheaper.I was just wondering if anyone could tell me a little bit about what to expect,things for the kids to do and also since it is cheaper to get a house not on the water is there beaches we can drive too and park the car?An information to help plan this trip would be very welcome P.S my in-laws are also coming with their dog so want to make sure everyone has fun....my boys are 9&6

Our son lives in Kill Devil Hills next to the Wright Brothers Memorial and that's an interesting place to go. My dau. in law's dad lives and rents houses in Nags Head right on hwy. 12 and you can see the ocean from their deck (the decks are mostly built high - a lot of them on top of the houses. We just walked over to a public parking area and down the steps to the ocean. He owns and operates the Sand Bar Bed & Breakfast at milepost 10.5 You can look it up and see the pictures - very new and nice. The last I knew the prices were not too bad. We just stay at my son's house, but we are not really "beach" people (can't stand the constant sticky salty feeling) but love to watch the waves and walk in the surf. The waves can be fairly high there as you are "out" in the ocean more there than just the coastline. Have fun, and do go down to Cape Hatteras and climb the lighthouse. We climbed it before they moved it inland (VERY interesting story and pictures of VERY slow move ) The ocean was under mining the foundation it was on, so it was getting unsafe. Have a great time - Actually hurricane Irene was worse further s. than them there - they didn't even evacuate, but all tourists had to. I was a nervous wreck for them, but could not make them come here LOL. I would get trip insurance, especially mid - July through September when most of the bad weather seems to hit our state.

 

[North of Mouse]

Hi I am planning on renting a house through homeawayrentals in the outer banks.Planning the last week in Aug. as it is cheaper.I was just wondering if anyone could tell me a little bit about what to expect,things for the kids to do and also since it is cheaper to get a house not on the water is there beaches we can drive too and park the car?An information to help plan this trip would be very welcome P.S my in-laws are also coming with their dog so want to make sure everyone has fun....my boys are 9&6

Our son lives in Kill Devil Hills next to the Wright Brothers Memorial and that's an interesting place to go. My dau. in law's dad lives and rents houses in Nags Head right on hwy. 12 and you can see the ocean from their deck (the decks are mostly built high - a lot of them on top of the houses. We just walked over to a public parking area and down the steps to the ocean. He owns and operates the Sand Bar Bed & Breakfast at milepost 10.5 You can look it up and see the pictures - very new and nice. The last I knew the prices were not too bad. We just stay at my son's house, but we are not really "beach" people (can't stand the constant sticky salty feeling) but love to watch the waves and walk in the surf. The waves can be fairly high there as you are "out" in the ocean more there than just the coastline. Have fun, and do go down to Cape Hatteras and climb the lighthouse. We climbed it before they moved it inland (VERY interesting story and pictures of VERY slow move ) The ocean was under mining the foundation it was on, so it was getting unsafe. Have a great time - Actually hurricane Irene was worse further s. than them there - they didn't even evacuate, but all tourists had to. I was a nervous wreck for them, but could not make them come here LOL. I would get trip insurance, especially mid - July through September when most of the bad weather seems to hit our state.

 

[North of Mouse]

Sorry for double post

 

[irishsharon]

Thank You Everyone!!!!!!Will definitly get the trip ins. I am thinking of staying in Nags Head,Kill Devil or Duck.I am really going to try and stay somewhere that we can walk to the water,more money but I think it will be money well spent for the convience.We are excited to explore the light houses and want to visit the aquarium.Just wondering if anyone has gone to any of the islands close by,worth the trip? Thanks everyone, any restaurants you can recomend(not fancy)

 

[moates]

Thank You Everyone!!!!!!Will definitly get the trip ins. I am thinking of staying in Nags Head,Kill Devil or Duck.I am really going to try and stay somewhere that we can walk to the water,more money but I think it will be money well spent for the convience.We are excited to explore the light houses and want to visit the aquarium.Just wondering if anyone has gone to any of the islands close by,worth the trip? Thanks everyone, any restaurants you can recomend(not fancy)

If you're staying in one of the northern beach areas and want to be able to walk to the ocean, you'll need to look for a house that is "between the bypass and beach road". Basically there are ocean front houses and then a small two-lane road that is casually called "the beach road" then several blocks of houses/condos, businesses and you come to "The Bypass" which is a very busy four lane road, lots of traffic, lots of lights, lots of businesses. Then on the other side of the bypass are the sound-side communities and the sound beaches which are okay but I didn't care for them much, the water is super calm, stays really, really shallow but tended to be kind of murky in my opinion.

**ETA** We always stay in between the beach road and bypass. It's moderately priced in my opinion (although we are a family of 4 so we can stay in a smaller place). It is close enough to walk even though 95% of the time we chose to load up the car for the trip there, about 50% of the time the kids and I would walk back to have less sand in the vehicle!

Most of the beaches/places that have been mentioned in this thread are islands. The Northern Beaches (Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Heads, etc.) are all on one island, this is where the Wright Brothers Memorial and Jockey's Ridge is and then there is Hatteras Island which is Avon, Buxton, Waves, Rodanthe, etc. that has the Hatteras Light house where you can climb Roanoke Island is Manteo and Wanchese (aquarium) and there is Ocracoke which is way, way, way out and there's not much to do there, a light house that you can see but not climb, maybe a lifesaving museum (??) but there is great fishing there.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Thank You Everyone!!!!!!Will definitly get the trip ins. I am thinking of staying in Nags Head,Kill Devil or Duck.I am really going to try and stay somewhere that we can walk to the water,more money but I think it will be money well spent for the convience.We are excited to explore the light houses and want to visit the aquarium.Just wondering if anyone has gone to any of the islands close by,worth the trip? Thanks everyone, any restaurants you can recomend(not fancy)

