Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 8.5.11 – Great Beach Weekend. Surf on Sunday?!

Posted on August 5, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.5.11 - Great Beach Weekend

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, August 5, 2011.

This video was shot at the Kitty Hawk Pier at 9:00 AM.

Before I dive into the report, I’d like to say a quick Happy Anniversary to my Grandparents who are celebrating their 67 wedding anniversary today. Considering that they are in their 90′s and don’t know how to use the internet, it’s a safe bet they won’t see this video, but I’m sending out my love and good vibes none-the-less. Thanks for being great role models!

Back to the beach! It’s a start to the weekend with great beach conditions. It’s been in the 90′s all week, but the temps have cooled to the mid 80′s today, and will stay there through the weekend. The sun is out, the sky is blue, and there’s strong wind blowing off the ocean out of the east, northeast.

The winds are chopping up the water pretty good for today and tomorrow, but the winds will switch offshore out of the southwest by Sunday…just in time for some surf!….hopefully.

There has been some excitement this week about the potential for surf from Tropical Storm Emily, but that storm dissipated over the Caribbean yesterday. Now that it has broken apart a bit, the surf doesn’t look quite as promising, but we could still have a great day of surf on Sunday and Monday.

The forecasts have dropped the swell from shoulder to waist +, but with a great offshore wind, sun, air and water temps in the 80′s, waist + surf could be all we need for some prime OBX summer surf conditions. Keep your fingers crossed!

As for OBX fishing, tight lines all around. Offshore is catching wahoo, dolphin, big eye and yellow fin tuna, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, surf, and Sound are very consistent with a wide variety of fish – speckled trout, spot, croaker, blue fish, Spanish Mackeral, flounder, sea mullet, trigger fish, cobia.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Outer Banks Treasure: Kilmarlic Golf Club

Posted on August 4, 2011

Nothing says relaxation like a nice round of golf right? Well since the beach is all about relaxing and enjoying a laid back atmosphere we thought we needed to include Kilmarlic Golf Club as one of our Outer Banks Treasures. I had a chance to see the course from some events we have had through the Club Seaside golf clinic offered by Kilmarlic and Seaside Vacations. It is a beautiful course and the club was great as well. There is a pro-shop inside, 215-Westside, which is a great spot to grab a bite to eat and a huge covered porch to sit out in a rocking chair and enjoy the views.

Want to check it our for yourself? Watch as I take a golf cart tour around the course and be sure you don’t miss out on the exclusive golf clinic and special guests rates through Club Seaside. Its a great way to get out and explore and enjoy all of the great things the Outer Banks has to offer. No matter what your skill level its a guaranteed good time!

Tips on Finding Beach Treasure on the OBX

Posted on August 4, 2011

Ever wondered where and how to find thing like driftwood, sea glass, fulgurites, seashells and other coastal treasures? Luckily the Outer Banks has been named one of the best places to discover some of these rare items. Check out Coastal Living’s article on everything you need to know about beachcombing while out exploring the coastline.

If you don’t have a beach trip planned yet, you can also find some neat places all around the U.S that sell many of these handcrafted items. Of course we can always help you plan your next beach trip so you can find some of these ocean gems right here in the OBX for yourself .

Follow the link and you will see this screen. From here you can explore all of these different types of beach treasures.

Check out this video of Hayley who showcases and explains some awesome shells she found right here in Corolla while visiting the Outer Banks.

OBX Pic O’ the Day: Great OBX Beach Day & More Surf on the Way?!

Posted on August 4, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.4.11 - Longboard Wave in Kitty Hawk

Another great Outer Banks beach day. Bright sun, blue skies, temps in the 90′s, water temp 75 – 80. And a fun longboard wave with southwest wind keeping the waves clean. Tight lines all around; fish are biting offshore, near shore, piers, bridges, surf, & Sound.

