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I have plans to go camping at an Ocracoke campsite with an adventure group during the month of October. Has anyone ever camped out on the Island before? Is this a good time of year to be so adventurous? We will of course be listening in for weather forcast, but, aside from terrible weather preventing the trip from happening, I'm so looking forward to this trip. I'm interested in hearing from anyone that has had some experience camping out on or in nearby areas.
I've spent time camping at Frisco and Cape Lookout. I really enjoy it. Unless it's stormy weather, October would be a lovely time to camp due to a decrease in heat and bugs. Although you'll obviously have access to more amenities on Ocracoke than Lookout, here are two things that are a must bring!:
1) BUG REPELLENT!!!!!! DEET DEET DEET!
2) An air mattress or other kind of pad for under your sleeping bag. Sand is very hard and uncomfortable to sleep on.
You'll be able to dash everyday to get ice, food and such. Campsite showers at Frisco (assuming similar at Ocracoke) are of course unheated, so maybe a solar shower bag would be nice in Oct. Or just be happy with saltwater baths.
Other than that, maybe a crab pot, fishing rod, and other normal beach stuff.
I love beach camping. One day you should do it on Lookout - deserted and amazing. Even mid-summer!
Have you looked at the National Park Service website? It should give info for reservations and amenities on offer for Ocracoke. Enjoy and post pictures!
Thank you for the info. I have looked at the NPS website, at least a dozen times to date. I wish they would have posted pictures of the area. The visual layout info is sparse.
Believe me bug spray is high on my list. Its too bad only two tents per site since most of us want our own tents to retire to and there's more than six tents that will be going up, so the group will be spread out. At least one member will be putting up a picnic tent for us to get together at, so guess I can't really complain too much.
I have a pad, sleeping bag, but am still thinking about getting that air mattress. I went camping a few weeks ago at a private lake in Washington NC and others had air mattresses. Think I might spring for one this time around. Still it was a blast. You could visit the meetup.com site to see some pics of that trip some members took (I will have to figure out how to get the link). I didn't have my new camera at that time. I will be sure to take pics of this upcoming trip and share if I figure out how to post them here.
Oh sorry, Cape Lookout, southern OBX. It has no road access. I paddle there in my kayak, but there is private ferry service out there too, which will take you to where the lighthouse is. Lack of road access is what keeps it nice and quiet. However, there are usually loads of people fishing during certain seasons, many of whom ferry their pick up trucks over and drive up and down the beach. I usually stay on the side closest to Shackleford Banks which doesn't seem to get the fishermen, last time I was there I saw two other souls who were there on a daytrip and walking up the beach.
In October I imagine the campsite at Ocracoke will be quiet enough that you can get adjoining sites...or is it booked up?
After driving 600-plus miles, we found our campground looked exactly like a sandy parking lot and was next door to a waterslide that played loud rock all day and half the night.
It was very windy and super-hot. As we set up the tent, the "sandstorm" stung our eyes and skin. All around us were tents and cars.
We finally got our tent up, and we looked more closely at the cars. EVERY ONE of them had people in them, and they were watching us.
I thought, "THIS is our vacation? Such fun -- sitting in a hot car and watching someone put up a tent in a sandstorm!"
Lesson learned: Research campground before making reservations.
We had friends who always camped at Frisco; they were very happy.
After that experience, we rented beach houses or condos.
I think camping at Okracoke in October will be lovely. Remember sunscreen as well as the bug spray.
Oh sorry, Cape Lookout, southern OBX. It has no road access. I paddle there in my kayak, but there is private ferry service out there too, which will take you to where the lighthouse is. Lack of road access is what keeps it nice and quiet. However, there are usually loads of people fishing during certain seasons, many of whom ferry their pick up trucks over and drive up and down the beach. I usually stay on the side closest to Shackleford Banks which doesn't seem to get the fishermen, last time I was there I saw two other souls who were there on a daytrip and walking up the beach.
In October I imagine the campsite at Ocracoke will be quiet enough that you can get adjoining sites...or is it booked up?
You are right, the campsite should be realatively quiet, hardly any bookings for the time we will be there. Someone is booking for myself, since I'm sharing a space with them. But, since everyone may not be taking the same ferry over, we might sign in at different times and I hope we will manage to get the adjoining sites.
Not to be a pain, but just how close are the adjoining areas? I want my group to be close by, but curious about just how close non group members would be as well if assigned nearby sites.
After driving 600-plus miles, we found our campground looked exactly like a sandy parking lot and was next door to a waterslide that played loud rock all day and half the night.
It was very windy and super-hot. As we set up the tent, the "sandstorm" stung our eyes and skin. All around us were tents and cars.
We finally got our tent up, and we looked more closely at the cars. EVERY ONE of them had people in them, and they were watching us.
I thought, "THIS is our vacation? Such fun -- sitting in a hot car and watching someone put up a tent in a sandstorm!"
Lesson learned: Research campground before making reservations.
We had friends who always camped at Frisco; they were very happy.
After that experience, we rented beach houses or condos.
I think camping at Okracoke in October will be lovely. Remember sunscreen as well as the bug spray.
I can understand where you are coming from, I've been doing a bit of reading about different campsites and have seens varying degrees of reviews. Some great and some not so great. But I'm optimistic. This will be my first time ever sleeping on a beach and it's something I've always wanted to do in my lifetime. I'm not getting any younger, so its now or wait till someone has to carry me there.
PS........Oh I forgot to mention for this being an adventure group, half of the group isn't being so adventurous this time around. They (half of the group,) booked rooms at an Inn and will meet up with the rest of us later. Ok, ok, I was just about jump on the band wagon of renting a room with the other princes and princesses, but like I said, this is something I've always wanted to experience, so, I'm going for the beach camping experience. I camped once by a lake, for the first time since the age of 10, and loved it, I figure I can go for it again at the beach.
I'm not sure how close they are at Ocracoke, at Frisco they all adjoin but you have a bit of space. I reckon you can all get next to each other, maybe you can call in advance? Another thing I forgot - you need to bring long tent stakes for the sand.
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