Update 2026 Carolina Beach is a place we visit during winter season after the holidays in Wilmington, North Carolina. Parking is free during the winter season on the beach after the holidays are over. No traffic & no tourists. This year in 2026, stayed at an oceanfront hotel room in Carolina beach with a balcony. We saw so many sunrises on the Carolina Beach from our high rise hotel room balcony. It made me smile every day. The Carolina Beach Boardwalk was beside our hotel and a short stroll. We were sad to see the iconic Ferris wheel by the Boardwalk was taken away. Despite the cold weather and construction, it was good to see the beach again and walk the boardwalk in the morning. Most of the businesses were closed and we spent very little time there. Still a nice walk. ---------------- The best time to go to Carolina Beach is when parking is free and the crowds are gone in the winter. We had a fun time enjoying the warm yet windy January weather on the beach. No crowds, traffic, and tourists. It was very peaceful and fun. We went to Nauti Dogs for lunch and walked on the beach. Most of the stores were closed but we didn't care. Looking forward to revisiting this beach. read more

Sandy, clean and a great spot to enjoy the beach. We parked at the Hamlet public parking lot which is an insane $5 per hour but the lot also has showers for washing off the sand and a decent restroom. So better than most beaches I've experienced. There is a planked pathway across the dune with trash cans on both sides. Perhaps that's why there was very little litter today. Hamlet is far enough away from the commercial boardwalk to be quite peaceful and laid-back. The beach is flat and smooth though the sand is loose making for a good workout getting to the water. Very few rocks or shells. [Review 1357 of 2025 - 4476 in North Carolina - 24909 overall] read more

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This is a pretty awesome beach on the NC Coastline. The stretch where we were staying had private access only so it wasn't crowded as the public access area! The beach is clean and everyone I encountered was friendly. Mom enjoyed so that's all that matters! read more

Carolina Beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

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This beach has great potential but there were many areas under construction and limited quick food options for families. Sign says that they are constructing bathrooms but for the time being they had about 5 portable bathrooms (the ones with sinks). We were there during spring break and the beach was busy but not overwhelming. There are a bunch of shops, a few bars and a sit-down restaurant right on the boardwalk. I agree with others regarding parking. The private lots are insanely expensive so we opted for the $5 an hour spots. read more

Carolina Beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Between the three beaches along with coast of Wilmington, I like Carolina beach the best because it's more kid friendly. When you need a break from the crashing waves at the beach, they have lots of attractions on the boardwalk, along with gift shops, restaurants, and snack stalls. The boardwalk really comes alive in the afternoon hours when the mini carnival opens and the crowds are around. I also think they do weekend fireworks. One downside is the beach is a little sloped. read more

Carolina Beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

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Beautiful beach! Clean and not a long walk. Great boardwalk and amusement park. Would definitely return. read more

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The Carolina Beach Boardwalk in a calm and peaceful place to take in the beach in the off season anyway. I'm not sure what it would be like when it is more crowded. I liked how some of the boardwalk went right up to the beach and was accessible for those not to go down to the sand. The shelters with table to eat at were nice as well. The amusement rides were not open but the restaurants and shops still in business all appeared open. Many of the spaces were empty and appeared out of business. I hope they work on keeping the area clean as I was disappointed with all the trash I saw in the afternoon so the trash cans must not be emptied regularly. Maybe they keep it up better in season. read more

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My family visited Carolina Beach for the first time in July 2023. At first we thought - "oh my this is crowded." But soon we learned our way around and our pockets of activities and all of a sudden after a day, it seemed peaceful and easy to get around - I do think may people are coming in and leaving on Saturdays. So we were probably in that funk. It's a great place for a family vacation. Thursday night at the boardwalk fireworks are set off. We were able to see them from the beach where we were staying - about 3/4 mile away. The beach is not crowded. Piers to fish from. We could walk to the boardwalk - great fun!, ice cream shops, donuts, restaurants, the beach (of course), stores... it was an amazing week at the beach. read more

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Very pact beach, live bands play, plenty of restaurants near, hotels located right on the beach. Kid friendly and people seem to respect each others space. Very kid friendly. Ice cream right on the beach. read more

Carolina Beach - Hotels right on the beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

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As a homie with dogs!! This is the time to head to the beach. Not all beaches allow dogs. Dogs are only allowed on the beach before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. During Oct. 1 through March 31 dogs are allowed on the beach during all hours of the day. We went on a Friday so it wasn't too busy. Day was beautiful and the water was great. read more

Carolina Beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Picture perfect and cute little shops and cool restaurants/bars throughout the boardwalk. Very relaxing and great scenery. It's a nice spot to visit for out of towners. read more

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I highly recommend this beach! Everything about it was enjoyable. The sand was clean, there was no trash or seaweed, the water was clean, the people were friendly, and it was not overcrowded. I haven't swam in the Atlantic ocean in many years, and was pleasantly surprised by the warm temperature of the water. The waves were a lot of fun for my daughter and I to play in and attempt body surfing. There are areas of the beach that have lifeguards; that can be reassuring for families with young children. If you're in North Carolina, check out Kure Beach. You'll be glad you did! read more

