Beach vacation in Carolinas
 

Family of 5 wants to lay on a great beach for a few days next summer. We would prefer somewhere in North or South Carolina. Any ideas?

I spent 10 days last summer in the Outer Banks. I was amazed at the quality of the beaches--in my estimation Ocracoke Island's beaches are some of the nicest I've seen anywhere on the east coast. We stayed north in the Nags Head area where the beaches were very nice but, I preferred the baby-powder white beaches on Ocracoke most. Nags Head and north is more developed, south of there is far less congested and beautiful. One call to the visitor's bureau for the Outer Banks will get you tons of information on housing, eating out and other things to do!

We're heading to Kiawah Island, SC. We haven't been there, but we've heard great things.
Very family oriented, with lots of nature programs and activities for kids of all ages. Nice beaches. Golf and Tennis. And Charleston is only about 45 minutes away.

I live in NC. We usually go to the NC Coast a couple of times each year. We go to Emerald Isle near Moorehead City and rent a house. There are many great beaches along the NC coast. Ocracoke is nice too. There is a lot to do along the NC Coast. If you search for CrystalCoast you should be able to find all the accomadations available in the Emerald Isle/Alantic Beach Area.

Dear Joni--we live in Raleigh, NC, and both my and my wife's families own cottages on Sunset Beach, an island just north of the NC/SC line. While I may be somewhat "biased," as I've been going for about 20 years, I'd strongly recommend Sunset. It's got a great beach, and has a completely undeveloped island (Bird Island) just to the south, that you can wade to at low tide. The bridge to Sunset is still a one-lane floating bridge, which tends to keep Sunset a little less crowded than the others. You're still near some great golf courses, and only about an hour from the huge shops and shows of Myrtle Beach, S.C., about an hour from the USS North Carolina memorial and aquarium in Wilmington, NC, and only about 15 mins. from the smaller shops and famous seafood restaurants of Calabash, NC and Little River, SC. You can easily arrange a rental through Sunset Island Realty, which handles most of the rentals on the island. Feel free to e-mail me directly, at [email protected], if you decide to go. I can give you some tips on restaurants, etc. HAVE FUN!