Oak Island Beach
Oak Island, NC
Oak Island stretches nearly ten miles along North Carolina's southern coast, with more than 65 public accesses and a beach wide enough that even a full parking lot doesn't mean a crowded stretch of sand. Two fishing piers anchor either end of town, and the water here tends to run calmer than the more exposed beaches further up the coast.
Ten miles and dozens of accesses mean there's almost always room, though the permit system during peak season catches out-of-towners off guard every year.
How we score beachesSkip the permit scramble entirely and arrive before 9am or after 5pm between April and September, when parking is free and the beach is at its emptiest anyway.
A parking permit is required from 9am to 5pm, April through September. Outside those hours and months, parking is free, and the Oak Island Pier Complex offers two hours free year-round.
Most of the 65-plus accesses are boardwalk or sand path crossings over a low dune, varying in width and grade from one access to the next.
Dogs must be leashed on the beach, though they're allowed to run free in marked areas from 6am to 9am, October 15 through March 15.
Summer water climbs into the upper 70s, calmer than more exposed stretches of the coast, during the same June through November hurricane season as the rest of North Carolina. The off season's early morning off-leash hours are worth planning a walk around.
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