Since the global coronavirus pandemic began, travelers and relocated work from home employees have tried to stay safe using several travel strategies that became popular during the spread of COVID-19. These include seeking outdoor-centric destinations with lots of space, fresh air, breezes and low population density. Lodging preferences took a dramatic shift away from basic hotel rooms, lobbies and elevators and moved towards standalone private units like rental homes. Traveling “pods,” or close-knit groups of family and trusted friends, sought self-contained larger accommodations under a single roof. Outdoor recreational pursuits that lend themselves to both exercise and social distancing exploded in popularity, especially hiking, biking, golf and watersports, especially fishing, which greatly increased in participation.
For all these reasons, while many destinations suffered from lack of tourism, the Outer Banks of North Carolina had a record year - and are currently enjoying another one. January is the slowest month of the year here, but in 2021 it was up 200%. Other places had to try to figure out how to adjust and offer these newly popular advantages, while the OBX, as fans call it, has always had them - in vast quantities.
Now as we emerge into a return of post-vaccinated travel, all the reasons why the region has enjoyed a decades long reputation as a low key, family friendly, relaxing and very much value-oriented beach destination are more appealing than ever. While the prices of everything related to travel, from flights to rental cars to hotels seems to by skyrocketing, the Outer Banks, even with continuing record pace of bookings, still offers a combination of price and attractions that has become almost impossible to find elsewhere, and it is very easy for a big chunk of the U.S. population to get to, typically without flying.
“People’s sentiments of what safe travel as changed, and we’ve always had all these rental homes. It’s a very value oriented beach destination, we have three National Parks, North Carolina’s most visited State Park, and the largest stretch of beach you can visit easily,” said Aaron Tuell, head of tourism for the visitors bureau. “There’s so much space, it’s not one of those boardwalk destinations or beach towns with everybody going to a mile long beach - there’s beach everywhere and there’s always a beach by your house. We enjoy a very high repeat tourism rate, and statistics say that once you visit the OBX you are likely to return.”
I’m proof of that. I’d heard great things from repeat visitors over the years but had never gotten to the Outer Banks until recently, and now I totally see what the big appeal is. A forced relocation due to home damage and repairs fortunately coincided with vaccination and led me on my first big road trip of the pandemic. I was not only very impressed with the Outer Banks generally as a travel destination but was pleasantly surprised to see that unlike some other parts of the Southeast, safety considerations and precautions were taken very seriously - even more so than in my pandemic conservative home state of Vermont.
Stretching from the Virginia border in the north to Cape Hatteras and its iconic lighthouse in the south, the Outer Banks are a chain of barrier islands off the northern coast of North Carolina that stretch more than 100 miles and include both the highest sand dunes and longest undeveloped swath of accessible beach on the eastern seaboard. There are no cities here, just a string of very varied towns that in their notably different characters offer something for everyone, from the recluse to the surfer, golf courses, luxe gated communities, beachfront cottages, and an astonishing amount of preserved natural space in state and national parks, wildlife refuges and such an immense amount of beach that even in peak summer season you can find isolation on the sand. Cape Hatteras National Seashore was the very first site in the National Park System established as a National Seashore (1937) and for those who really want to get off the grid, permits are available for driving off-road vehicles on the beach and open up the options for remote waterfront camping.
One of the worst kept secrets in annual family vacations, the Outer Banks has a loyal following of regulars who have been going there every year for as long as they can remember, and as a result, it has always had its lodging infrastructure built around professionally managed, pre-Airbnb rental homes, many of them large and specifically designed to accommodate multi-generational families or groups. Four, five and six bedroom homes that are walkable to the beach and have fenced in backyards, often with pools and hot tubs, full kitchens, barbecue grills and multiple outdoor decks, are all over the place and at rates you just cannot find at other beach destinations - even in the midst of a record tourism boom. The professionally managed 4-bedroom, 5-bathroom home with garage, billiard room, home theater, very nice kitchen and pool I stayed at a block from the beach in the heart of popular Kill Devil Hills never goes above $700 a night, even in high season, and drops below $300 in shoulder season, while easily accommodating two families of three to four in style, a far better buy than just about any hotel or resort. There are about 8,000 rental homes in the traditional management pool, not counting the growing number of self-operated units using platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.
But there is also a good inventory of larger - much larger - 10,12, 15 bedrooms homes, and not just a few, something extremely hard to come by in most beach destinations with the exception of private island billionaire takeovers. For these not interested in homes, there is plenty of budget to midrange chain hotel lodging, mostly oceanfront, and a handful of upscale options, most notably the full-service Sanderling beach resort in quiet Duck, the only Forbes Travel Guide recommended property in the Outer Banks, and the escapist Inn on Pamlico Sound, a deluxe waterfront boutique resort quietly tucked into the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and home to one of the very best gourmet eateries in the entire region.
