The Outer Banks: A family-friendly destination
The Outer Banks of North Carolina, often called “the OBX,” is an ideal vacation destination for families. The area is considered a barrier island and consists of coastal towns and communities bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Sound to the west. Visitors are never far from a multitude of shops, restaurants, and a broad range of family-friendly vacation activities.
For the best experience while you’re visiting the Outer Banks, use this guide to help you plan your family’s stay in advance. Carolina Designs Realty’s local reservationists are standing by seven days a week to assist with any questions you may have about your vacation.
About the Outer Banks:
The northern Outer Banks towns include Corolla, Duck, Southern Shores, Duck, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, and Nags Head. Rarely more than two miles wide and surrounded by water, pristine Outer Banks beaches are always nearby, no matter which town you visit.
Corolla: The northernmost town on the Outer Banks, Corolla is home to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, Historic Whalehead Club, and the three-mile-long Corolla Greenway. Protected wild horses roam the 4X4 area north of the town in Carova, and guided educational tours are available.
Duck: A favorite for families, Duck has quaint shops and restaurants, a soundfront boardwalk, and a town green that hosts yoga, children’s activities, live music, and other community events. The town prides itself on being very pedestrian and bike friendly.
Southern Shores: Primarly residential, Southern Shores is a quiet, coastal escape with private community beach accesses and parks. The town offers two shopping centers, a country club, and it’s a short drive to the neighboring communities of Duck and Kitty Hawk.
Kitty Hawk: Located between Southern Shores and Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk has easy access to the Wright Memorial Bridge. Visitors enjoy the Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve, Sandy Run Park, the town’s skate park, the Monument to a Century of Flight at the Aycock Brown Welcome Center, and more!
Kill Devil Hills: Located in the heart of the Outer Banks, Kill Devil Hills is well-known as being the location of the first powered flight. The Wright Brothers National Memorial is located here as well as Avalon Pier, Nags Heads Woods Preserve, and ample shopping and dining options.
Nags Head: The last town before the National Seashore begins, Nags Head has countless shops, restaurants, three piers, and the largest living sand dune in the continental United States – Jockey’s Ridge. Body Island Lighthouse is located at the town’s southern border.
With a humid subtropical climate, summertime is hot on the Outer Banks, and winters are mild. April through October are popular with visitors, and the summer months are a favorite for families making the most of schools’ summer breaks.
Bridges with breathtaking water views connect the OBX to mainland North Carolina. The Wright Memorial Bridge connects Kitty Hawk to Currituck County; further south, the Washington Baum Bridge connects Nags Head to Roanoke Island. (Roanoke Island is home to the quaint town of Manteo, which is a great day trip from the northern beaches!) Two bridges connect Roanoke Island to the mainland: the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge and the Manns Harbor Bridge.
Not only is the Outer Banks an idyllic beach vacation destination, but it’s also packed with a rich history. The first English child was born here at what would become the Lost Colony, the Wright Brothers’ first-ever powered flight took place on a high dune, Blackbeard the pirate sailed these shores as did German U-boats in WWII, Civil War battles were fought, a Freedmen’s Colony was established, and so much more. There are a number of museums and historical sites to explore.
Family-friendly accommodations on the OBX:
On the Outer Banks, privately owned vacation rental homes are the predominant accommodation option. Vacation homes of all sizes can be found along the oceanfront and in neighborhood communities in the towns of Corolla, Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, and Nags Head. Many homes offer private pools and pet-friendly options.
At Carolina Designs Realty, we’ve been managing family-friendly vacation rentals since the 80s, and family groups return to our homes year after year. Here are our tips for booking the best family-friendly Outer Banks vacation:
- Book early for the best availability. We’re all for a last-minute getaway, but booking early gives families more time to find the right OBX rental and plan the best activities for their group. At CarolinaDesigns.com, you can book over a year in advance.
- Consider staying oceanfront for the convenience factor. Most oceanfront homes on the Outer Banks have private beach accesses, making it easy to get on and off the beach for bathroom breaks, snack resupplies, and to go back for your forgotten beach towel. (Plus, there’s nothing quite like the dreamy views from your own dune-top deck.)
- Have a dog? Bring them to a pet-friendly home! As dog lovers, we appreciate the importance of including your four-legged family member in your Outer Banks experience, and we offer a variety of pet-friendly rental options. Dogs deserve a vacation, too! A family vacation means the whole family, and the OBX is a dog-friendly destination.
- Baby items and vacation gear can be rented – you don’t have to pack your car to the brim. If your Outer Banks accommodations don’t include all the items you need for your family’s dream vacation, know you can rent most items locally, from baby cribs to bikes. Ocean Atlantic Rentals and Duck Village Outfitters are two of our guests’ favorite outfitters. If you aren’t staying oceanfront, we recommend renting a beach cart; this makes it a breeze to transport kiddos and gear to your closest beach access. Don’t want to deal with packing up beach chairs and umbrellas at the end of a long beach day? Consider reserving a seasonal beach cabana service for extra convenience.
