Hi - We have rented a cottage in Duck for the week of July 21. Is this the area where there were shark attacks last year? (Trying not to worry!). We are from MA and never have to worry about sharks in the colder waters.
Also - driving from Boston area - what would be a good halfway stopping point to spend one night on the drive down? We were thinking about maybe Cape May (NJ)?
Any help appreciated . Thanks!

Yes, there are sharks in the water. Whether or not the sharks will come close to shore and/or attack is a different story.

I know that's not a real helpful answer but instead of focusing on how many people were attacked by sharks, think of how many were NOT attacked by sharks (several million). More people were struck by lightning last year that killed by sharks.

Go enjoy your vacation but don't chum the water.

If I remember correctly the sharks were a little north of Duck in Corolla. When we drive from Buffalo we like to drive most of the way the first day, that way the first day of our rental we have most of the day on the beach before checking into our house. We stay in the Norfolk Va./Hamptom Hills area and it's a short drive, under 2 hours to Duck and we arrive with the whole day ahead of us. Another advantage to this is we get into Duck in the A.M. before the heavy traffic which I hear can be brutal. It almost gives us another day of our vacation.

I am from Connecticut and went to the outer banks last summer. We stopped over night at Washington DC which is about 5 hrs from the outer banks. We found DC to be a good stopping place as there are a lot of hotels and good sites to see. ps the shark attacks last summer were at Virginia Beach, which is a little north of Duck and around cape hatteras, which is south of Duck

After reading Tom's reply, I think I was incorrect in my earlier post. It wasn't a shark attack in Corolla last summer but a drowning.

If I'm not mistaken, the shark attacks were a lot further south, around Wrightsville Beach.

As to whether there are now any ducks in a shark, well......

Advice to have one long day and one short day is good -- the bridges over to Nags Head get brutally backed up on Fridays AND Saturdays in the summer, so the earlier you can get down there, the better.
Boston to DC is about 9 hours, but I recommend you stay east of DC, perhaps go through Delaware/Md. on 13 and take the Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Stay in Dover or Salisbury over night. The further south you can get in one day, the better.

Another point re:returning: the bridge gets badly backed up on Sat. and Sun. heading back to the mainland, so again earlier is better (even though you are losing part of a day). And again, STRONGLY recommend staying away from I-95 between Washington and Richmond. You'll be ready to kill someone if you find yourself stuck in 100 miles of summer gridlock there.

It's worth doing lots of map homework to avoid that at all costs.

Actually last summer's shark attacks were on both sides of Corolla (where we usually stay) but not at Corolla. There was one attack south of there near Oregon Inlet/Avalon (a couple from Washington D.C. was in the water at dusk and the shark killed the man) and another north of there at Virginia Beach (a boy from Richmond died in an attack at dusk). It was very, very sad. But as the previous poster noted, this is out of millions of swimmers there. The shark experts are stressing that it's important to stay out of the water at dusk and dawn, when sharks are more active and may come in closer to shore to eat.

I hear that there were Ducks in the water.Hope this helps.

Ducky, you're a silly goose!

Yes, there are plenty, both in the water and out, and those in the water are much more hospitable. Since the Outer Banks turned into the Atlantic City of the Carolinas, the rude, foul mouthed sharks (also known in these parts as Yankees) have lined the once pristine shoreline with their million dollar tributes to themselves. You'll frequently see these sharks driving Range Rovers and flipping pedestrians off, all while talking on cell phones. I thank these sharks for ruining yet another stretch of Atlantic shoreline.

duck duck goose

Don't worry...I've been swimming on the Carolina coast every year for 37 now, still have all limbs. I did actually see a pretty big shark swimming near me once, but he wasn't interested. I agree with the lightning comment, etc. You're more likely to crash on the highway on the way down.
Just don't swim at dawn or dusk (or in the dark for that matter). I also try to avoid swimming close to surf-fishers.

The shark attack was NOT north of Duck (unless you count Va. Beach, Va.) - it was down in Avon (about 2 hours south). Sharks are evrywhere - my first snorkel in Key Largo i got up close & personal (no, it was not a shark tour!) with one. Avoid fishing piers, and areas where people are doing a lot of fishing. Do not swim at dusk or dawn - i believe both the Va. Beach (where i live) & Avon attack were late in the afternoon. This is when they feed & visibility is less.