I'm trying to plan a week long family vacation to the Outer Banks a week in mid June 2011.

We want to rent oceanfront cottage(s) for between 20-40 people. I'm working on getting a head count.
While I'm perfectly content with just the beach, I know my family will want options for outings (shopping, dining, sight seeing, etc...)

I've only been to Ocracoke so I'm not familar with the rest of the islands.
Are there any places in particular that you'd recommend? Even houses/agencies you would recommend.

I've come across a few houses that sleep 10-12 for around $1500 which seems like a good price. Would like to keep the price under $200/person.

thanks!

8/18/2010 1:41:11 AM

I was going to recommend Ocracoke

But if your family wants stuff to do other than sitting on the beach and fishing and other normal beach activities, I recommend checking out the houses around Kitty Hawk. There's tons of crap around there as far as OBX goes.

Let me peck around my bookmarks and see if I can find the awesome house I almost rented for next year that can sleep something like 30 people.

Well poo found the house but apparently it's no longer for rent because the owners are selling it. Anyone in the market for a 1.5 million dollar home in Kitty Hawk?

[Edited on August 18, 2010 at 2:01 AM. Reason : a]

8/18/2010 1:58:30 AM

I really like the Duck and Corolla area but it may not be enough attractions for your family. I know that looking for housing for a work project you should be able to find places in your price range but unfortunately i can't remember any names. Its less busy up north which i really appreciate, and there are some shops in Duck and some in Corolla in TimbukII and around the lighthouse but not as many as you'll see at some of the bigger beaches. I stayed there most of the summer and kept entertained, although sometimes I'd drive south a ways (usually for a bar though, not shopping). I didn't do any wild horse tours but there are a few different companies that lead tours out of corolla.

8/18/2010 2:17:20 AM

If you have 25 people or less there will be TONS of homes available. If you get over 30 your selections become a heck of a lot more slim. If you get near 35-40 it is definitely better to get two homes near each other. Stay in Nags Head, Duck, or Whalehead if you want to be near shopping and dining, but Pine Island has the best collection of large homes to stay in, there just isn't anything within walking/biking distance, but both the town of Duck and Corolla are less than 10 minutes away.

The cheaper and smaller oceanfront homes are just that, cheap and small. I've been in a couple thousand of the rental homes out here since I was 14 and when I see the smaller homes I just feel....sad. The furnishings aren't great. The beds aren't the best. They are usually in places with a more crowded beach, and they usually lack a private pool or community areas for tennis/etc. Getting 3-4 of those vs 1 larger one and MUCH nicer home usually doesn't make much sense when you have everyone together. If you do have a decent amount of younger kids that will be there (5-15 yr olds) you can throw them all on air mattresses down stairs in the game room or sleep 4-5 in a bedroom to make more space and "avoid" the occupancy numbers the realtors list.

Talk to Carolina Designs for large homes in Nags Head through Corolla and Brindley Beach and Twiddy for places in Duck through Corolla. These are great companies that have a lot of really nice homes. If you want smaller/cheaper homes then Sun Realty and Joe Lamb Jr. have the larger selection. Just be aware that any of the larger oceanfront homes are going to be fairly expensive in a straight per-person basis so a lot of times I see families rent one decent size (maybe 7 bedroom) oceanfront house and then get another house as an oceanside or oceanview that can sleep everyone else but still be within walking distance of the other house. Doing this will still be cheaper than hotels, but may be in the 300-350 range per person for the week.

8/18/2010 11:24:22 AM

I need similar but different advice.

I'm looking for an area of the outter banks to rent a house for the summer (Mid May to Mid August) that will accomodate 4-6 young adults at a time. We would want to be near a good number of restaurants, bars, grocery stores, etc. Basically i'm asking what are the more populated areas of the outter banks? Bonus points if theres a good amount of places to go AND quite beach areas.

