Nobody Knows About This Tiny North Carolina Island

This might be the most charming island on the East Coast!

A lot of people are moving to North Carolina these days. I live here, and I can tell you that it’s simply a fantastic state. Oh we have problems - there’s poverty and crime here just like anywhere else. But it’s an average cost of living, average weather, average politics and just…nice.

Part of the charm of North Carolina is the coast. There really is no coast like it. The water’s warm and there are long stretches of clean white sandy beaches that are really isolated.

In this video, we’re going to do a short tour of a neat little island in southeastern North Carolina. It’s called Pleasure Island and it’s located right off the coast, across a bridge from Wilmington.

The day of the short tour was in early February of 2022. It was a nice day for a drive - the sun was out and it was in the high 50s. While it wasn’t warm, it was certainly a far nicer day than it was in much of the country.

This island wasn’t always an island. Up until 1929, this whole land mass was connected to the mainland. In order to connect the intracoastal waterway to the Cape Fear River and thus, connect the river waterway to the southern US, the Army Corp of Engineers cut a 1.7 mile long stretch of land out of the earth. After that waterway was cut, this became a barrier island. As you can see, the island is about 17 miles long, and features an unbroken strand of sandy beach from end to end. There’s really no place like it.

We’re going to begin here at the end of the island and drive north. We’ll visit Fort Fisher, Kure Beach and Carolina Beach taking the main road one block off the ocean. And by the way if you’re interested in moving down here, email me. I can connect you to awesome real estate agents.

Here’s what it looks like on the end of the island. There’s really nothing down here except a parking lot and a boat ramp. Across the Cape Fear River on the other side is Bald Head Island. It’s really pretty and super remote.

There’s also a ferry down on the south end of the island. You can take your car across the Cape Fear to the community of Southport. Nearby is the North Carolina Aquarium which is a popular place to view and interact with species native to the North Carolina coast.

Just up the road from the Ferry are several areas where you can pull off the road and access the beach. Most of the time, it’s not very crowded at all. Just long stretches of sandy beaches.

On the south end of the island is Fort Fisher, which is a former confederate stronghold.

As you leave Fort Fisher you come to the town of Kure Beach. There are just about 2,000 people in Kure Beach. It’s a very small community with a few restaurants and touristy stuff. There isn’t a grocery store or a school here. A lot of the homes you see on both sides of the road are rental houses or condos. Again, the road we’re on now is one block off the ocean.

The homes on the left don’t have ocean access, but many have ocean views. Those homes are in the $750-$800,000 range, although many go for a million bucks. The homes on the right DO have ocean access and amazing ocean views and many are at least a million bucks each.

But overall, Kure Beach is a really neat place. It’s very quiet and clean.

Now at this point, we’re still heading north and we’re now in the town of Carolina Beach. It’s the biggest town on Pleasure Island. There’s about 5,000 full time residents in Carolina Beach, and again, lots of second homes and vacation rentals.

Carolina Beach is the main destination point for tourists on this island. This is where you’ll find a bunch of restaurants and bars and the traditional boardwalk scene with an arcade, candy, rides, and shops. Carolina Beach has one of this state’s few beach boardwalks in the region.

Carolina Beach also has a neat little marina where tour ships and fishing boats park.

Homes in Carolina Beach are far cheaper than in Kure Beach. Many are older and in need of repair. But you drive around this island - it’s hit and miss - some streets in CB have new and modern homes. It just depends on what street you drive on.

Most locals will tell you Carolina Beach is very laid back. It's certainly not fancy like nearby Wrightsville beach with all the snobs and extremely high home prices.

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