Cape Hatteras Beach

Cape Hatteras National Seashore is fundamentally unlike any other beach on the American East Coast. This 70-mile stretch of barrier island beach — managed by the National Park Service and the longest undeveloped stretch of Atlantic shoreline in the eastern United States — exists in its natural, wind-sculpted, elemental state. No boardwalks, no resort complexes, no golf courses. Just beach, ocean, sky, and the iconic spiral-striped Cape Hatteras Lighthouse standing sentinel over it all.

The geography of Cape Hatteras is extraordinary — the island is the easternmost point of North Carolina, jutting 30 miles into the Atlantic at the collision point between the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Labrador Current. This convergence creates the most powerful and consistent surf on the East Coast, and also makes these the most dangerous waters — the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" has claimed over 600 documented shipwrecks in these shoals. The surf breaks here with genuine force, producing waves that can exceed 10 feet in prime season and attracting serious surfers from across the region.

Cape Hatteras was also the site of the famous 1999 lighthouse move — the 198-foot-tall Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest brick lighthouse in the US, was threatened by beach erosion and had to be physically moved 2,900 feet inland in an extraordinary engineering feat that preserved it for future generations. The lighthouse is open for climbing in season, offering views from the top across the entire Outer Banks. Sea turtles nest on the national seashore beaches each summer, and the area is one of the most important stopover points on the Atlantic migratory bird flyway.