Explore
The most convenient town on Bogue Banks: wide public beaches, a working fishing pier, a restored Civil War fort and the island's densest cluster of restaurants — with our Island Beach & Racquet Club B302 in the middle of it.
The town
Atlantic Beach sits at the eastern end of Bogue Banks, a short bridge from Morehead City and twenty minutes from Beaufort. It is the easiest base on the Southern Outer Banks: you can reach a beach, a pier, a state park, a grocery store and a dozen restaurants without planning your day around a drive.
The beach itself is wide and gently shelving, which is exactly what you want with small children. The water is warmer and calmer than the northern Outer Banks, and the crowds thin dramatically the further you walk from the public accesses.
Local knowledge
Beach access
The Circle at the end of Atlantic Beach Causeway is the main public access with restrooms and showers. Regional accesses along Fort Macon Road are quieter, and Fort Macon State Park at the east end has the widest, calmest water on the island.
Parking
Public access lots fill by 10am in July. Arrive before 9:30am or after 3pm, bring cash or a card for paid lots, and never park on the shoulder of Fort Macon Road — it is ticketed. Staying oceanside at B302 removes the problem entirely.
Restaurants
Banks Grille for loaded grits and biscuits with homemade jams, Big Oak Drive-In for a shrimp burger 'all the way', Roma Pizza for the easy beach-day dinner, 4 Corners Diner for breakfast under the water tower, and 34° North for a proper sunset seafood dinner.
Coffee & ice cream
AB Ice Cream is the after-dinner walk, and Friendly Market in Morehead City is worth a detour for homemade pickles and the best treats on the island. Grab morning coffee on the causeway before the 8:30am breakfast rush.
Fishing
Oceanana Fishing Pier is the classic Atlantic Beach fishing spot — walk on, pay by the rod, and fish the first hour of light. Chasin' Tails Outdoors handles licenses, bait, rigs and honest advice on what is running.
Surfing
Atlantic Beach picks up the cleanest swell around the pier and the jetty near Fort Macon. Autumn produces the best surf of the year; summer mornings are usually gentle enough for a first lesson.
Family activities
Mini golf and go-karts on the causeway, Fort Macon's cannon firings and self-guided tour, nighttime beach crabbing with a flashlight and bucket, and the NC Aquarium ten minutes west in Pine Knoll Shores.
Sunrise & sunset
Sunrise belongs to the ocean side — Oceanana Pier is the photograph. Sunset belongs to the sound side: cross to the causeway or Bogue Sound and watch the water go pink behind the bridge.
Stay here
Our Atlantic Beach property is an oceanside condo with Atlantic views from the living room and private balcony, direct access to the resort pool below the building, and a flat one-minute walk to the sand. There is an elevator, covered parking and outdoor showers — the details that make an arrival day with strollers painless.
Book direct
Island Beach & Racquet Club B302 in Atlantic Beach and Coral Shores 12 in Pine Knoll Shores both pair direct pool access with a short, flat walk to the sand — the two things that make a family trip effortless.