April | 2010 |

: Coastal Living

Coastal Living Magazine named the Outer Banks among their list of the “9 Coastal Wonders to See.” This is a pretty big honor considering the list includes locations from Canda to Hawaii and Ecudor.

Here’s what Coastal Living has to say about the OBX:

Outer Banks, North Carolina

Why go? The Outer Banks includes vast beaches, salt marshes, and maritime forests of loblolly pines and live oaks. Waves sculpt the shoreline, and huge dunes migrate in the wind. Over time, says East Carolina University geologist Stan Riggs, the Outer Banks land has formed and collapsed and formed again. Humans try to preserve the roads, bridges, homes, and businesses from the unstable environment, but “protecting” the barrier islands with sandbags and jetties has worsened erosion and starved the shores of sediment.

Why care? If the water level increases by 2 feet, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts it could by 2100, the Outer Banks may disintegrate.

Plan your trip: Sea kayaking is a great way to experience the wild and remote areas of the Outer Banks: Try Barrier Island Kayaks (barrierislandkayaks.com) and Kitty Hawk Kayaks (khkss.com). Cape Hatteras National Seashore (nps.gov/caha) is open year-round; summer is peak time for swimming and surfing, and spring and fall offer excellent fishing and birding.

How to help: The North Carolina Coastal Federation (nccoast.org) advocates restoration and low-impact development, and offers summer tours of Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Great Outer Banks vacation rentals available.

Islands.com recently named the Outer Banks the best island close to home for history. In addition to gorgeous beaches, great food, and an abundance of nature, the Outer Banks is extremely rich in history; brave settlers in the Lost Colony, the swashbuckling pirates that pillaged the Atlantic coast, or the Wright Brothers first flight, the OBX has a wealth of historical relevance.

One of the great aspects of the OBX is it’s accessibility. The islands are remote enough to offer that “removed from civilization” feeling, but in reality, the Outer Banks is less than a half a days drive from most of the eastern seaboard.

Even to this day, historical discoveries are being made on the Outer Banks. Within the past few weeks, the oldest shipwreck along North Carolina was discovered on the northern beaches of the Outer Banks. Below is the commentary from Islands.com:

Best for History
Outer Banks, North Carolina
Kitty Hawk at the north end of the Outer Banks is just 79 miles south of the airport in Norfolk, Virginia. Cape Hatteras to the south was declared the United States’ first national seashore in 1953, and the Outer Banks calls itself “America’s Beach.” www.outerbanks.org