Ocracoke Campground

It's all dry camping here, but the sun makes solar work well and I never busted out my generator the week I was here, despite some big storms moving through. The beach is endless and was relatively uncrowded because it was the first week of the season here.

Sites can be spacious and private or not, depending on where you pick. Site 3 was a corner spot across from the camp hosts, so no chance of a generator running there (they have hookups). Other sites can be rather like a parking lot (see photo).

Toilets are clean (although could use less of the spray scent!) and showers are too, but are cold, so be prepared.

It can be windy here, so if using a tent or shelter, do yourself a favor and bring 18 inch steel stakes (or buy them at the hardware store in town). The winds sent my shelter flying across the campground with only 8 inch stakes.

Of the OBX, Ocracoke is our favorite. The campground is far beyond town, but an easy walk (flat) and easier bike ride away. There is a generator and non-generator area of the campground which is awesome if you have solar. Even with “generator hours” some folks feel it doesn’t apply to them.

To get to the beach, you have to walk up a fairly large sand dune, if you cant make it up, you can go just on the far side of the campground where there is a cut through.

Ocracoke is a small town with a lot of history, give youself time to explore off the beaten path while there.

The campground is similar as Cape Point at Cap Hatteras. But, the price is, at my sense, too expensive for a dry camping (28$). We are on the side of the road, so we hear traffic. Fortunately, have few. The good thing is the beach is right there and the sound of waves let feel you in real vacation.
To come at this island from Cap Hatteras, the ferry is free and to go on Cedar Island is 45$ with ours RV.

The location is fantastic, campsites are right over the dunes to the ocean and only a few minutes' drive into town.

Bathrooms were clean. The showers are cold.

Wood fires are not allowed in the campground. There are standard charcoal grills provided, or there are free permits for beach fires.

There are a few sites with limited shade, but a majority of the sites have none. Many sites, especially on the inside of the loops, are in open field with little to no privacy and are very close together. A few of the sites have trails directly through them to get to the beach.

There are a lot of mosquitos, especially after about 4pm. The wind will help keep them at bay some of the time.

This was our first stop on our outterbanks week long trip. We decided to take the long ferry ride from cedar island NC. It's a 2hr 45 min. Ride to the island. So glad we did as we avoided the long hall down from Kill devils and then only to get on a ferry for 45 more minutes. The campground was very nice, bathroom are clean and they have showers but be aware cold only. So close to town and the beach. You can drive on the beach with a permit that you can get at the ferry station in Ocracoke. A lot to do in town, restaurants, shopping kinda has a key west vibe. Bike path from campground to town is paved about 3miles.all sites are paved with grass or sand surrounding the site.

Great place to stay, great atmosphere amongst other campers, right next to the beach, read up on NPS website, no hookups, and showers are cold, you should probably prebook your ferry to island.

The skeeters are brutal, almost impressively brutal at some times (like 5am the day we had to leave), but still doesn't out weigh the beauty of this place. I'm not even a beach guy, but my wife, 2yr and 4yr old changed our plans to stay an extra day. I bought the ORV pass so you can drive your truck on the beach and that was a huge deal. The water is warmer and clearer than it was even up in Hatteras. Took the $45 ferry to Swan Quarter with our 35' fifth wheel, rather than driving back up the coast, pretty cool- glad we did. Ran generator during the day, hot as hell at night. I applaud all the tent campers camping in the hot weather like that.

Keep in mind this is very remote and keep an eye on the weather as the north end of the island can be over washed by the ocean leaving you trapped. We were stuck for 5 days.

No power, water or sewer. Dump station and potable water is a crossed the street.

Chose your campsite wisely as probably 1/3 of campground was under water. Most of the west side of a and b inner loop was flooded while we were there.

There is zero shade and very little protection from the wind.

Dry Camping only, make sure you get a loop with generator use, B and C for sure. Well worth the price though, this is a unique beach. Ferry access only to the island. The island has no beach front housing so this is as close as you can get to the shore while staying in ocracoke Bike or easy drive to the downtown area. There are dunes separating the campground from an amazing beach.

The basics: the campground is clean, bathrooms are clean, the sites and roads look newly paved with asphalt, the grass is pretty and the campground is on the other side of the dune from the beach. Also, the campsites are level.

What does the campground have? Cooking grills at each site, picnic tables at each site, recycling and garbage, outdoor showers with cold water (outdoor exposed like a beach shower and outdoor sheltered private shower with a locking door). The campground doesn’t have water, sewer or power hookups in the campground. There’s a hand fill water station somewhere I saw people filing their jugs up at. You can, however, get potable water and use the dump station for your rig outside the campground across the street just past the nature trail parking. Pull up satellite view on a map and you’ll find it.

Prepare for your trip. If it’s cold, consider how you’ll manage hygiene for few days if you can’t stand the water temperature. If it’s hot, consider how you’ll keep cool and have shade. I’ve read that mosquitos are bad in the warm months. The sites are exposed with no tree coverage. I didn’t mind this part at all. I usually want more privacy at campgrounds with large RVs because of their blinding outdoor white lights and imposing nature that make me feel less like I’m camping. But this campground has a ton of tent campers and people with small camping rigs. Like people are outside doing normal camping things like cooking, eating, sitting in their chairs talking. And it’s been cold!

The sites are smaller than you might expect. Our 22 feet camper van fit just fine. I mention this as I saw another reviewer complain that the sites aren’t long enough to accommodate a 35 feet Class A. This campground simply isn’t for you. Your car and rig must fit in your spot on the asphalt. If your car can’t fit, you have to park it at the campground parking. Tents are all setup in the grass. DO NOT PARK IN THE GRASS. The grass is so pretty. Why would you do that??? And it’s not allowed anyway. Don’t be “that” camper.

How did we keep clean during our three days in the cold? We showered in the van. This did require us to drive to the fill/dump station everyday. Which is just fine since we aren’t hooked up to anything or on leveling blocks.

Late check-in? We arrived at around 7:30pm. You don’t call for a key code or anything. Each reservation is posted at each campsite. Just park in your spot and check-in the next day at normal check-in time. There’s no central office. The camp host will greet you as you drive into the campground.

I give this campground an easy 5 stars.

Internet. T-Mobile doesn’t have service on Ocracoke. At the campground for Verizon on my iPhone 12, my connection was pretty okay: 7 mbps down, 0.7 mbps up and 205 ms ping. I connected my cell booster for a stronger connection.