31 Miles Of Beaches

With so much water in the Wilmington area, opportunities to enjoy it abound. Foremost are the 31 miles of beautiful, uncrowded beaches, the very thing that attracts multitudes of tourists who visit our charming locale. And unlike many other coastal areas, most of our beaches have loads of parking spaces, plentiful beach access points and lots of dune crossovers.

Lifeguards, during the tourist season, are on duty only at Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach.

Blessed by the warming effect of the Gulf Stream, ocean water temperatures at the beaches stay fairly moderate over the winter, are warm enough for swimming in May, and are in the eighties by mid to late summer. It’s not unusual to see surfers in the water all year long, although they’ll be in wet suits during our brief winter.

In recent years, the East Coast Wahine (ladies) Surfing Championships have been held at Wrightsville Beach and Kure Beach.