Ocracoke Island
Ocracoke Island is part of a chain of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. It’s a few miles south west of Hatteras and is accessible, via ferry service, from Hatteras, Swan Quarter, and Cedar Island. The Hatteras ferry is free and runs more frequently that the other two. Check the North Carolina Ferry Schedule for details and schedules.
I first visited Ocracoke in March, 2012. My wife, Janie, and I spent a week there after getting married at Duke Gardens in Durham. It turned out to be a fantastic place to explore. There are miles of National Seashore on the island and there’s a private ferry service to nearby Portsmouth Island. More on Portsmouth Island later.
There is a village on the southern end of the island with hotels and rental cottages. Silver Lake harbor is on the village end of the island and this is where the Swan Quarter and Cedar Island ferries dock. There are a variety of restaurants open during the warmer months and a grocery store open year-round. I’ve been to the island many times since 2012, but never during the busy summer months. I can say that January through early May, the island and village are quiet and it’s a perfect place to relax and recharge. Maybe spend a day on the beach reading about the pirates who used to frequent the island. The infamous pirate, Blackbeard, was killed in Ocracoke Inlet just over 300 years ago.
The village is easy to get around in on foot or bike and there are several places that rent golf carts. It’s worth spending some time exploring the village end of the island and two places in particular deserve mention. First, is the lighthouse. Like all the other lighthouses on the islands, it has an interesting history and is managed by the National Park Service. Second, is Springer’s Point, which offers a walk, over well kept trails, through a maritime forest and out to Pamlico Sound.
The night skies on clear late winter nights are truly beautiful. Beginning in February, around the new moon, the Milky Way lights up the sky. My favorite places to photograph the Milky Way are from one of the beaches, or down ramp 72 where you can have a view of the Milky Way stretching across a marsh.
Finally, if visiting Ocracoke, it’s worth taking ferry ride out to Portsmouth Island. On one side of the island, there’s an abandoned village, currently maintained by the park service. On the eastern side are beautiful wide pristine beaches. Janie and I visited Portsmouth for the first time in 2012. We took the ferry to the village and toured around in the village for a while, then hiked to the beach. Back then, there was a primitive road that cut through a marshy area over to the beach. It was muddy but passable. Since then, a storm cut through that area so that you can no longer walk across. We spent a few hours on the beach shelling, then hiked back to the village and caught the ferry back to Ocracoke.
Lastly, aside from all the places to explore, Ocracoke is a wonderful place to just relax and recharge. Maybe walk down to the boat ramp and watch the sun set.
