Atlantic Beach

See

See Fort Macon State Park

Fort Macon is a five-sided brick and stone fort with 26 vaulted rooms, which was used during the 18th and 19th centuries to protect the area from naval attacks by pirates or enemy warships. Today the site features exhibits about the fort's history, restored quarters, and occasional re-enactments. Guided tours are available. Visitors can also fish, hike, swim and picnic in the park grounds surrounding the fort.

🕒 Daily 9AM-5:30PM (except Christmas Day)☎ +1 252-726-3775⚠ Last checked Apr 2016 — confirm before you go

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Do

• The heart of downtown is the Circle, the local name for the culmination of the Atlantic Beach Causeway in a traffic circle by the beach. The Circle is fringed with souvenir shops and a boardwalk along the beach; large groups of teens and young adults are often to be found playing volleyball, sunbathing or listening to music. The area is being renovated, with upscale retail shops and restaurants joining the touristy kitsch.
• There are miles of beautiful beaches where you can take a stroll or sunbathe; they can be fairly busy during the day, unless you walk beyond the crowds (particularly around Fort Macon), but they're also quite pretty for moonlight strolls at night. There are beach access points up and down the coast; some are only available to residents of the adjacent hotel or condo, but there are several with large parking lots for public access.

• By far the most popular dance with the Crystal Coast community is the amusingly-named shag, which some even claim was invented in Atlantic Beach. It's usually done to classic beach music. If you want to take shagging lessons (yes, we know), they're offered at Memories Beach and Shag Club, 128 E Fort Macon Road (mile marker 1.5), +1 252-240-7424.
• Go for a hike along the Hoop Pole Creek Nature Trail, off Highway 58, in a 31-acre maritime forest.
• If you like sailing, there are plenty of opportunities for it on the Intracoastal Waterway of Bogue Sound, or in the Atlantic Ocean.

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• If you're more of a fisherman, you can take a stroll down one of the local piers. Because of damage by hurricanes Bertha, Fran and Bonnie in the 1990s, and real-estate developers afterwards, the piers in the area are dwindling. Out of eight that once existed on the island, there are only two left today, one of which is in Atlantic Beach:

Buy

Beach shops are abundant, if you're desperately in need of a surfboard, beach towel, flip-flops, sunglasses, or a lucite dolphin sculpture. Two of the more prominent ones are listed below, but you'll see plenty of others in the nearby vicinity:

• Breeza Beachwear, 101 W Fort Macon Road, +1 252-499-0468; and 200 W Fort Macon Road. The largest beach shop on the island, with beach apparel, souvenirs and accessories.

Otherwise, you mostly have the traditional beach gifts: seashells, things carved out of seashells, things made from seashells, things made from driftwood, salt-water taffy and nautical-themed items. A lot of it is tacky and cheap; some of it is really nice quality.

A couple of specialty shops that might come in handy for your seaside vacation needs:

Eat

Drink

If you want to mix your own drinks, there's an ABC store at 101 Cedar Lane, +1 252-726-3221, open M-Sa. Otherwise, you can check out one of the local nightspots:

Sleep

As with many coastal areas, visitors can choose between cheap motel or upscale hotel rooms rented by the night, or a beach cottage by the week. Prices are highly variable, usually running between $60 - $150 per night; prices naturally go up with the quality of the lodging establishment and, in particular, proximity to the beach.

Hotels