Salvo Day Use Area: The Best OBX Local Secret

Sound-side beach perfect for paddle boarding and relaxing on the outer banks. The Salvo Day Use area is a little know beach near the town of Salvo. Take a break from the rough surf and float in the Pamlico sound.

Another OBX Beach?

Located North of Cape Hatteras, the Salvo Day Use area is hard to find. The town of Salvo is only accessible via the infamous NC 12. The route is very scenic but can get congested being the only road to travel through the outer banks. I found myself getting distracted by the stunning views from the new bridges on this route.

The turn for the Salvo Day Use area is a little hard to find. Follow the GPS and you should be OK. It is worth noting that the loop next to the beach itself is one-way. Google Maps had not picked up on that detail when we came through.

Parking is a little odd. There are not may formal spots to park but there is a large open area inside of the loop you can park in. Space to park is fairly easy to come by.

Use Every Day

If you have not been to a sound side beach before, let me introduce you. These are traditional sandy beaches that are located on a barrier island of some type. Instead of facing the open ocean, they face back towards the mainland (the sound). The result is very calm serene water that is perfect for floating splashing, lounging and swimming. Another near by popular sound-side beach is at Jockey’s Ridge State Park near Nags Head though that location tends to be full during the summer everyday.

I had no idea this was a concept for many year until I stumbled upon it. So often we went to the ocean side of the island never knowing there was another option. Madilyn is still not very interested in the loud sounds of the waves yet but loves to play in the water. This was the perfect middle ground. It was a fight getting her to get in the car coming home because of how much fun she was having.

We discovered the wind is typically much lighter on the sound side. Normally not a big deal except that we brought our new Shibumi shade. These require some wind in order to be effective. I realized that having an old fashion umbrella still in the garage for these types of situation is very handy. This also prevented us from using our trusty/ cheap kite. Madilyn loves to try to fly this

A Small Salvo

The beach area is not very deep nor is it very wide. Because the access is not typically occupied by anyone besides locals, it was not hard for us to find a spot in the sand. We actually used one of the picnic tables that was very close to the water. There are actually two sandy areas so explore a little if you want more room. The two sandy areas are divided by a fallen tree which is a unique feature in itself.

We realized we can walk out quite a good distance from the shore without a significant change in water depth. This was a lot of fun for Madilyn since she had never waded out like this before. It was a little nerve wracking as a parent since I did not know if it dropped off at some point (it doesn’t). This is perfect for floating around or even launching a paddle board too.

A Midget Cemetery

There is a set of restrooms here that we did not use. The building itself looked new and maintained well. There are not any near by establishments so this was likely a much needed amenity. It is easily accessible form the beach area and the parking lot.

Another odd quirk is the large local cemetery. This is a long established family cemetery for the “Midget” family. This is a family that much of this community was built by and around in the early 1800’s. You can still see plenty of local businesses bearing their this name today in Nags Head and Salvo. I found it a little funny that this cemetery was so close to such a great place to relax.

Overall

The Salvo Day Use area is a great place for a relaxing day with low traffic and different flavor than most beaches. The simple pleasures of a calm salt water beach in unparalleled. I highly recommend this for anyone with small kids and lovers of water sports.

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