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The beach is fantastic. We love it. The parking is less than desirable. Do NOT Park at the public parking located at Canal Dr and Harper Ave! It's overpriced, not change in the rate whether it's an hour or 10 etc... There's an unannounced hill/bump in the lot as you exit that Will Damage your car if/when hit. Parked 61mins at the Rate of $27.50 PLUS damage to my car. Nah, don't parking there @ UPP Global LLC read more

Parking too high - towing uncontrolled and ruthless. People not friendly ... first question.... do you on the island (like that is some kind of badge of honor) trash is a problem - rent is out of control and if you have an issue and go to the town hall or to the Police Department - no one really cares. Soooo come to the beach and spend your money.... they will take it and you will be left feeling like something isn't quite right. read more

Nice beach that was not overcrowded where you can take your family to the beach and have a great time. Small boardwalk worth visiting. read more

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My sister and I come to North Carolina as often as we can. Our friends have a house right on the beach so it takes us 5 minutes to get to the ocean. So Beautiful. White sandy beach, you can surf, Kayak Or just playing the water. We have a great time here relaxing and Sunny oh yeah drinking too. read more

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We went to the boardwalk, paid for parking which was a turn off it was kinda trashy had a beer with our guest. Tried to find a nice place for dinner there were some drunks outside sheriff truck with his blue lights going just not my kind of area. Went back to wrightsville. Much nicer. read more

So much fun! I'm from North Carolina but Fayetteville. I needed a vacation. This place soothes the soul. Thank you Mother Nature for making Carolina full of beauty. Beach mountains..... the beach is everything. I didn't appreciate it as a kid... but I do now read more

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The landscape at Carolina Beach has changed drastically just over the past year. Pay for parking has exploded everywhere and the prices are ridiculous. Prepare to pay a minimum of $5.15 to park just to get an ice cream. One family I spoke with paid $60 just to park for the day. The prices everywhere have increased exponentially. Parking enforcement is constantly patrolling, ticketing, and towing. The boardwalk amusement area is ridiculous. Expect roughly $10 per person per ride. The heart of CB has died. What used to be affordable and family friendly is now just a corporate money making machine. They are charging Disney prices without the quality of a Disney experience. Careful CB, you're destined to become a Dirty Myrtle knockoff. read more

Carolina Beach - Dust in ceiling fan. Worth $400 a night? Nope - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Stayed here with my family for a week and had a blast! The water is beautiful and the waves are perfect for surfing, boogie boarding, etc. It's a very clean beach and a great place to stay by for vacation. While I didn't personally go on any of the piers, they looked awesome and seemed to be in good condition. read more

Beautiful beach. If you do not want to bring your own, you can rent an umbrella or a chair or both. It's very relaxing because it's not usually very crowded even in the summer months. read more

Carolina Beach - The beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

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The parking enforcement is seriously corrupt in CB. To the point I don't even want to go back. Even if you pay for parking they are known to make up a host of other violations. technically you can appeal but they make it so you can't upload photo evidence because it always says the file is too large. It's just a way to bilk visitors of their hard earned cash. I am used to some cities where this is problem such as Philadelphia but CB just isn't a nice enough beach to justify the risk that you get a shakedown such as this. read more

Carolina Beach - Most recent parking ticket. Happened to me several times in the past and my friends in Wilmington have mentioned it too. Shame on me. - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Nice family beach. Clean. We stayed by the boardwalk. We went out of season so it was still a little chilly. We were still able to enjoy sitting on the swings listening to live music overlooking the ocean. read more

Love it! I don't like to go to overly crowded and touristy places like Myrtle Beach, The Outer Banks, Destin, etc. Carolina Beach is still touristy and a great vacation spot, but not anywhere near as crazy as the more popular beaches! We rented a house through Airbnb that was literally 2 blocks from the beach. We really enjoyed our stay, as we could walk to the beach in about 5-7 minutes. The beach is clean and has a great atmosphere. There are several companies to call & rent umbrellas and beach chairs among other things. We used Pleasure Island Rentals and they were awesome. The boardwalk provides lots of food choices and fun things to do to get out of the sun (Britts Donuts is a MUST). The north part of the beach, by the pier, is calmer and flatter than the southern part. My husband and I set up our chairs/blankets there to watch the meteor shower. It was nice because we could escape the glow of the boardwalk lights yet we could still see the Thursday night fireworks. We are already talking about our next trip here. There's so much to do in the nearby area too! read more

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I love Carolina beach! Very clean and quaint! Monday night everything was packed! We went "bar hoping" and enjoyed everywhere we went! Tuesday, everything closed early???! There are also TONS of homeless people on the beach and on the boardwalk area. Kind of scary! I wish they would do something to help them out in a shelter or somewhere. read more

Carolina Beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Great family beach! The waves are perfect for body surfing and learning to surf. The sand is soft. You could have a umbrella or canopy on the beach. Just make sure the umbrella is secure in the sand because we did see a umbrella flyway and almost hit some small kids. read more

