GeorgeW - your attention, please!
 

I'll cut to the chase - please advise on Topsail Beach... are you talking Topsail, or Topsail North? We're (four adults) looking for an oceanside rental with a nice beach area. We've never been to the NC coast, so I'm clueless as to what is available.
Thanks so much!
d

TTT

gypsy, since you haven't heard from GeorgeW yet, I'll pop on here if you don't mind.

I've stayed at Topsail Island about three times, years ago, and had fun. I very much like Emerald Isle and Wrightsville Beach (Wilmington area.) My fave is probably Emerald Isle, and you can get good info from emeraldislerealty.com. We've always had good luck with them.

The NC coastal area is great, and I'd be happy anywhere from the Outer Banks on down! :)

I think W is busy preparing for his trip to Afdrica . . although it may be delayed a while

Not George, but I'll hop in as another longtime Topsail vacationer.

Topsail Island is about 25 miles long, and can be accessed by two bridges -- one on the north end, and another at about mid-island at Surf City. The south end of the island is mainly single family homes, while the north end of the island has a few larger condo complexes (Villa Capriani, St. Regis) and townhouse complexes. The whole island has clean, quiet beachfronts, so I don't think there is much difference north to south.

I think GeorgeW prefers the area from Surf City going south, which is more commonly referred to as "Topsail Beach". The mid-island area is referred to as "Surf City", and the north end of the island is "North Topsail Beach".

I think your main choice will be based on condo versus single family house, and access to other amenities. If you are golfers, there is a golf course just over the north end bridge on the mainland (North Shore Country Club), but there are several other courses out on Highway 17 towards Wilmington that can be reached easily from the south end.

I prefer the north end -- we have rented condos at the Villa Capriani complex (we liked having a pool when our kids were smaller), as well as several single family houses and townhouses. To me, the north end has a little easier access to restaurants, grocery shopping, etc.

If you can give me a little more info about what you are looking for and what you like to do, I can make more specific recommendations, in case GeorgeW doesn't respond promptly!

Thank you all - the info given has been a great help!
d

Sorry to be so slow in getting back to you. I had severe computer problems for a while.

Sugar Plum gave a better response than I could. Her advice is wise.

By the way, May and October are particularly good months at Topsail as the intense heat and humidity are usually much less than in high summer.

ttt

We stayed in Oak Island last summer and took 2 day trips up to Surf City/Top Sail. This year want to rent at Top Sail, but after reading this and a few other threads, I'm confused about which end of Top Sail to stay in. So far, I've been checking out houses thru VRBO in north topsail.

At which end will we have better access to grocery stores and restaurants. I only remember seeing one restaurant in surf city. How long does it take to get to restaurants/grocery store?

Downtown Surf City has most of the good restaurants like II Beauchaines. There is an IGA supermarket downtown as well. Located two miles from either of the two bridges are Food Lions.

I prefer renting south of Surf City because I like to escape the crowds. It is nice to have a beach for one's own.