Non-fancy restaurants that I would recommend include:
Run Down Cafe (or their sister restaurant Tortugas' Lie)
Duck Donuts (an absolute do not miss for breakfast!!)
Pizzazz Pizza (pizza buffet)
Sam and Omie's (look for a white rabbit that is the former owner reincarnated)
Duck Deli
The Good Life Cafe
Black Pelican
Sugar Shack Seafood Market (On the Manteo Causeway and not fancy at all, but if you like fresh seafood it's really good and VERY casual. They also have tables outside where you can sit and watch the water. I had a mahi mahi sandwhich and homemade potato chips there yesterday that were yummy!)
Jolly Roger
Hurricane Mo's

For a family friendly splurge I recommend Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe on the Manteo Causeway (ask to be seated where you have a view of their osprey nest).

For a great rainy day (or night) activity, my kids (and Ilove to play laser tag at Gearworks.

Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills will be more "in the middle of all the action." Duck is more secluded and relaxing and almost anywhere you stay will be within walking distance to the beach. Duck also is the only beach that allows dogs off their leash.

 

[DreadpiratK]

We stayed down there 2 years ago in Avon on Hatteras Island . Beautifull! If you want lots of commercial activities stay up on the northern islands but if you want natural beauty and peace and quiet, stay on Hatteras. It's also cheaper generally. Avon has about a dozen restaurants (all very good!) and a few stores, and that's about it, but we loved it, a very relaxing vacation. The island is very narrow, and bisected by the highway, so any ocean side house is within easy walking distance to the beach, and many of the sound side homes as well. The highway is not very busy down there, not in September when we went anyway, so crossing it wasn't a problem. It seemed like most of the houses had Ocean and sound views from the roof decks, and just sitting out there in the evening was just wonderfully relaxing.

One of the best things we did, and I highly recommend it, is to drive to the southern tip of Hatteras and take the ferry over to Okracoke island. You may see some wild pony's on Ocracoke, and the little town at the southern tip is kind of neat. It's a beautiful drive, and the ferry is free. We, quite by accident, ended up taking the return ferry at sunset and it was the most beautiful time we had the whole vacation watching the sunset over the ocean from the ferry. I'd go back just to do that again.

The Graveyard of the Atlantic museum is right near the ferry as well, and worth a stop. It was free when we were there, not very big, but interesting. There's a nice little shopping village at the ferry landing as well.

When we went my son and I had just finished building kayaks together, and we spent a lot of wonderful time paddling them around the Pamlico sound. You can rent them lots of places, and if you're boys are into the outdoors at all they will love it! You can fish off of them too, if you want to, no license required because it's salt water. Just bring lots of sunscreen, sitting in a kayak just off the water is a great way to get very very sunburned!

 

[of2dbeach]

oh gosh yes i forgot about them evacuating. it takes forver and I mean last time i think it took my family 6 hrs just to get into Va which is a 2 hr trip. you can not and will not be aloud back in for any reason untill the all clear. this takes about 10 days and even then it is residents ONLY. you have to show Id to get back on. My father in Law has a special Id because he is a first responder. the roads wash out and even in heavy rains it tends to flood. not to sour your trip just better to get the insurance. Another thing to note some of the houses for rent are owned by private people but rented out through agencies. My father In law rented us a house sight unseen. you could only choose the number of room etc. We thought it was nice untill we took a shower! you had about 3 mins and it went to full blast cold. Apparently they are European and always take showers outdoors. We had to keep going to the in laws for showers and the washer had to be filled with a garden hose. lol it was fun though ..

We also rented from Kitty Dunes. Great rental at a great price - they discount their rates a LOT for the last week of August, which is when we went last year. We stayed in Soundfront in Colington Harbor (where a lot of the Kitty Dunes Rental soundfront and canalfront properties are located), which is nice, but where many of the residents live so not as beachy as I would have liked and about a 20 minute drive from the beach. Next time I would pay the extra to stay in Kitty Hawk or Nags Head. We hit the beaches in Kitty Hawk as PP mentioned lots of easy access and plenty of parking the last week of august. The beaches were gorgeous, not too crowded, the water was perfect, but getting a little rough and aside from the beach there was just so much to do. We went to the Wright Bros. Memorial and the lighthouses. We planned to hit the go-karts. I have some wonderful photos. These are my most remembered images :

If going the last week of august, invest in the trip insurance and have an alternate route home (oh, and keep the car gassed up - not us but lots of others ) Oh, and call ahead to book hotels along your drive because they will all fill up VERY quickly.

 

[North of Mouse]

Thank You Everyone!!!!!!Will definitly get the trip ins. I am thinking of staying in Nags Head,Kill Devil or Duck.I am really going to try and stay somewhere that we can walk to the water,more money but I think it will be money well spent for the convience.We are excited to explore the light houses and want to visit the aquarium.Just wondering if anyone has gone to any of the islands close by,worth the trip? Thanks everyone, any restaurants you can recomend(not fancy)

There are no fancy restaurants there LOL. The beach rd. is hwy. 12, the 4 lane road bypass is hwy. 158. Hwy. 12 is the one you would want to be on. Our son and fly. like The Red Drum near milepost 10.5 which is a short walk from my dau. in law's Dad's Sandbar B&B. As I said, you can check his website for his place w/pictures. We just walked across the road (hwy.12 -beach rd.) and was right on the beach. We stayed with him before our son moved over there, and it's a very nice clean place. You would not have to get sand all in your car which was a plus with us. Enjoy your "beach-bumming" Also, the whole outer banks are islands, if that is what you meant by islands close by