8/18/2010 11:59:49 AM

I stayed here (Kitty Hawk) in mid-June of this year: http://www.vrbo.com/172372

We had 11 of us and the total price was around $1500 after taxes and such. It has a hot tub and foosball table. It isn't ocean front, but it is right across the street from the ocean so no long walks to get to the beach. They have tons of beach chairs, boogie boards, board games, dishes, pots & pans, etc. I know it was in walking distance to some bars, but we ended up just drinking at the house every night and had a blast. I would highly recommend it. We'll probably rent it out again next year if we can find another week that works for all of us.

8/18/2010 2:07:26 PM

paging Jax883

8/18/2010 2:39:27 PM

http://www.drumwagon.com

8/18/2010 2:42:04 PM

ncsubozo, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head are the two towns you'll want to look at. If you want a quiet beach you'll have to drive down to a part of Pea Island park territory because anywhere in any of the towns will be somewhat crowded from mid-june through the end of august.

8/18/2010 5:04:13 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, i'll take a look at those areas.

8/18/2010 5:08:00 PM

awesome. thanks for the advice so far. I realize it's almost a year away but I like to plan ahead. Plus my family wants to know how much it will cost before they commit.

We will have a few kids but mostly adults.

I found a nice house in Rodanthe

8/18/2010 9:59:30 PM

Just got back this weekend from a similar vacation. We just put on a joint family vacation between my husband's family and mine, in lieu of a reception (we eloped to Hatteras last April.)

The best damn thing we did for the whole thing? Two separate houses. Primarily a loud/party house, and a quiet/family house (owing to my side of the family bringing youngsters...and one evil, entitled aunt). We had them adjacent. One was oceanfront, and then the other was one back. Both had hot tubs, and one had a pool. This actually mattered, which surprised me: it was nice to get in water, and not be beaten up and about by the waves. (They were kinda brutal and one of my aunts ended up in the ER as a result of boogieboarding.) With this arrangement, we were able to keep costs down by only paying for one oceanfront house.

Used Hatteras Realty. Not a fan. They didn't do anything egregiously wrong, per se...but all the little things, together...there are too many awesome rental companies in the outer banks to bother giving your business to a company that's not completely stellar. One time, Z and I stayed in Nag's Head, and got a badass (b/c it was ancient: 1930s, IIRC. Very plain and simple. Fantastic.) house through Joe Lamb Jr. But I don't know how far south they serve.

Our initial count was 34, IIRC, for the first half of the week. Some folks couldn't stay all week, so by the end, we were down to ~20?

One day, some folks went into town. Another day, they visited the Hatteras lighthouse. Some folks went and rode the Hatteras/Ocracoke ferry for fun. We had lots of board games with. Someone brought their wii and guitar hero stuff, but it never got played.

I strongly, strongly suggest towns south of Nags Head/KDH. These two aren't beach towns: they're municipalities that happen to be at the beach. The drive through Pea Island refuge is quite tolerable, if they're itching to do activities other than the beach, so the Rodanthe/Waves/Salvo trio seems like that should be the focus of your search: the beachfront is NPS land, but it's not too far away from Nags Head/KDH for those who wish to visit and find stuff to do there.

8/18/2010 10:18:50 PM

Nags Head... and go with Carolina Designs

8/18/2010 10:36:12 PM

bttt for XCchik

3/10/2011 2:31:29 PM

Thanks Cassie

I need tww's help again... I've been trying to find a place to stay online but there are just way too many choices and i'd love to get some recommendations.

the huge family vacation that I originally created this thread for isn't happening this summer (we're moving to NY this summer) but my husband and I want to go to the OBX for a 3-4 day vacation mid April.

Any recommendations for reasonably priced cottages or hotels in the Nags Head, Kills Devils Hills, Duck area? I've spent some time looking and all cottages look like they require week long reservations. Since it's only April I figured we could find some shorter reservations.


thanks!

3/10/2011 7:42:52 PM

We're doing a partial week rental on Topsail in May. What we had to do was narrow down the houses we were interested in, then the rental agent called the owners and saw which ones would be willing to do a partial week, and then we went from there. With April being so soon there's a good chance even a house that's a "full week only" can be negotiated into a partial week if it hasn't already been rented out.

