Public Beach Access

Great spot to walk, bike or drive to. Easy access, plenty of space on the beach and great views.

This low rating is more about parking. Almost anywhere you go on Oak Island you have to pay for parking. The rate is $5 for one hour up to three hours $15. $20 for all day. A local told me paid parking started this year without a vote by the residents. The parking system is run by a private company and the city gets a cut of the money. The residents don't like it. The beach itself is great. The high cost of parking keeps low income folks from enjoying the beach.

Oak island wasn’t my favorite NC beach by any means, but truly for being there on a Saturday in June, I didn’t struggle finding parking showing up at noon, and that was worth not competing with some of the more popular beaches.

Beautiful beach and easy to park with the app downloaded

The only sign saying there’s a fee to park is conveniently located behind the port-a-potties. If you don’t pay the parking ticket by midnight same day, the poor starving town of Oak Island doubles it to $50. Luckily, NC has tons of coastline stewarded by more scrupulous towns. Go anywhere else, if you’d like to be able to pay by the hour instead of a $25-50 fee all at once!