The Pirates Are Coming!!!

The Old Baldy Lighthouse and Smith Island Museum of History (on nearby Bald Head Island) are staging a weekend day pirate extravaganza event in conjunction with National Lighthouse Day. Read more

Sea Turtles

Here are three videos showing a Turtle laying eggs, eggs hatching and baby turtle making his (or her) way to the ocean! This time of year the Turtles are coming ashore at Oak Island to lay their eggs – you can help by observing the rules at the bottom of this page!

Sea turtle laying 209 eggs:

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Sea Turtles Hatching at Sunset Beach,NC during August, 2009 near midnight:

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A Sea Turtle makes his (or her) way to the ocean!:

You can help the turtles when you visit Sunset Beach by following a few simple guidelines:

Do Not Disturb: If you see an adult sea turtle coming on shore, stay quiet and keep your distance! Otherwise she may get scared and go back into the ocean without nesting. They are an endangered species and it is a federal offense to harass them.

Turn Off All Flashlights! Lights may scare or confuse the adult female and cause her to leave without nesting.

Lights Cause Hatchlings To Go In the Wrong Direction: Please turn off all outside lights each night. Also if there are curtains or blinds use them so your indoor lights do not lead the hatchlings away from the ocean.

Never Pick Up A Hatchling. It is critical that they crawl on their own.
Do Not Disturb The Nest Area. Watch for the nest markers.

Stay Off Sand Dunes & Do Not Pick Sea Oats. Sand dunes provide critical habitat for sea turtles and help prevent flooding during times of extreme tides and storms. Foot traffic kills plants and severely damages the sand dunes. The penalty for failure to adhere to this requirement is a $100 fine.

Help Us Keep Our Beaches Clean -Sea turtles may mistake a plastic bag or other forms of litter for a jellyfish (they eat them). All personal items and equipment must be removed from the beach each day- these items may trap a sea turtle.

Please Fill In All Holes On The Beach When Done Playing.- Holes can trap sea turtles and are a safety hazard to humans.

Keep Dogs On Leashes At All Times!- No dogs shall be permitted on the beach strand between the hours of 9:00am and 6:00pm during period of Memorial Day through Labor Day regardless of whether they are leashed or not.
Fireworks can scare off nesting sea turtles and leave behind trash that may be mistaken for food by marine wildlife.- Discharge of fireworks is not permitted per North Carolina state laws.

Please Report all sightings of nesting turtles, dead turtles, unmarked nests or crawls (looks like a bulldozer came out of the water).Call the Holden Beach Turtle Watch 24 Hour Pager at 910-754-0766

Keep up with the Turtle Watch by clicking here

Local Author’s Books: Huge Hit!

Local Author and Illustrator Miller Pope has spent a lifetime as an artist Read more

Chance Of Oil In NC “Remote”

With the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico some people are concerned that it might come here to Oak Island in NC. However, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have told state officials the possibility is remote.

All NC beaches are open at this time and no closures are anticipated at this time. However, just to avert any fears the N.C. State officials have launched a new Web page dedicated to providing information and useful links regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The web site features information about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the potential impact on the coast.

North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety spokesman Ernie Seneca said the website provides daily updates on the spill as well as links to models that predict where the spill could go.

“We just felt like it was good to get it out there. More information is better than less and this is obviously something that concerns a lot of people. The nation’s eyes and the world’s eyes are on the Gulf right now and what’s going to happen,” said Seneca.

The information is available at nccrimecontrol.org. Seneca said visitors can click on the Gulf Oil Spill tab on the web site.

Oak Island Light House

In September of 1761 a hurricane, carved out a new inlet near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Read more

Oak Island Pier Re-opens

Formerly known as Yaupon Pier, the Oak Island Pier is back in business. Read more

Area Winery Wins Medals

An award winning winery at Ocean Isle Beach? Its true and the awards keep coming! Read more

Amazing Seafood

Sharky’s Waterfront Restaurant does fried shrimps, panko crusted shrimps, Read more