We have gotten to know the guys over at Smiley's over the summer and would recommend them to…read moreanyone. Jared is great with old folks and the young. He has given lessons to my 6 year old who is now obsessed with surfing and my 40 year old husband and the both loved it! He is very patient with any age and can get anyone up on a board. If you rent from him, he is always helpful about what equipment you should use and offers to exchange it if you need to switch up board. Highly recommend Smiley's Surf School, coming from a local you will not regret it!

Jared Jennings (the proprieter) and his assistant Josh were the best. Totally dedicated to making…read moreit a positive experience. They do an awesome job, have a great attitude and are great to do business with. Can't recommend highly enough!

I rarely write reviews: I felt compelled to because of the sweetest employee who helped me on 3/14!…read more(Receipt says sales rep 24, so she can hopefully see this message) she was so so kind, was so sweet to my two girls, and just went above and beyond while we were in the store. 10/10 customer service. I was distracted by my complaining five year old while I was cashing out, so I wanted to make sure to let her know how grateful I was for all she did!

Kitty Hawk has tons of the typical tees, accessories, sandals, boat/fishing gear that surf shops…read morecarry. The upstairs area is filled with gifts, household decorations (rugs, frames, ornaments, misc. kids toys). Stopped in around 3 pm midweek during COVID and the checkout/main entrance area was uncomfortably too crowded!!!

We rented bikes from DVO and went for a lovely ride. Very appreciative of the staff there who knew…read moretheir equipment and the area we were exploring. 5 stars for their equipment and the staff's expertise and welcoming vibe.

Needed a wetsuit for the cold November ocean temps. This shop was able to get me and my buddy what…read morewe needed, they even confirmed their availability before we went there. This shop has a great stock of boards for rent or purchase and other great clothes and supplies. I will be back here when I vacation.

Incredible experience and customer service. It's my first stop every year when visiting the OBX!read more

Stopped in here to browse and left with some sunglasses, earrings and a great pair of Sanuks that…read morewere 50% off. They are similar to a surf shop with more variety...not just bathing suits and gear, but a lot of apparel (some of it pretty pricey, although good brands). They have men's, women's and kids, as well as jewelry and accessories. As a sunnies collector of sorts, I was pleased with the sunglasses selection in particular. They also seemed to have an assortment of sizes. My only complaint is that the staff didn't seem very friendly...more interested in talking to each other and checking their phones than interacting, but they were helpful enough when asked.

I had a terrible experience with my first order from Kitty Hawk Kites a few weeks ago. When placing…read moremy order I trusted the website by choosing and paying for expedited shipping: an additional $30 for 1-3 business days. We were attending an event which we flew to in California and this was a gift needed to arrive in that timeframe. Almost 8 days after the order was placed, the item had still not arrived. I called several numbers on website several times explaining the situation but only reached VOICEMAILS. Not one person returned my calls. After we returned home, the item still had not been delivered to the recipient. It finally arrived 10 days after purchase - not 2-3 as indicated when ordered and paid for. After I emailed them I did not receive a personal response - instead an automated message telling me a portion of the amount I paid for the item was being partially refunded (the expedited shipping cost). I requested a full refund. This business needs to take inventory of the responsibility they have ensure elevated customer service and satisfaction. I would not recommend anyone place online orders from Kitty Hawk Kites after this experience. A huge disappointment as a business.

Store is awesome! Very big store with a big selection of clothes, kites and other OBX merch. I…read morebought some clothes and 2 kites. My kite flew perfectly (it even got dropped and barley tangled and looked gorgeous) however my sisters kite didn't even get off the ground for more than 5 seconds. Everyone including my kite expert aunt tried it was just a faulty one.

Super friendly staff and ideally located on the canal. Equipment is great. The greeter had an…read moreexcellent spirit and answered all questions. The digital waiver process is the simplest experienced so far on our trip. The launch dock and crew were helpful and upbeat. The path to take lead us under a really cool looking covered bridge and another concrete bridge. Lots of turtles and plenty of shade. We went an hour out and then one back to the dock. There was no current and the kayaking was superb - very quiet, Carolina blue sky and plenty of laughs to motivate your strokes. Their is a water hose to rinse off the canal water before you get back in the car which we all took advantage of ( one in our party tipped over ). You pay after the trip is over and for us (five boats and six people - we paid $220. Remember to tip the teenagers

We booked the alligator river kayak tour and got the guide tre. He was an amazing guide and the…read moretour was excellent. Scenery was amazing. Tre was a blast and his love for the outdoors combined with expertise made the trip very enjoyable!

Such kind staff here. Gave me awesome tips and advice as a…read morenew surfer for where to go. Love that they carried organic sunblock! I will be taking a surf lesson when I return here in October!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to Outer Surf for the amazing experience we had this morning surfing…read morefor the first time. Our instructor Megan was absolutely fantastic and we couldn't have asked for a better coach for our three kids. We really liked her approach of sharing her knowledge on all aspects including how the waves are formed, understanding impacting dynamics like wind, and the approach she took to ease our kids into it for the first time. So cool and a bit surprising to see the two older ones actually catching some waves by the end of their first lesson. We would highly recommend Outer Surf and Megan as an instructor to anyone wanting to learn to surf and have a fun time doing so. Our kids were ages 15, 14 and 7. Fantastic experience!

THEY SELL DEFECTIVE POLES! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AT THIS SHOP! I went back to this shop one hour…read moreafter purchasing a $70 fishing pole combo because the anti-reel was not working. They WOULD NOT exchange the clearly defective fishing pole! Instead the worker who sold me the pole 1 hour prior accused me of getting sand in the reel! After going to this bait shop for the past 3 years, I will take my business elsewhere and anyone who wants to have reliable fishing equipment for vacation should to!

It's a bait and tackle shop, and it's pretty great!…read more Shrimp? $5. Nice sized bag. Lasted me an entire night of surf fishing and losing my shrimp to a bunch of bastard crabs too afraid to be dragged from the surf. They knew I'd Old Bay their asses because I hail from Baltimore. They just took the shrimp and ran for the hills...err, sand? Wherever crabs go. The staff didn't mind that I rudely showed up 5 minutes before they closed, and were super fast about ringing me up and getting me out the door so they could close this cool little shop up for the night. Tons of poles, reels, rigs, hooks, etc. Tons of bait choices, including live bait (like worms and minnows).

Extremely poor customer service. I made a reservation for a pontoon boat several days ago for today…read more(May 23). They called three hours before my reservation to tell me they were cancelling my reservation because they sent out a longer reservation today and the boat wouldn't be back in time. Obviously they were making more money off the longer rental, so mine for tossed out. They did offer a late evening time slot but when I advised I had a three year old and that time was past her bedtime, they said the best they could do was a refund. Try explaining that to an excited three year old that was expecting her first time out on a boat.

Great customer service!! We asked a ton of questions and the sales lady helped us pick out some…read morereally great kites. We had a blast flying those kites on the beach! We also grabbed a few fun toys for our 3 year old son.