How Bad Is The Coast In Summer? (Charlotte, Morehead City: rentals, hotel)

[CanuckFan420]

Hoping to travel to NC for the first time this Summer, and have been reading that the Outer Banks can be very very congested and busy with traffic in the Summer.

How true is this, and does it make for a less than enjoyable trip because you're spending a lot of your time stuck in a long line of cars?

[macjr82]

All of the barrier islands usually have one main road going through them (58 on bogue banks, 12 on hatteras & ocracoke, 158 up at Nags Head and KDH). What happens is tourist will drive insanely slow along these main routes backing things up.

It's all relative though, it doesn't touch I-95 or route 1 in the DC metro area during the summer, but it can frustrating if you're just trying to get from point a to point b


though it's not on the OBX, Bridges st in Morehead City is a lifesaver during the summer, now if they'd ever make that bypass around havelock.

[Richard Martin]

It's not that bad. It not like you're sitting at a light through 2 or 3 cycles before you get through. The traffic is medium but not miserable. Also you have the beach road from Nags Head north for a good 10-15 miles. One of the reasons I moved to NC was to get away from the DC Metro traffic and the traffic on the OBX doesn't even bother me.

[macjr82]

Originally Posted by Richard Martin

It's not that bad. It not like you're sitting at a light through 2 or 3 cycles before you get through. The traffic is medium but not miserable. Also you have the beach road from Nags Head north for a good 10-15 miles. One of the reasons I moved to NC was to get away from the DC Metro traffic and the traffic on the OBX doesn't even bother me.

I think that's the key. It's all relative. I'm in San Diego at the moment. I came here from Quantico, my room mate came here from Cherry Point. He was astounded by the traffic while I thought it was meager compared to DC Metro.

[coffeebean330]

I went down the last two summers. Last year in June, the year before in August. The traffic really isn't that bad. I'm not sure where you're driving from, but I'm was going from upstate New York and I feel like the traffic was worse in Virginia Beach.

[giffman]

I've heard it's really bad on check in day for weeklong rentals (usually Saturday). After everyone is settled in, it gets better.

[Tober138]

We've been making the trek to the Outer Banks for the better part of 20 years. As the poster above stated, traffic can be pretty congested on Saturdays, as most rental properties are for one week, Saturday to Saturday, so on Saturday mornings you have a huge influx of people heading out (most houses need to be vacated between 10 and 11 AM), and then have tons of people coming in on Saturday afternoons (most check ins are from 3 - 6 PM).

Even then, it can depend where you are coming from. If your traveling down from the north (DC, VA, etc) a lot of people are going in and out in that direction on Saturdays. If you're coming from the southeast - its not really an issue. We moved to Charlotte, NC last year and subsequently made our first drive to the Outer Banks from there last July - no traffic at all going there or coming back (as the majority of people in our neck of the woods head down to the SC shore instead).

After that, traffic is generally not that bad for the remainder of the week (the grocery stores can be a bit of a madhouse on Sundays as you have a lot of people who just came in on Saturday going to stock up) - the only time you may have some congestion during the week is if there is a traffic accident, as, depending on where you are, there are only one or two main roads.

However, because the Outer Banks are not that big, there is a limit to the amount of available lodging - its not like Ocean City, MD where they have just kept building further and further inland, leading to ever-increasing amounts of traffic.

So really the only time traffic is really "congested" is on Saturdays. If you are staying at a hotel, you can miss the bulk of the traffic by scheduling your stay so that you are not coming or going on a Saturday (we've done that it in the past and it makes a huge difference).

If you are renting a house, you can avoid a good bit of traffic coming in by simply getting there early. A lot of rental companies offer a limited number of early check-ins (around 1 PM) for an additional fee - we've found that if we get into town around noon, the incoming traffic is not as bad as it is later in the afternoon. Once everyone is settled in - you're not going to be spending a lot of time sitting in traffic if you are driving around town during the week.

[LittleDolphin]

I think if I were coming to the outer banks, or the southern outer banks for a vacation, I would rent a cottage in Beaufort and take day trips to the Shakleford Banks and beaches on the little ferry boats that leave from Front Street and avoid the car traffic altogether...maybe drive to the aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores one day...rent kayaks on Beaufort's Front Street and paddle around, go on a sailboat or catamaran sail and make your vacation as car-free as possible...

But that's me...I like to experience a small seaside's town's personality and walk its leafy streets and sit at a waterfront eatery and toast the sun down...listen to music outdoors. Not that I don't like the beaches, they're gorgeous here, but I like to mix it up a bit with other activities...especially if I've gotten a bit sun-burnt and am tired of sand filling most every nook and cranny of my red body...

[UNC1025]

I think the traffic there is not bad at all.