Ocracoke Island ... No Longer "Our Little Secret"

By Molly Harrison

In my opinion, fall is by far the best season on Ocracoke Island. When the summer crowds have fallen away, Ocracoke Island is at its most magical. The locals are much more relaxed; relieved to have made it through the tourist season, but still thankful to have tourists around to keep their businesses running. The accommodations are much cheaper, there’s less competition for restaurant service and recreational opportunities, the beaches are practically empty, the lines at the coffee shop and grocery store are short, and the weather is still warm. Even the ocean is warm enough to swim in through early October. 

As the official #2 beach in the nation – according to Dr. Steven Leatherman’s popular annual list of America’s Best Beaches – Ocracoke Island has gotten quite a bit of national recognition lately. This 16-mile-long island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina has been mentioned everywhere from USA Today to “The Today Show,” and the charms of Ocracoke are a secret no more.

Regular visitors to Ocracoke like to keep this island to themselves, but they’ve known that it was only a matter of time until it hit the national radar. Ocracoke Island is one of the last real getaways, a beach that has yet to be over-commercialized and ruined with development, a place where you truly can forget about the pressures of modern living. Ocracoke Island is everything that an island should be – wild, quiet, simple, beautiful, and slow-paced.

The best part of Ocracoke is its open space. Nearly 80% of the island – including the entire oceanfront – is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. This means the overwhelming majority of the island is undeveloped and uninhabited … and always will be. Naked sand dunes, wide beaches, thick maritime forest, and vast marshlands are left in their natural state – something rarely seen on the coast these days. The beaches are every bit as wonderful as Leatherman says they are, and you can always find your own private stretch of beach on Ocracoke. People who love the great outdoors love it on Ocracoke, where they can hike, bike, walk, swim, sail, kayak, camp, fish, and explore to their heart’s content.
But there’s more to this island than its beaches. At the south end of the island is Ocracoke Village, a small, quaint town situated around Silver Lake. The island streets are narrow, and the best way to get around is on foot or bicycle. The village is so small that you can pedal its entirety in less than an hour, but if you can’t resist intriguing back roads, adorable shops, enticing eateries, and quaint attractions, it will take you much longer than that.

If you’re looking for a lot of wild excitement, you won’t find it here. There are no miniature golf courses, go-carts, or amusement parks. But there are a few small attractions – the Ocracoke Lighthouse, the British Cemetery, the National Park Service Visitor Center, the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum, the Ocracoke Pony Pens, and the Hammocks Nature Trail. They’re all free, but they’re very simple, and visiting all of them takes up only half an afternoon. “What do people do on Ocracoke?” you may wonder. They sit on the porch and read a book. They bike over to the ice cream store or the coffee shop for a treat. They browse in art galleries, boutiques, bookstores, and gift shops – all of them individually owned and infused with their owners’ unique personalities. They walk around Silver Lake and look at the boats in the harbor. They charter a fishing boat or take a boat tour. They rent kayaks, take surfing lessons, or go parasailing. They have an afternoon beer in a waterfront bar. They take a daytrip to uninhabited Portsmouth Island. They take naps. They play with their children. They daydream over the real estate listings. They listen to live music. They smile a lot.

Getting to the island requires patience. To get there, you must drive into the hinterlands of mainland North Carolina or all the way down the long stretch of Hatteras Island and get in line for a ferry that slowly meanders its way across the Pamlico Sound. The ferry trip from the mainland, either from Cedar Island or Swan Quarter, takes more than two hours. The ride from Hatteras Island takes about 40 minutes. Private boats and small planes are alternative ways to reach the island. 

There are numerous accommodations options, from bed and breakfast inns to mom-and-pop motels to condominiums to rental cottages – some rustic, some luxurious. One of the best places to stay on the island is The Castle Bed and Breakfast. This magnificent inn was built as a private lodge in the 1950s and is an important part of the island’s history. It has been thoroughly updated but retains its old island charm. You can learn a lot about the island’s history at this bed and breakfast inn, which offers a pool, a boat dock, a sumptuous breakfast, a pool table, bikes for guests, and luxurious accommodations. If you’re interested in renting a cottage of your own, look to Ocracoke Island Realty, which offers a great variety of cottages in a great variety of settings.

If you want to visit Ocracoke, here’s a bit of advice: Go in the off-season. 

The off-season, for this story, is defined as the period between Labor Day and Memorial Day, i.e., not June, July, or August. In my opinion, fall is by far the best season on Ocracoke Island. When the summer crowds have fallen away, Ocracoke Island is at its most magical. The locals are much more relaxed; relieved to have made it through the tourist season, but still thankful to have tourists around to keep their businesses running. The accommodations rates are cheaper, there’s less competition for restaurant service and recreational opportunities, the beaches are practically empty, the lines at the coffee shop and grocery store are short, and the weather is still warm. Even the ocean is still warm enough to swim in through September and early October. 

If you’re a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of person, Ocracoke is more accessible in the off-season. In the summer you may have trouble getting a ferry or hotel reservation at the last minute, but in the off-season you won’t have a problem with any of that.

The only possible snag to a perfect fall vacation on Ocracoke would be a hurricane (hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 1). Rental companies offer hurricane insurance for renters during hurricane season, so you won’t be out any money if a hurricane does threaten the coast. Late fall and late spring are also great times to visit Ocracoke. If you really like solitude, go to Ocracoke in the winter months. Many businesses will be closed, but enough will be open to accommodate a great getaway.

If you only have the summer to visit, try the earliest weeks in June or the last week in August. And don’t worry … even at the height of summer, Ocracoke is still wonderful, and it’s never so crowded that you can’t enjoy it. The village can only handle as many people as its hotels, bed and breakfast inns, and rental cottages will allow, which for now is about 2,500 per night, says the Hyde County Chamber of Commerce.
For a free visitor’s guide, call the Hyde County Chamber of Commerce at (888) 493-3826 or visit www.hydecounty.org.

Molly Harrison is a freelance writer who lives in Nags Head. She was married on Ocracoke Island in 1997 and visits the island as much as possible.