- Pools can save the day. Private pools provide a great alternative to the beach on rougher days when no-swim flags are out or when the family wants to take a quick dip without having to pack and transport gear to the beach. Many homes offer optional pool heat, which can come in handy during spring and fall stays on the Outer Banks. Some neighborhoods offer community pools as well.
- Built-in indoor entertainment adds another element of fun. The more amenities your Outer Banks vacation rental offers, the easier it is to keep everyone in the family entertained between activities outside the home. For some families, a table and a good puzzle are all that’s needed, but rec rooms, theater rooms, and media rooms can certainly come in handy and give families space to spread out.
- Travel insurance is worth it. Life is unpredictable, and sometimes, even the best-laid plans don’t work out the way we want them to. Protecting your Outer Banks trip with travel insurance can help you recover funds from a variety of unexpected situations. Be sure to read your policy to understand what it covers, and don’t hesitate to ask questions. Carolina Designs Realty offers optional travel insurance to our guests.
- Save valuable vacation time with grocery delivery or pick-up. An essential benefit of Outer Banks vacation rentals is well-equipped kitchens, so you and your crew don’t have to eat out every meal. You can maximize your vacation time by planning family meals ahead of time and skipping in-person grocery shopping altogether. The OBX has a variety of grocery store options and delivery services.
Family-friendly things to do:
Our beaches
We talk a lot about our beaches because…well, they’re spectacular. And when we think about our beaches, it is not just one place or one location that we are describing. From Carova to Ocracoke there are well over 120 miles of sand waiting to create a perfect day by the sea.
Rather than try to describe all 120 miles of shoreline, we’re going to limit ourselves to the beaches north of Oregon Inlet. There are some differences among the various locations when it comes to the services that are available and in some cases how easy it is to access them. For families with children, depending on their ages, it can make a difference.
Families with toddlers to 10
Families with younger children will probably want to be closer to services—stores, perhaps a fast food restaurant, and certainly restrooms.
If that is the case, the beaches in the three main towns of the Outer Banks, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, and Nags Head, will probably be the best choice. Beach parking in those towns also have the advantage of being very close, sometimes right on, the beach.
Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and Corolla maintain a bathhouse with showers and parking. The Kill Devil Hills bathhouse and the Nags Head facilities at Jennette’s Pier probably have the best combination of available facilities and ample parking.
The Currituck County Southern Beach Access across from Old Stoney Road in Corolla is a very well-maintained facility with plenty of parking. It is a bit of a hike from the parking lot to the beach—about a quarter mile—but the sand is some of the best quality on the Outer Banks.
11 to teenage
When kids get a bit older they’re more self-sufficient and that does open up a few more possibilities.
The Corolla beaches are absolutely wonderful. By all means, take advantage of that. The type of convenience that parents may want for younger children is not quite as available in Corolla, but when kids get a little older, these are great beaches to check out.
On the south end of Nags Head, right across from Bodie Island Lighthouse, the National Park Service Coquina Beach is marvelous. Wide with lots of room to spread out, it may be as good as it gets. The NPS parking lot is huge; there should not be any problem parking.
Beach activities
Learn to surf
Two of the most popular activities on the ocean, other than swimming, are surfing and Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP).
Get a wow factor into the vacation and see if a lesson or lessons can be scheduled.
Generally age six and up are good for surfing lessons. SUP takes more coordination and balance, so 10 and up are usually the ages.
To make it really fun, there’s no reason why it can’t be a family activity.
During the Outer Banks peak season, mid-June through August, it’s a good idea to book a lesson before coming. Schedules fill up quickly during the summer.
Great fun and it doesn’t cost much
Two activities that kids love—and adults attempt from time to time—are skimboarding and bodyboarding.
It is possible to spend a lot of money on skimboards and bodyboards, but until there is some real experience on the water, there is no point in spending $300-$400.
Skimboarding especially takes some practice. The size of the board does have to change with the weight of the user, which is another way of saying hopping on your eight-year-old child’s board to demonstrate how it’s done will not end well.
A boogie board and bodyboard are the same thing. The boogie board coming from the original maker of bodyboards. It is probably a bit easier to get the basics of riding a bodyboard down, but like the skimboards, there isn’t much reason to get a better board until a certain level of expertise has been reached.
Ghost crab hunt
From toddlers to teens, looking for ghost crabs is too much fun to miss. They’ll pop out of their burrows every once in a while, their eyes on a 360-degree swivel, then scurry back down.
Although they are often seen during the daytime, the best time to go on a ghost crab hunt is at night. The only equipment needed is a flashlight.
Everyone has fun on ghost crab hunt, but the squeals of delight when a three-year old sees one for the first time is an Outer Banks memory to be cherished.