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People are getting bad there. Parking fees cost 35 dollars per day everywhere on island. State park closes gate at 10 pm. Ft Fisher closes at 730 so no night walks which sucks. Alcohol not allowed. Freeman park cut down to about a hundred yards really sucks now . Carolina beach has really went down. The rude factor has really increased. 51 percent of the people are now relocated there and bring attitudes that they left to our town. It's gotten bad as myrtle beach. So I sold my house moved back to wv. To get a sandwich from cb you got to pay 35 bucks to park then overpay for food . Used to be the most friendly place around. It's different now. Try oak island or further south read more

This beach is simply beautiful. It's probably the cleanest beach I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Part of that is because some beaches just have more seaweed, shells, etc. that wash up onto the sand and they take up prime sunbathing space. However, Carolina beach was practically free of any of that and that allowed for more space to lay out and enjoy the waves. read more

I got a LOT of stares at me. I guess because I was the only black person within 15 miles. I was alone and mostly staying distracted by carrying on a conversation on my cellphone. I went to have dinner at Shuckin Shack and experience the boardwalk. I was stared at the entire hour I was there walking around. I was EXTREMELY uncomfortable and felt bad vibes. Shuckin Shack was filled to the max so I didn't even get to eat. Every place I walked into felt VERY unwelcoming. I wont be back to that beach. I guess that's how the people there like it anyway. read more

I'm very disappointed by my recent trip to Carolina Beach. While the aquarium is a nice place to visit, it is too bad that it is next to this town that seems to take visitors for granted. There does not seem to be any town pride, From very mediocre/dirty dining experiences to a parking scam operated by the town itself ($100 for 20 minutes over plus $50 if not paid in 48 hours and another $50 in 30 days if overlooked), the beach is unwelcoming and there are far better places on the NC coast to visit. read more

It's a nice beach. It's mostly clean with lifeguards and nice sand. Having recently moved from Texas, Carolina Beach is a major improvement over any Texas beach. We went on Saturday before Memorial Day so of course it was crowded, as we expected it to be. Parking was hard. Like, really hard. I saw a lot of cars parked on grass in front of homes across from the main street from the beach, but no signage as to what was legal or not. I managed to find metered parking on the street, but it was only 2 hours. So I was driving around every 2 hours. I would gladly pay $8 for all day parking if there was more available. The boardwalk, well, there's not much to complain about. It was just kind of meh for me. I think it's all about expectations. I had been expecting in my mind something more like the Kemah boardwalk in Houston. Which is not, like, Atlantic City or Va Beach by any means. But it was so separated from the water. I was not expecting the boardwalk to be completely separate from the shops. We had planned to rent a surrey, but as there wasn't really anywhere to ride it, that plan didn't go through. I didn't feel like it was a boardwalk, it felt more like a little shopping center next to a short boardwalk next to a beach. It also had one public restroom with 3 stalls in the women's restroom. So there was a constant line. So, I'm not really complaining. But that's kind of it. read more

Carolina Beach - Lovely - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

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Parking prices and tickets excessively high, will not be back to this beach because of this reason. I renewed right when my time ended and still got a ticket. No thanks, plenty of other beaches around that are much more affordable read more

This is my favorite getaway spot. The beach is absolutely beautiful, clean and amazing food on Boardwalk. A lot of upgrades have been done and parking is a $8.00 for day or you can pay hourly. You have to visit Frank's pizza and Britts donuts while you are there. At night the amusement park comes to life right on Boardwalk. read more

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Very nice family friendly area. There was a public bathroom available so you could change before heading over to the beach. Parking is close. Beach area is very nice, lots of room to take a stroll of just relax in the sun. Nice boardwalk behind the beach with shops and food places along with places to sit and just watch the water if you don't want to get into the sand. read more

Carolina Beach - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

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not alot of things to do but good for old people or very young children, boardwalk was bad small and nothing to do had to go to wilmington to do something read more

This is a Long Beach with a nice boardwalk. There are swings for you to sit and rock on while taking in the beautiful surroundings. They have several cutouts for picture opportunities, set up for kids. Some shops and restaurants to pick up a quick bite. They have a Ferris wheel and several small child rides. They also have a stage for musical acts and Adirondack chairs set up for watching. Several people brought their own picnic with them. read more

Carolina Beach - Photo ops - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Love going to this beach! There are less tourists here than at Wrightsville Beach. It is further away then others but worth it. Carolina Beach is usually less crowded and parking is easier and cheeper. If you want to get away from the main areas and buys places, I recommend Carolina Beach... read more

Carolina Beach - The beach... - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Absolutely beautiful and low stress. Parking was a breeze. The beach itself is clean and not overcrowded. The sand is fine-grained so it doesn't hurt your feet. We loved our beach day! read more

Carolina Beach - Isn't this the most beautiful place? - Beaches Near Me - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Love the beach but please do not come here for the food. Limited selection and most restaurants won't seat you within 2 hours of closing.

Greedy town. Go to Kure Beach or Fort Fisher or even drive all the way to Wrightsville Beach, those beaches are prettier anyways! Made the mistake of not paying for parking for the less than 5 minutes I took my dog for his final visit to the beach(his favorite place) before having to put him down due to cancer, was after dark and I was focused of carrying him... $100 fine instantly. Went to the office and was told to write an appeal. Was denied.... read more