3/10/2011 7:46:10 PM

^ yup.

we have a house in duck and we'll do partial week rentals in april all the time when we haven't rented the house. better to get some money than none at all

3/10/2011 7:49:11 PM

Hit up http://www.coastalprovisionsmarket.com/Coastal Provisions Market in Kill Devil Hills - they have a BOGO Monday special that comes out every single week - everything from good steaks to wine and stuff. I always stop there on the way down. Also check out Sun Realty for your place. HC-05 is the unit I stayed in last time, but that always books pretty fast.

In general, you also want to hedge your bets against Hurricane Season which begins on Jun 1. I made the stupid mistake of swimming while a hurricane storm surge was brewing and that riptide was a horrible thing to have to deal with.

Hope the random advice helps.

3/12/2011 7:34:30 PM

Check out Beaufort. Great shoreline shopping area...expensive, but pretty cool. Short drive to Harker's Island and ferry to Cape Lookout. Plenty of waterfront areas between Beaufort and Harker's Island as well. Shackleford Banks is a great place to take a big group and hit the beach. I recommend getting the ferry to drop you off across from the lighthouse...Called "In the hook" by the locals. Nothing but beautiful sand, clear water, and the occasional wild horse. Take some horse-shoes and lots of beer and water. Done

3/13/2011 1:28:43 PM

Re: Partial week rentals

So my previous plan of "summering" fell through and i'm looking for a 3-4 day stay for 2 people in the July time frame. Has anyone had much luck getting partial rentals in the middle of the summer? I figure the game plan will be to email a few realtors the week before and see what I can hammer through in 2-3 days.

Anyone have any advice on this topic?

5/26/2011 2:55:42 PM

In July? Good luck with that Your plan is the best way to approach it. Another idea would be to rent an efficiency. I stayed in one on Ocracoke a few years ago that was nice and not too expensive.

5/26/2011 3:09:00 PM

^^ There are a few Bed and Breakfasts on Ocracoke that may be a good option for you if they have availability during that timeframe. Im sure the other islands have B&Bs as well, im just familiar with a few on Ocracoke

5/26/2011 4:16:34 PM

there are some 'for rent by owner' type places on homeaway.com that may be more willing to work with you on partial weeks.

5/26/2011 5:04:29 PM

Per suggestion, I started looking at some of the B&B's and think I may go that route. First few that caught my eye were:

http://www.firstcolonyinn.com/
http://www.cameronhouseinn.com
http://www.thecastlebb.com/
http://www.watermensretreat.com

Is there a section that is known to be more scenic than others? I think our priorities would look something like:

1.) Scenic
2.) Decent beach
3.) Restaurants/Shops
4.) Other

Also, is the sound or beach side typically nicer?

[Edited on May 26, 2011 at 5:37 PM. Reason : .]

5/26/2011 5:29:00 PM

Beach side is nicer if your main goal is swimming and sunbathing. Sound side is nice for the sunsets and the fishing. The water can be brackish though so not so great for swimming.

5/29/2011 8:44:05 PM

Plan to go this weekend. It seems that the hotels are not cheap.
Advice?

5/23/2014 2:12:59 PM

go any other weekend besides memorial day

5/23/2014 2:41:14 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/05/21/3878177/nc-memorial-day-weekend-drivers.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1

1M ppl will be traveling by car. That's crazy.

5/23/2014 2:44:33 PM

http://www.beaconmotorlodge.com/

I like this place - decent location, decent rooms (old school) and a handful are ocean-front. I'd characterize this as one that is peaceful and more family-oriented (people still sit and drink beer/fish/etc, just no raging parties or teens running around willy nilly)

5/23/2014 3:21:09 PM

Sold out.

5/23/2014 3:27:05 PM

no shit, hmmmmm

how about Roanoke Island, and drive to public beach access during the day?

5/23/2014 3:41:06 PM

I'm bidding hotels. Do you have other recommendations?

