Outer Banks Vacation? How to Find a Nice Place

Updated on April 25, 2012
P.G. asks from San Antonio, TX
6 answers

Hi Mammas - hubby's starting med school in July and we want to do a family vacation. Friends at his office have been talking about the Outer Banks in the Carolinas, and one of my friends has been there and loved it. He found places to stay on the internet, but I've never done that before so I'm a bit nervous about it.

I was going to call AAA travel, but wanted to ask - have you ever stayed there? Hotel or beach house rental? How did you find it? Anyone you'd recommend to call to make it happen? What's a good budget? Thanks!

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M.C.

answers from Washington DC on

LOVE OBX!

The Outer Banks span about 30 miles. Each little town rolls into the other. So on one side of the street you are in Nags Head. The other side of the street you are in Kitty Hawk.

One thing to note is that the restaurants tend to close around 9p. So final dinner seat is around 8:30p.

First thing to do is to decide what type of vacation you want.
Duck, Corrolla, Currituck are quaint and quiet. Sometimes crowded, sometimes congested.

Kitty Hawk, Nags Head are more open and a party scene.

Rodanthe, Cape Hatteras are very remote. Not a lot of eating places/tourist places. Beaches are more rocky.

Manteo is on the other side of the island, quaint.

Decide what you are looking for. A hotel? A condo? A house?
If you are looking for a hotel, Nags Head Inn is nice.
If you are looking for a condo or house, try outerbanks.org, or vrbo.com

1 mom found this helpful
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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

We stayed in a beach house rented through Long and Foster, I think. Know where you are staying. Ask about the area. We got a house on the water...and found out the water was so full of oysters the kids couldn't play in it. My SIL got a house in a modern neighborhood in Avon and it was nice, but no water.

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

We are going in 2.5 weeks! I. CAN'T. WAIT.

My parents and brother rented a house, it's my brother's college graduation gift...he wanted the whole family to come. Some can and some can't, but my kids and I will be there the whole time.

I've heard that it's more of a relaxing place to go, things to do, but it's a great place to relax.

The house is $1600 for the week, but during the summer it goes as high as $3900 a week. Not sure where he found it, but Google houses for rent in OBX.

E.S.

answers from Asheville on

Oooohh, I love the OB! My father has a house there and we stayed there many times/years before he built his house. First you need to decide where on the island you want to be. Very south is Hatteras Village. There is a small grocery store, pharmacy, artsy gallery shops, general store, boutiques, pizza place (good one),the ferry landing (ferry from Okrakoke Island which you get to from either Hatteras or the main land at Cedar Island Ferry landing), and right by the ferry landing is a complex of shops including clothing, kite/toy stores, restaurants etc.
Further up is Buxton and the 'wide' part of the island. There are a few shops, ice cream parlor, the lighthouse, the point (where the lighthouse is and people fish or check out the two different currents meeting in the ocean there)
On up is Salvo, Rodanthe, and other towns I am not as familiar with although the surfers usually hang with Salvo and Waves.
There are small restaurants scattered here and there, often changing year to year as someone else tries to make a go of it.
It is more commercial than it used to be, but it is nothing like Myrtle Beach or Panama City. There are great beaches to fish on, a couple of piers for fishing (although I have never been on them, many tackle/bait shops, deep sea fishing excursions, beaches that allow 4x4s (DONT try it without them though! The sand is much deeper than anywhere else I have ever been and even 4x4s get stuck sometimes)
The island has a Native American Museum, a tiny airport, three grocery stores (until you get to Nags Head. In Hatteras Village there is a Red and White-tiny grocery, Conner's is further north- I think above Buxton and a Food Lion further north.) the lighthouse, shops, fishing, fishing, fishing, kite flying, Okracoke Island (shops, lighthouse, Coast Guard Museum, shops, restaurants, a wild pony enclosure, bicycle rental- 45 min. ferry ride each way and a 20-30 min. drive to the populated side of the island- nice day trip)
If you drive the whole way, going through Manteo, check out the Elizabethan Gardens and the outdoor drama about the First Colony. This way is faster and less expensive than the ferry. If you are taking the ferry to Okracoke then to Hatteras, you have to be at the landing at least 30 min early and they direct you into a lane of traffic for loading purposes. It is time consuming and the drive to Cedar Island Landing is one lane each way through very rural, but interesting locals with many marshes and canals. (fill up with gas before leaving the 4 lane!)
Housing is varied with prices just as varied. Anything from a campground with camper and tent sites being the least expensive of course, to hotels/motels (not a ton of these), and most extensively-rental homes. These also range in size and price.
I would recommend using a realty company. Midgett Realty is the one my dad rents through. You can go to their site and put in the size or price range of rental you are searching for and the area you want to be. You can also search by ameneties. My fathers house, for instance, has an elevator and is completely handicap accessable, has a pool, hot tub, pool table, extensive decks, sleeps 15+, has two refridgerators, two dish washers, internet access, etc. and is basically designed to house a large, extensive family for reunions and such and is quite expensive especially during peak season (July 4) (I could never afford to stay there, even off season!)
It is a beautiful place and very relaxing! Waves and undertow strong at times (more often than not)

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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Love the areas further South--Rodanthe, Avon, Waves, Salvo....

We've found great houses on www.vrbo.com.
We've never had a problem.

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✩.!.

answers from Denver on

sunrealty.com is a good website to use.

Have fun!

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