Outer Banks, NC - best areas to look for rental units?Hi, Me and my girlfriend are looking into going down to NC and beach it up for 7 days. Just us. She found small houses on the beach or has a semi view for like $500-600 for 7 days. Due to the season and kids back at school probably. But what is the best location in OuterBanks to look? We want some place that looks... |
Kitty Hawk is nice - we used to vacation there every year when our kids were young. All of the areas on the banks are nice, but they have different feels.
Corolla - many very exclusive communities, higher end feel, this is where many fancy places are. This is also a very quiet area, not many activities are located directly in Corolla, you will drive a lot for this.
Duck - like Corolla, has an exclusive feel, relatively quiet, but more shopping and restaurants here. Not a lot of activities like minigolf and carnivals.
Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills - next door to each other, this might as well be one community. This is the place where the island is widest, and on the west end there are a lot of 12 month residents, churches, and more of a real community. East of the highway are a lot of houses that are individually owned, and often large. The beaches here are great, but honestly they are the whole length of the island. This area has more to do - with kayaking on the sound side, the Wright Brothers National Monument, more restaurants, more shopping, and Kitty Hawk Kites providing hang gliding lessons. I find it quiet enough for a nice walk along the beach (stopping at Johns for their famous milkshakes and/or fish sandwiches), but it's relatively close to activity. Beaches here are immense and never crowded, walking to them no problem.
Nag's Head. This is the commercial center of the Banks in many ways - it's where you will go to a club that has a live band, where you'll find minigolf, where you will find carnivals, outlet malls, water parks, and much more. At the south end, great kayak places, kayak rental. Lots and lots of souvenir shops. It's not quiet, a lot of the units are condominiums and timeshares, but it's where you'll go for something to do.
Ocracoke is much more remote, you'll get down near the national seashore, there are lighthouses, fishing villages, and the like, but no minigolf, etc, and it's a bit of a drive to the rest.
Manteo is on a separate island, inside the barrier islands. You will want to go there, as it has some interesting attractions, including a colonial era ship, the outdoor drama of "the Lost Colony" (which is worth going to), an Aquarium, Elizabethan gardens, the Weeping Radish brewery, unique shopping, legendary restaurants. This is an un-missable day trip (or two) but not near enough the ocean to stay at.
Hope that helps.
Nags Head is sort of the "downtown" area of the Outer Banks...if you can even call it that. Duck is up the road from NH and it's very quiet...so is Corolla. Things pick up ever so slightly at Kill Devil as you approach Nags Head. Completely scratch Ocracoke Island...it's ferry only and more quiet than Duck and Corolla. Compared to popular places like Ocean City, MD; Virginia Beach, VA; or Myrtle Beach, SC, it's quiet all over the Outer Banks. So it doesn't really matter what area you pick, it's pretty much all the same.
