Cape Lookout: Better Than Your Beach

Cape Lookout is not your typical beach trip. In fact Kaitlyn and I find Cape Lookout to be a better beach experience because it is atypical. Fair warning, this is in fact our favorite beach to date on the NC coast. 

The Ferry

Similar to Hammocks Beach State Park, this experience is on remote islands. First thing’s first. In order to get to this beach you will need to book passage on one of a few different ferries. If you are just going as a casual visitor, the passenger ferry from Harker’s Island to Cape Lookout will do the trick. If you want a prolonged experience, you may consider taking the ferry from downtown Beaufort NC. (Note: this ferry ride is much longer and is intended for site seeing of Shackleford banks.)

The ferry from Harker’s Island is our go to. This Ferry has a not frills approach to get you to and from the lighthouse on Cape Lookout. We have taken this ferry multiple times and enjoy the light hearted nature of the crews. Also we are usually able to hop onto an earlier ferries if there is space without any charge or hassle at all. If you want to book ahead of time, you can on their website but it does not seem to be required when we have gone for smaller parties. Space is usually not an issue getting out there.  

There are a other ferries that will take you to the island. One out of Beaufort and a few others. We have only ever used the Island Express Ferries since they are the primary operators for the Park Service. We may try some of the other ones one day but as of writing have not yet.

You Are Going to a Remote Island

You got out to Cape lookout. Hooray! There are few things you need to know. The only public bathrooms are at the visitor center right there at the main dock near the lighthouse. Other than that…. Come prepared. Next. The sound side beach is really nice and chill. Winds are calm and the waves are easy to play in with small kids. If you get the opportunity to explore the light house, we were told it is a great view but COVID shut down the light house so we did not get to confirm this.  

The Driving Tour

Private boats are allowed to transport off road vehicles to the island and many do take this opportunity. The Off road experience looks to be bar none. There are rules in place to prevent these vehicles from damaging wild life or the natural beauty of the area. The park rangers do a fairly good job of policing them because I have yet to have a bad interaction with one of these off roader’s. It is worth noting that there are people driving on the beach though. Because of the very soft sand, these vehicles naturally do not move very fast. It is just something to be aware of though. 

If you are like most and did not bring your tricked out 4×4, there is a shuttle from the visitor area to southern tip of the island. TAKE IT! Unless you want to take the 3 mile sandy hike or rented one of the dune buggies that are available, this is hands down the best money you will spend.

You literally step up into the bed of a pickup truck that has a row of benches on either side. Squeeze in! Other people are coming with their stuff too. (this is why I usually pack very minimally). Pre-COVID and labor shortage, the guides would take you through the old village on the island and tell you a bunch of neat history. They were struggling to keep everything moving when we went in 2021 so they were not doing this part.

Next they will drive to the southern tip of the island. This shuttle runs fairly regularly. If requested, they will come pick you up at a certain time to go back to the ferry. If crawling up into the back of a pickup is not your style, they do allow people to ride in the crew cab but I did not see it as much more spacious. The views and the open air are very fun too.

What’s The Point!

The Point is this strip of sand that juts out into the ocean and has opposing currents colliding on either side creating tide pools, odd wading areas and excellent fishing /shelling. It is very wide open and often changes shape with storms.

If you have ever seen those HUGE conch shell in a gift store and wondered “on what beach did those things wash up on?”, I have your answer. Cape Lookout. If you think shelling is even remotely interesting (or even if you don’t honestly), then I highly recommend structuring your visit so you can be at the point during low tide. You will be enticed to go into some of the shallow water that extends out really far. We found LOTS of success on the West side of the point during low tide. So much so, we had to leave shells behind. You may have a different experience but we found wading out to about knee deep and walking slowly parallel to the shore worked best. The water was not clear enough for us to see the bottom but these shells you can feel with your feet. It became a fun game for us once we started to get the hang of it. Your experience may differ if a storm has or has not come through recently. 

For us there were maybe 10-15 vehicles on the point when we went but this is the only place we saw people gathered. Even then, there was enough room that we never really were close to any vehicle. We spent the most time out at the point. It is a great mix of relaxing and fun. 

Wait There is More?

Now at this point you probably have heard someone in the pickup or the ferry mention Shackleford banks and wondered where that is. Well its another island that nearly touches Cape Lookout. They have some of the infamous wild ponies of the Outer Banks. The ferry from Harker’s Island does drop off and pick up there on its way to Cape Lookout. You can pay to go to Shackleford, Cape Lookout or both and you will ride the same physical boat for all three options.. 

When Kaitlyn and I came here before, we did go to Shackleford first before heading to the rest of the island. The island if much more primitive than Cape Lookout. They do not even have a dock or any bathrooms. When the ferry drops you off, it will stop a ways away from the island, drop some stairs down and say “bye”.

You have to wade your way from the boat to the island a little bit so be ready to get wet. They have a bunch of signs to remind you not to get too close to horses. We kept quite the distance since they are wild animals but it was really cool to see them in person. Shackleford is very picturesque but that’s about it. Would not recommend it if you have small kids. 

If you are the camping type, you can stay out on any of the islands. You just communicate this with the ferry service. This seems like a very fun experience for some college kids to do or an adventurous family. There are also some cabins but I have not seen or used them so I can’t say much else other than I know they are there any you can check out their official page for more about them. If you are the fishing type. I can see these as a great option. We did see someone managed to get a smaller Winnebago out there so people are getting creative of sure. 

Coming Back

Keep good track of the time when you are out on the island. Return trips can fill up very quickly at the end of the day. Priority is first given to people who were scheduled for that return time. If you miss your return time, you will not be abandoned on the island but you will be at the mercy of available space for all remaining trips back to the island. This can be a big head ache if you have a big party. Make sure you follow the instructions from the Parks Service on what is OK to bring back.

Please make sure you have plans to bring all your trash back with you. “Leave only your foot prints” and all that jazz.

Overall

The real draw to Cape lookout for us is this sense of wild nature paired with the relaxations of the beach. You never have to worry about people over crowding this and that’s how the park intends to keep it. This is a great option of the adventurous type that wants a unique beach experience. Mix and match any of these activities and MORE to fill you day. I recommend starting early and ending early because you will not realize how tired you are until you get back to your car. At that point you now have a long car drive/ride ahead of you potentially. 

Again hands down our favorite Beach. Remember to pack smart and light. Maybe think twice before bringing small kids but we did see multiple families with Preschool aged kids making it work.

What was your experience like? Think you have a better spot than this? Let us know in the Comments

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