5/23/2014 3:50:53 PM

no. I've stayed at the beacon 5x over the past 7 years...but I also booked june/july trips 2-3mths in advance

5/23/2014 4:02:46 PM

IC. This weekend seems not an appropriate time to go there.
Maybe go Wilmington or Carolina beach instead.

[Edited on May 23, 2014 at 4:11 PM. Reason : ;]

5/23/2014 4:08:29 PM

It's Memorial Day weekend...everyone and their asshat brother will be going to beaches. Do you really want to fuck with that? Just wait until next weekend.

5/23/2014 4:49:58 PM

Got u.

North Carolina reminds me of a third-world country like China. Huge population, fucking crowded during holidays.

Seriously, look at these two pics:





[Edited on May 23, 2014 at 5:08 PM. Reason : ;]

5/23/2014 5:01:15 PM

What do either of those pictures have to do with north Carolina? It may be a bit busy out here right now, but it isn't a damn parking lot.

5/24/2014 7:49:26 PM

The first one is NC.

5/24/2014 8:41:45 PM

No it isn't you shit head

5/24/2014 9:24:07 PM

I know shoot is fake, but details are details.

That picture is nowhere near NC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Ryan_Expressway

[Edited on May 24, 2014 at 9:29 PM. Reason : 3]

5/24/2014 9:28:55 PM

shoot is a terrible human being.


Anyway. I don't much about the OBX but whenever I need to rent a beach house, I use http://www.homeaway.com



[Edited on May 24, 2014 at 10:08 PM. Reason : f]

5/24/2014 10:07:55 PM

My family owns the houses on the other side of the road from the Beacon, and we hope that hotel never goes away. It's a decent little place right on the beach, and the construction style doesn't block our view of the ocean for either balcony.

5/24/2014 10:26:49 PM

It looks awesome. I wanna work there.

5/25/2014 12:15:50 AM

That picture is from NewsandObserver, you dumbs.

Quote :

"http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/05/21/3878177/nc-memorial-day-weekend-drivers.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1 "

5/25/2014 8:56:43 AM

Just got back on Friday from a 5 night trip to OBX, first couple days in Kill Devil Hills and then last three in Buxton. Super relaxing and we got out of town as the Memorial Day rush was arriving so it wasn't crowded at all.

Quote :

"That picture is from NewsandObserver, you dumbs."

Yes it is, and if you read the caption, you'll see that it's in fucking CHICAGO. The closest road to the Outer Banks with four lanes per side is I-64 through the Hampton Roads area of VA, and that's much closer to Virginia Beach. Other than parts of NC-158 once you're already in Nags Head, there isn't a road with more than 2 lanes per side within 50 miles of OBX. Your accesses are NC 64, NC 158, and the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter ferry routes. That's it.

[Edited on May 25, 2014 at 11:49 AM. Reason : x]

5/25/2014 11:48:10 AM

Then the title is misleading.
Anyway, there are 1M cars on the way in NC.

Quote :

"The AAA Carolinas motor club estimates that 977,700 North Carolinians will make holiday trips by car, the most since Memorial Day 2005. Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/05/21/3878177/nc-memorial-day-weekend-drivers.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy"

[Edited on May 25, 2014 at 12:00 PM. Reason : For dumbs]

5/25/2014 11:59:25 AM

A difference between the photos is that in the one from the United States, there is still SOME visibility and a tinge of blue color to the sky. You know -- the perceived actual color of the sky when the air is not polluted to 10x "safe" levels.

5/25/2014 1:12:16 PM

That's for sure. I'm not a hater of NC. I'm just saying NC is also populated.
The average income of NC citizens is pretty low but the total GDP is one of the top states across the nation. Just like China. China belongs to the third world, but it's now the No.2 (someone says No. 1) economy entity in the world.

Everyone knows the difference between a first-world country and a third-world country.

[Edited on May 25, 2014 at 1:53 PM. Reason : ;]

5/25/2014 1:48:48 PM

No china still sucks dog dong.

5/25/2014 2:08:10 PM

That's right. Living in China is like hell.

5/25/2014 2:26:45 PM