Oak Island – Another Gem of the North Carolina Coast

Oak Island is one of the beautiful barrier islands along the Atlantic Coast in Brunswick County, NC. All for of the islands, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle, Holden Beach, and Oak Island have always been our favorite beach destinations from the time we first started visiting the NC/SC coastal area some 15 years ago or so. We’ve always been especially fond of Sunset Beach because of its proximity to the condo, the beautiful (and soon to be sadly replaced) swing bridge over the ICW, and endless stretch of quiet, unspoiled, sandy beach line all the way down to the NC/SC border. (Click on the pushpin for more details)

Although we have visited all 3 other islands from time to time, we’ve never had the opportunity to explore them to any significant degree until recently. Our exposure to Oak Island was limited for the most part to Oak Island Golf Club, which is a lovely, quiet little golf course meandering through Caswell and Yaupon Beach and some beach walking along Caswell Beach in the shadows of the Oak Island Lighthouse. Fortunately, now that our son Matt has moved out to Oak Island, we’ve come to realize what a gem of an island it is!

Surprisingly, some of the best sunsets can be found on Oak Island which is something of an oddity given that it’s an Atlantic Coast island. Oddly enough however, when you stand on the beach at Oak Island and look out over the Atlantic, you are actually facing the Bahamas, Florida and Cuba, and not Europe. Brunswick County is uniquely situated along one of the "scalloped arcs" on the southeast coast of North Carolina, so the beaches, including Oak Island, face south instead of east. This creates a wonderful backdrop for   beautiful sunsets at certain times of the year! The Island itself  is a little more than 12 miles long and averages about 1 mile across, making it Brunswick County's largest Island.  There are 3 ‘beaches’ on the island (although you wouldn’t really notice that there is any distinction): Caswell Beach. Yaupon Beach and Long Beach. The island consists of the Town of Oak Island and the Town of Caswell Beach. Oak Island is about 7 miles to Southport, 30 miles to Wilmington and about 60 miles to Myrtle Beach and about 35 miles from our condo which makes it a bit of a drive to just go to the beach, however, given its proximity to Southport, and the entire Cape Fear area, it makes for an ideal day trip for you from the condo. you’d likely find that you wouldn’t have enough time to both play on the beach and explore all the rest that the island has to offer.

 

As for the beach itself, we have found that one of the best areas is on Long Beach at the very western end of the island. Once you get on to the island and follow the signs for the ‘Beach Strand,’ you should follow W Beach Rd all along the beach until the road comes to an end.  You’ll find a small “free”public parking lot that will accommodate approximately 20 cars or so. From the lot it is just a very short walk to the beach along a couple different paths; short enough so that you bring about as much in the way of beach supplies as you’d like.  The worst thing about packing up for the beach is making multiple trips, lugging chairs, umbrellas, and coolers 1/2 mile from the parking lot! That’s one of the reasons we like this beach so much, not to mention all that you can do there.

As you can see from this picture, there is an abundance of ‘blanket area’  on this section of the beach. Walking to the point brings you to where the ICW flows into the Atlantic and where you are just a stones throw across the ICW to Holden Beach, the next barrier island along the coastline.

There’s lots of flat beachfront-ideal for bocce, great fishing on the surf or in the backwaters of the ICW and some of the best shell collecting around. Bring your camera – great sunsets, lots of birds, boats and wildlife.

Click on any of the thumbnails on the map for more detailed information about that particular area.

 

 

Here is a sampling of some of the sights and scenes of this beautiful stretch of beach.

 

 

And a couple short video clips of the sights and sounds on Oak Island.

 

 

One word of caution…if you’re expecting to find the ‘honky tonk’ atmosphere here….you won’t find it! You won’t find cement high rise hotels and motels on the beachfront; you won’t find miles of tacky souvenir shops; 96 holes of mini golf, or even a Hooters. You will find lots of quality locally owned restaurants, antique shops, and lovely gift shops. Come to Oak Island for the beach, the golf and the history…..and history certainly does abound in the Oak Island/Southport area. When you’ve had enough of the beach or golf, spend some time exploring the history of Oak Island.

 

One of the best places to start is at the Oak Island lighthouse.  The Oak Island lighthouse was constructed by the Coast Guard in 1958 using concrete and standing 155 feet in height. Amazingly, it will never need to be painted because its color was added to the concrete in the top section before being poured into place. It’s also the last lighthouse constructed on the NC shore. It’s also built to withstand gale force winds that would cause it to sway up to three feet without suffering any damage! Unlike most other lighthouses which utilize spiral staircases inside the structure, the Oak Island lighthouse uses a series of ships ladders, to get from one level to the next. There are a total of 134 steps, leading to the lantern gallery level! This makes the trip up to the top nothing short of challenging!

During the summer season, the lighthouse is open for tours, however, on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. Due to the nature of the climb, the tour goes only to the 2nd level of the tower, not all the way up to the observation balcony at the top of the lighthouse. The tour however, is FREE thanks to the Friends of the Oak Island Lighthouse whose volunteers provide the tours. Please bear in mind however, only children 7 years of age and up are allowed to take the tour, again, due to the difficulty of the climb. Sneakers are also the footwear of choice for the climb. Even though these tours go only to the 2nd level, you can arrange for a tour that will take you all the way to the top! This tour is available year round but by appointment only and subject to a few additional restrictions. You can find all the details here.

Just down the road from the lighthouse, you’ll find even more history on the easternmost end of the island where the historic Fort Caswell still sits. Because of the high level of piracy in this area back in the early 19th century, it was decided to build a fort as a defense against the pirates who had taken safe refuge on neighboring Bald Head Island. Construction began in earnest in 1825 and the resulting fort was one the the strongest forts in the world! It was a pentagonal structure with a two-story citadel and surrounded by a dry moat and a wet moat  The fort, along with Fort Fisher across the Cape Fear River in Kure Beach, served a critical mission and purpose for the Confederacy during the Civil War by protecting the Cape Fear River from intrusions by the Union. Amazingly, not one Confederate soldier died at Fort Caswell during the Civil War, a testament to the construction of the fortress! (Many soldiers however, did die from yellow fever, small pox, and other diseases.

In 1949, the Baptist State Convention bought the property from the federal government and owns the land to this day and provides a plethora of activities on the site. Tours of the fort are available for a small fee. Much more history and details can be found by going here.

There’s no doubt that a day trip to Oak Island will be enjoyable for the entire family, kids and adults alike. For more info, please visit our website or contact us.