Besides endless beaches close to just about every accommodation, golf courses and very high quality mini-golf facilities for family fun, the biggest attractions here are fishing, flying, lighthouses and wild horses. The fishing off the Outer Banks is world class, and there are several marinas offering state of the art sportfishing charters for off-shore angling, most notably Pirate’s Cove, which puts the sportfishing docks in places like Key West, Hawaii and Cabo to shame. For offshore fishing, the Outer Banks is known as "The Billfish Capital of the World," and hundreds of blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish are caught and released every year, with a long season, June to September. Another big draw is yellowfin tuna, year-round. There are also numerous turnkey fishing piers and shops renting gear and bait for easy surf casting on the many miles of beaches.
The Wright Brothers chose Kitty Hawk as the birthplace of flight for its combination of high coastal dunes and reliable breezes, and the same holds true today for hang gliding. Google “best places in the world to try hang gliding” and the OBX will be at the very top of every list. Kitty Hawk Kites, the school with the concession at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, home to the highest sand dunes on the eastern seaboard, claims to teach about half of all first time hang gliding lessons in the nation, and far more than any other place in the world. I tried it, and the school and the park are great and surprisingly easy. For first timers, a 3-hour session ($109) includes an hour of ground school and five flights, almost guaranteed to succeed. You run down a sand dune, which gives the glider lift, you take off, and fly a couple of hundred feet at 5-15 feet off the ground, which is all sand for the softest possible landings, while an instructor runs alongside telling you what to do. There is no other form of piloted aircraft you can solo so quick, easily or cheaply, even people who fear heights won’t mind it. Just a blast, and this is the single “Must-Do” activity for visitors. To step back in history they also offer a replica of the 1920 glider plane the Wright Brothers built on their steps towards powered fight, which you can fly, and various combination packages including video memories. Like everything in the Outer Banks, it is very family friendly, even dog friendly and can accommodate kids as young as five.
There are several historic lighthouse you can climb here, most famously the Cape Hatteras one at the southern end of the OBX, a day trip for most visitors staying in the more populous northern towns. At the opposite northern end are the Corolla wild horses, wild colonial Spanish mustangs whose arrival here dates back 500 years. you can see them on your own with a properly equipped and permitted 4-wheel drive vehicle, or on one of several open-vehicle safari-style guided wild horse tours.
Technically there are more than a dozen towns in the Outer Banks, mostly along one road, but some blend together they fall into a few groups. Northernmost is Corolla, Duck and adjacent Southern Shores. Duck has a waterfront boardwalk, quaint shops and restaurants with a village feel, a nice cycling/pedestrian path, and is a good compromise between undeveloped and full of services while not being too far from the commercial center. Southern Shores is more residential communities with a golf course.
The three biggest towns, Kitty Hawk, Hill Devil Hills and Nags Head are contiguous in the center and not too different in feel from one another, all with tons of shopping, the big supermarkets, and a huge variety of bars and restaurants. This is t the place to stay if you want to eat out every night and be close to the action. It is also home to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, one of the most visited attractions in North Carolina, and Jockey Ridge. South of Nags Head begins Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and the Outer Banks become much more rural, with a series of small towns all with some dining and shopping but more escapist feel: Rodanthe (as in the Richard Gere romance Nights in Rodanthe), Waves and Salvo. Hatteras Village has more tourism infrastructure but is still pretty sleepy, adds a charter fishing, the ferry terminal and the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. The four southern villages are best for those who want peace, quiet and to eat more meals in.
The most distinctive town is Manteo, which is on Roanoke Island, slightly west of the north-south strip all the other towns lay along. A bed and breakfast filled village, it is the only really walkable village with a “downtown,” full of shops and restaurants along the waterfront, a good choice for couples.
All the towns have access to tons of beaches, and all feature lots of fresh seafood, both on menus and for sale to cook yourself.
Late spring to early fall is peak season because of the beach weather, but the Outer Banks have year-round appeal and the value proposition is even more outstanding outside of the summertime. The official tourism website is one of the best I have seen with tons of helpful planning info.
The Outer Banks are a wonderful destination that will suit a wide variety of tastes, are within easy day driving distance of most major east coast cities, with New York City, Pittsburg and Savannah forming an arc about 500 miles away, while Philadelphia, Washington DC, Charlotte, and Richmond are all substantially closer. If you choose to fly, the closest larger airport is Norfolk International, 82 miles away.
