9 Fun Things to Do in the Outer Banks

Living in Maryland before having kids, we always enjoyed taking trips down to the Outer Banks, as it’s one of our favorite coastal destinations. While Ocean City, Maryland, was only a 3-hour drive from our home, we wanted a different beach scene.

While the Outer Banks is known for its serene ocean, there are also plenty of other activities to make it the perfect coastal holiday you’ve been looking for. Whether you plan to take a tour with horses, have a drink at the beer garden, learn how to hang glide, or want to spend your day at the beach, the Outer Banks has it all!

Walk Through Nags Head Woods

One of the first things we did while visiting OBX was walk the trails through Nags Head Woods. This short trail went around a maritime swamp forest and freshwater pond, and consisted of a concrete and wooden boardwalk.

We walked the Center Trail as we didn’t want to spend too long hiking, crossing two wooden bridges and a pond. Since the area was quiet, we heard the repeated sounds of frogs and saw turtles resting on nearby logs. If you want to spend time appreciating the area’s natural beauty, this is a great place to start.

Eat at a Locally-Owned Restaurant

If you’ve ever been to famous piers like the Santa Monica Pier, you know how crowded they can become when trying to find a good eating spot. After walking through Nags Head Woods, we decided to head to the fishing pier to grab a bite to eat at Fish Heads Bar and Grill.

If you enjoy shrimp, then you’ll love this place! And guess what? Every day from 4 pm-6 pm, they have happy hour shrimp at 20 cents a shrimp!

Not only does this restaurant have some of the best shrimp you’ll ever taste, but they also offer a selection of 40 beers and music and serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Take a Tour With Horses

After grabbing a bite to eat, we went to the beaches of Hatteras Island to take a tour with horses. This was a fun and unique adventure and just what we needed to escape the summer crowds. We scheduled our 3-hour horseback riding tour with Equine Adventures and rode smoothly through the Buxton Woods to the beach.

This tour will give you amazing views of the dunes, forest, and the calming peace of the ocean waves. It is also a family-friendly activity with kids ten years and older permitted to ride.

Stop by the Beer Garden

Harrison Group / Flickr

If you’re looking for a place to kick back with a cold one, stop by the Corolla Beer Garden. This beer garden is a hidden gem in Corolla; according to the locals, it has 17 brews available and outdoor seating. We enjoyed this beer garden as it gave us time to relax while listening to live music, which is only available on Mondays and Thursdays.

If you’re looking for a beer garden that gives you options of local brewery choices and other state beers, you’ll enjoy this one. However, make sure you get there early as there’s limited parking available.

Go to the Beach

Since we always visit the Outer Banks during the summer, going to the beach is standard for us, as it is for most tourists who visit here. With over 100 miles of shoreline, you’ll have plenty of coastal beaches. The water is the perfect temperature, and the beaches are unspoiled and clean.

Compared to other beaches, they’re not overcrowded, and they’re very family-friendly. We went to Kill Devil Hills Beach most of the time but enjoyed Corolla Beach to do some body boarding because of its gentle waves.

Pro Tip: If you’re Traveling with kids, I recommend going to Nags Head Beach, as it’s one of the few beaches that have lifeguards on duty.

Go Fishing

If you didn’t know OBX was a fisherman’s paradise, well, you’re about to! My husband is an extreme fan of fishing, so having made the drive down, we packed our fishing rods. Redfish love to swim in the shallow waters near the North Carolina beaches, so we unpacked our rods at one of the fishing piers.

There are more than a dozen fishing piers in the Outer Banks, so you won’t have any trouble finding a spot. While fishing, we caught Cobia and Redfish, which are common in these areas.

Pro Tip: If you’re not a fan of pier fishing, you can book an OBX charter familiar with the waters to take you out for a run. A charter will provide all your equipment and save you time and stress if you’re unfamiliar with how or where to fish.

Learn How to Hang Glide

One of the most unique things you’ll ever do at the Outer Banks is hang gliding, and while here, we knew we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. While we enjoyed this as a couple, we also noticed many families participating, some of their kids being around eight years old, so it’s a family-friendly activity to take on.

While hang gliding, we learned how to launch, fly, and land on the sandy beaches while our instructor held on to the rope throughout the whole experience to ensure our safety. You can schedule a beginner lesson that lasts approximately 3 hours.

See the Lighthouses

The first things that come to mind when I think of OBX are their lighthouses, and it’s a specific sight you’ll want to experience up close and personal, especially at sunset. The lighthouses here have sat on the coast for roughly 200 years, essential to the area’s History.

We only had enough time to visit one, so we went to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This lighthouse had a design of spiraling stripes and is the one lighthouse that protects areas of the Atlantic. We climbed to the top and took in stunning views of the ocean.

Pro Tip: Four other lighthouses include the Bodie Island Lighthouse, Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse, Currituck Beach Lighthouse on Currituck Sound, and Ocracoke Lighthouse.

Visit the Graveyard at the Atlantic Museum

One of our final activities in the Outer Banks was the Graveyard at the Atlantic Museum. This is a free museum where we learned about the History of the shipwrecks that happened along the North Carolina coast, including the USS Monitor that sank during the Civil War.

During our walk, though, we saw artifacts from these shipwrecks, including navigational instruments, clothing, and weapons. This is one of the most fascinating museums I’ve ever been to, and you’ll be lucky to find one that equally compares.