Topsail Island, North Carolina

Topsail Island, North Carolina is the place to go to enjoy some fun in the sun in an atmosphere where doing next to nothing is a highly regarded activity. This barrier island spans some 26 miles, and offers enough beach time to keep sun worshipers busy for a month of vacations. The island's three communities, Topsail Beach, Surf City, and North Topsail Beach offer a welcome respite from the chaotic fun of other North Carolina beach communities. Of course you can enjoy activities like fishing, swimming, water skiing, scuba diving, hiking, and practicing for the suntan Olympics; you can just enjoy them amidst a less-traveled setting!

To acclimate yourself to the island's history, visit the Topsail Island Museum, located in Topsail Beach. The museum primarily focuses on the activities of Operation Bumblebee, a missile testing program carried out on the island in the 1940s. Exhibits include videos of actual launches, models of the types of rockets used, and one actual original rocket that washed up on shore in 1994, not too far from the launch pad that sent it skyward. The museum also houses a collection of artifacts relating to the cultural history of the island. Native American pottery, clothing, and other items are on display. There is also a new exhibit on the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), who served at Camp Davis in World War II.

A visit to Topsail Island means fun in the sun. The 26 miles of coastline are teeming with beaches offering any number of active pursuits, or quiet places to relax and work on your tan. Surf City, located in the middle of the island, is the largest of the island's communities, not that it is in a hurry by any means. The beaches have all the amenities one would expect: canoe and kayak rentals, wave runners for hire, surfside restaurants, and plenty of space to plop down your towel. The Surf City Pier offers anglers an excellent perch from which to toss in a line. Heading south from Surf City you reach Topsail Beach, a family community with pristine white sand and calm waves perfect for the little ones. Surf fishing is a popular pastime. At the northern end of the island, North Topsail Beach also has large beaches and plenty of fishing on the Intracoastal Waterway and in the New River Inlet.

More fun in the sun can be found north of Camp Lejeune in remote Hammocks Beach State Park, which sits two miles offshore. Dr. Stephen Leatherman (Dr. Beach, the country's leading "beachologist") says that Hammocks Beach is the "best walking beach in the Southeast". The park is reached only by boat and is a great place to go if you want to leave civilization behind and enjoy an untouched coast. Part of the State Park is Bear Island, a 900 acre area of differing habitats. Hikers will love the trails that meander through the marshlands. The park is also famous for the loggerhead turtles that nest here.

Fishing has always been thought of as a relaxing endeavor. Thoughts of tossing in a line and waiting for a nibble automatically seem to lower the blood pressure. If fishing is your thing, Topsail Island is the place to practice it. Surf and pier anglers reel in trout, spots, flounder, and drum. Those who journey out to sea on a chartered sport fishing boat can try their hand at landing tuna, cobia, grouper, snapper, dolphin, and king mackerel. If fly fishing is your particular choice, there are plenty of fresh water fishing holes. It seems like something is always biting on a fishing trip on Topsail Island.