Private Oceanfront Beaches on the Outer Banks

There is nothing like taking a long walk down a deserted beach with nothing but your thoughts and the waves crashing. We have beaches on the Outer Banks where it looks like you have walked back in time. Take a walk on the ocean front on Pea Island just south of Nags head and at the south end of the Oregon Inlet Bridge

Unlike some areas of the country where the individual oceanfront owners or the community actually own the land up to the water’s edge, that does not happen in North Carolina. The part of the beach which gets wet from the ocean during a storm tide up to the Mean Highwater Line, which is usually located near the base of the Sand Dune, is owned by the state of North Carolina. The land above the Mean Highwater Line is owned by individual property owners.

Here on the OBX we have exclusive gated oceanfront neighborhoods that don't allow public beach accesses but that does not make them exclusive beaches. Someone from the neighboring subdivision can walk down the beach, through the gated community beach, and continue walking on down the beach.

A person can theoretically walk from Virginia to South Carolina on the beach in NC and never have to worry about a fence, although you would have to swim across a number of inlets. One exception is the fence on the North Corolla Beach that is there to keep the wild horses from moving into town.