Away from the beach
The reason families come to the Outer Banks is the beach, but the reason they keep returning is there is so much to do here that one visit doesn’t scratch the surface.
With the Atlantic Ocean to the east and a series of sounds to the west, most of our activities are focused on enjoying time on the water. Here are a few suggestions, but there are so many choices for things to do, we know our list is incomplete.
Go kayaking
This is a great activity for kids 10 and older, although children at the younger end will probably be better in a tandem kayak with a parent paddling. It is possible that a younger child would be ok in a kayak, but that is something parents have to judge for themselves.
There are a couple of ways to go about this. For families who are experienced paddlers, rent kayaks, get some advice about where to go, and have some fun.
However, the ecosystems of the Outer Banks are vast, complex and fascinating and a kayak eco-tour is a great way to discover how the environment of this vast line of barrier islands is at once fragile yet resilient.
Take some sailing lessons
With constant winds and protected shallow waters, the Outer Banks sounds offer as good an opportunity to learn to sail as there is.
On the Outer Banks there are two sailing schools, one in Manteo and the other in Duck. N’or Banks Sailing in Duck offers a full range of services in addition to lessons.
Go crabbing
There are a lot of crabs in our Outer Banks sounds. The chance of an accidental encounter with one is remote; the chance of catching a few with a line and some bait is pretty good.
There is going to be some equipment needed for this. The basics are some raw chicken or shrimp and some line. Any line will do. A long-handled net, some tongs, and a cooler will also be needed. Check with any fishing supply store and they will know which net to use.
Attach the bait to the end of the line, throw about 15’ in the water and wait. There will be a tug on the line. Slowly bring the line in. Too fast and the crab will let go. Just before the crab gets to the surface, snag it with the net. If the crab breaks the surface of the water, it will immediately let go of the bait.
This can be a great family activity. The littlest kids will be excited to see the crab up close and the older kids may want to help, but make sure fingers are kept away from the claws.
Crabs must be 5” across the widest point of their shell to keep, so a ruler will be needed. The catch limit is 50/day for a daily.
There are a number of great crabbing locations around Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla. The little bridge on the Nags Head is also a good location.
Charter fishing in the sound
The waters of the Outer Banks sounds are teeming with fish…and crab and shrimp. One of the best ways to discover what is out there is to take a trip with an experienced charter boat captain and see for yourself.
The waters of the sounds are generally much calmer than ocean waters, and the trips shorter—generally three to four hours long. That’s probably better suited to the attention levels of younger anglers.
Fun for the whole family. Be sure to schedule this in advance.
Dolphin watch
The waters the Outer Banks sounds are teeming with…dolphin. Really. The Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research had identified some 700 individual dolphins in a paper they published in 2017.
This is a really exciting way to introduce kids to an exciting part of maritime life.
Explore the Land
Go fly a kite
If there is a better place anywhere in the world to fly a kite than Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head, it would be hard to imagine. There is nothing to block the wind, the view from the top is spectacular and there is almost always enough wind for flight.
Jockey’s Ridge, however, is not the only great place on the Outer Banks to fly a kite. There is a large open area next to the Whalehead Club in Corolla. And when the wind is right, flying a kite on the beach is wonderful.
For older kids, get a two or four line stunt kite. Two line is easier to learn. Four line allows for an incredible range of tricks.
Learn to fly a huge kite
A hang glider is actually a huge (huge!) kite. The Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding School at Jockey’s Ridge State Park is the oldest hang gliding school in the United States. There is a real emphasis on safety and the instructors are excellent in working with all age groups.
It is hard to describe how exciting it is when your feet leave the ground and you realize you’re actually flying and controlling this huge kite.
With soft sand in the landing zone, Jockey’s Ridge is an excellent location for learning the basics.
There are age and weight restrictions.
Explore a maritime forest
There are three protected maritime forests along the western side of the northern Outer Banks. Or four if the small maritime forest that has formed in the wind shadow of Jockey’s Ridge is included.
They are all very different. Nags Head Woods features a hilly terrain with elevation gains that can be surprising. There are also hidden freshwater ponds and ancient graveyards.
The easiest to navigate, and would be the best to explore with the youngest members of the family, is the Currituck Banks Estuarine Reserve just north of Corolla Village.
The trails in Kitty Hawk Woods are extensive and take hikers on a fascinating journey into a maritime forest. However, parking is very limited and the trailheads difficult to find.
Go back to school
There are innumerable day camps, half-day camps, and instructional gatherings geared toward helping children learn about the Outer Banks environment and ecosystems.
The instructors engage really well with the kids in what is a great learning experience.
The University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute on Roanoke Island
For parents who want to go all-in with the camp experience, Coastal Studies Institute on Roanoke Island offers week-long camps that explore the science of the area in depth with classes given by the CSI instructors.