Some more good surf this weekend? The forecast for Tropical Storm Emily keeps it out to sea and moving past the OBX Sunday and Monday with an offshore wind! Great wave conditions. The surf forecast shows swell jumping to chest to shoulder for Sunday and Monday and clean surf. Keep your fingers crossed!

Tropical Storm Emily Forecast - 8.4.11

Outer Banks Surf Forecast - 8.4.11

Spotlight on the OBX: Bay Dr.

Posted on August 3, 2011

Outer Banks Sunset

Our surroundings play a large role in our happiness. A quiet, natural environment tends to bring out our calm, relaxed nature.

I think any neighborhood shrink – ah hem, I mean psychologist – would agree. Any psychologists in the audience?

Anywho…that’s how it works for me anyway. Give me a nice calm beach day, and any worries I may have seem to melt away. I think the Outer Banks has this effect on most visitors. Once we cross that bridge and hit the OBX, our mentality seems to change. As the Mad Magazine dude use to say, “What, me worry?”

The OBX as a whole seems to have this worry-melting effect, but for today’s addition, I’d like to shine the “Spotlight” on just one tiny little road…a microcosm of the macro Outer Banks, if you will.

This one road has the same worry-melting effect for me. It’s quiet, out of the way, Soundfront, a smooth glide for a bike or skateboard, and one of the best spots for an OBX sunset.

Can you guess what road?…don’t look at the title.

Ok, it’s Bay Dr.

Bay Drive is one of my favorite places on the Outer Banks. Not only is it one of the best places to catch the sunset, but you can always count on seeing someone you know and catching up with friends. There is a warm sense of community in this neighborhood as you see neighbors waving as they pass each other on the street, chatting in their front yards, or biking/running at sundown.

Located in Kill Devil Hills, NC, Bay Drive is a beautiful residential street that runs along Kitty Hawk Bay and is home to many Outer Banks locals.

I’ll zip it so you can enjoy the tour…and the Outer Banks sunset…

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 8.3.11 – It’s a hot one…

Posted on August 3, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.3.11 - Hot One at Avalon Pier

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, August 3, 2011.

This video was shot at the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 9 AM.

Another great beach day, but it’s a hot one! We have temps hovering around 90 degrees all week, and today could be the hottest day of the week topping out around 95 degrees. Perfect day to be at the beach!

The sun is out, there’s a light offshore wind out of the southwest, and the water temps are at 80 degrees!

The southwest wind is cleaning up the tiny wave that we have. If you find the right spot, there could be a fun longboard wave, but there’s no significant surf. However, the good news is that swell is building over the next few days.

The forecast for Tropical Storm Emily has the storm staying out to sea, but it will swing close enough to the OBX to send some swell our way. Unfortunately, Friday and Saturday will most likely have an east wind knocking the waves down, but Sunday could be great. It looks like the waves could be in the chest high range on Sunday, and there should be a nice offshore breeze out of the southwest keeping the waves clean.

Chest high surf, light offshore breeze, 90 degree temps, and 80 degree water?! Sign me up. Hopefully all of the conditions come together. We’ll keep an eye on it, and let you know.

As for OBX fishing, there are tight lines all around. It is a great time to be fishing on the Outer Banks. Offshore is catching big eye and yellow fin tuna, dolphin, wahoo, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, surf, and Sound are all very consistent with a wide variety of fish – spot, blue fish, speckled trout, croaker, flounder, Spanish mackeral, trigger fish, cobia, sea mullet.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Save a Horse, Ride a Land Cruiser. But With New Restrictions?

Posted on August 3, 2011

Currituck County officials are developing a plan to impose limits on the expanding business of Corolla wild horse tours. They are discussing plans to restrict the number of vehicles per tour to 4 and requiring tour operators to get a license each year and the number of licenses issued would be limited to eight companies that must be based in Currituck County.

Other requirements include:

- Vehicles would have to be registered with the county, with a photo included for each one.

- Each vehicle would get a number and must have a sign on the side with lettering at least 3 inches tall showing the ID number and the company name.

- All vehicles would have guides, instead of one guide leading several vehicles.

- More than one violation of the ordinance in a month could mean being shut down for a day or more.

A county law already requires people to stay 50 feet away from wild horses.

Operators could still carry a similar number of passengers by using vehicles with larger capacities, Woody said.

Officials are considering whether to limit tour times. Now they travel dawn to dusk. Residents want hours limited to something like 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“I’m in favor of this, believe or not,” said Jay Bender, owner of Corolla Outback Adventures and Club Seaside partner. “It’s in the best interest of the horses and in the best interest of everybody over the long haul to keep some sort of control over it.”

Complaints from residents and the Corolla Wild Horse Fund explain, “It’s all day every day,” said north beach resident and Corolla Wild Horse Fund Vice President Phyllis Castelli. “There’s never really a time of day when there’s not a tour group going by. It’s completely out of balance.” Castelli saw two wild horses on the beach last week surrounded by people from three different tours. “If I feel this way, imagine how the horses feel,” she said.

There are a couple of things to remember here. If we reduce supply of the horse tours and with demand always increasing this is going to drive up the prices of the tour which is already on the high side. On the other hand it would be in the best interest of our area to restrict the number of companies as to eliminate people in Charlotte, Raleigh or Virginia who see the horse tours as an easy way to make money and have already expressed interest in starting new tour companies.

What do you guys think? There has to be some kind of happy medium…

Here is a video of our recent wild horse tour with Corolla Outback Adventures.

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OBX Pic O’ the Day: Dog Days of Summer?

Posted on August 2, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.2.11 - Dog Days of Summer in Kitty Hawk

It’s officially August. Summer is in full swing, and we are enjoying some great Outer Banks beach weather.

Are we in the dog days of summer? What are the dog days anyway? Here’s how Wikipedia defines it:

“Dog Days” (Latin: diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. In the northern hemisphere, they usually fall between early July and early September. The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun was responsible for the hot weather.”

I guess we’re in the dog days!

It’s a great beach day. 90′s, bright sun, blue skies, and the water temps are in the 80′s! There is a tiny wave, not much, but it is clean from southwest wind. Fish are biting.

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 8.1.11 – Happy August!

Posted on August 1, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.1.11 - Happy August

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, August 1, 2011.

This video was shot at the Sutton St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 9:00 AM.

Happy August! Summer is flying by, but we have some great summer weeks left, some amazing summer weather, and the best time of year on the OBX is getting close.

As an FYI, it’s a pretty safe bet that fall on the Outer Banks is the best time of year; summer weather, warm water, empty beaches, great surfing, great fishing…ah, the perfect time to be here.

Today is pretty great too, and this week is shaping up to be a great beach week. Temps will hover around 90 all week, bright sun, and cool ocean breezes.

We even enjoyed some morning thunderstorms today before the sun came back and the temps started to warm up. It was a pretty cool scene on the beach. To the north you could see the dark thunder clouds moving off, and to the south, the sun was out and the great beach day was under way.

Unfortunately, no surf to report. Nada. Pretty much flat, and any bump is from the east/southeast wind, so not much chance of waves today, and the rest of the week doesn’t look much better. The swell could jump to the keen to waist range towards the end of the week, but we’ll need to keep an eye on it. Not too promising right now.

On the flip side, OBX fishing is going great. Offshore is catching dolphin, wahoo, yellow fin tuna, big eye tuna, and some bill fish mixed in. The bridges, piers, surf, & Sound are all very consistent with a wide variety of fish. Every day changes based on the conditions, but we’re seeing…blue fish, Spanish makerel, spot, croakers, sea mullet, trigger fish, cobia.

In fact, we got a great fishing report from our friends at Rock Solid Fishing (www.RockSolidFishing.com), and they had a great weekend of cobia fishing. About 6 keepers, and a few were over 60 pounds! Some great fish in the area!

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!