Outer Banks Things To Do

Visitors to the Outer Banks are recreation lovers. After all, with an area known for its natural beauty, why wouldn’t you want to be outside taking full advantage of every Outer Banks thing to do you could think of? Perhaps the Outer Banks’ biggest draw is Mother Ocean and her surrounding sandy beaches. When it comes to things to do on the Outer Banks, the top of anyone’s to-do list involves getting in or near the water. That translates into sunbathing, swimming, body boarding, skimboarding, surfing, scuba diving, shelling, sea glass hunting, shore walking…and did we mention just sitting and looking at those meditative waves rolling in? Check out the Things To Do in Hatteras section and the Things To Do in Ocracoke section for the scoop on the best ways to enjoy the water.

Of course, the Outer Banks things to do on the sound are just as numerous as those on the ocean. Take a peek at the sound, and you almost always see someone boating, sailing, parasailing, kiteboarding, standup paddleboarding, clamming, windsurfing, kayaking or Jet Skiing. Check out Things To Do in Nags Head or Things To Do in Duck, NC, for your watersports options.

Outer Banks Things To Do on Dry Land!

Feel more like a dry activity? No problem! If fishing is the ticket, there are many opportunities to wet a line with piers, bridges, shorelines, the sound, bays, offshore and inshore charters. Along a similar drift, a dolphin or sightseeing boat tour is a popular Outer Banks thing to do, and you can learn more in the Things To Do on Roanoke Island section. And no equine lover's trip to the Outer Banks is complete without seeing the wild horses, a popular Thing To Do in Corolla, NC. Want to see as much of the Outer Banks as you can by walking, jogging or biking? Then you’ll love it here! Each town has either a designated bike path, boardwalks or back roads that are so lovely you’ll forget all about the fact that you have three more miles to go!

Outer Banks Things To Do by Area

Corolla | Duck & Southern Shores | Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills & Nags Head
Roanoke Island & Manteo | Hatteras Island | Ocracoke Island

Outer Banks Things To Do by Category

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge

Outer Banks Thing To Do
Milltail Road, off U.S. Highway 64, Manteo
(252) 473-1131

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a more than 164,000-acre refuge on the mainland portion of Dare and Hyde counties. It was established in 1984 to preserve and protect a unique wetland habitat type, the pocosin, and its associated wildlife species. Pocosin is a Native American word meaning ‘swamp-on-a-hill’ and is characterized by poorly drained soils high in organic material. The refuge's diversity of habitat...read more

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a more than 164,000-acre refuge on the mainland portion...read more

AR Workshop

Outer Banks Thing To Do
3105 N. Croatan Highway, The Bypass, MP 5.5, Kill Devil Hills
(252) 656-6694

AR Workshop is a national boutique DIY workshop franchise, and now there's a location in Kill Devil Hills. They offer instructor-led workshop classes, DIY to-go kits and events where you can make hands-on projects with a group for a party, fundraiser, baby shower or corporate event. Workshops are for all skill levels, including kids, and range from $40 to $70 for adult projects to $40...read more

AR Workshop is a national boutique DIY workshop franchise, and now there's a location in...read more

Back Beach Wild Horse Tours

Outer Banks Thing To Do
817 B Ocean Trail, N.C. Highway 12, Corolla
(252) 453-6141

Back Beach Wild Horse Tours' highly trained staff has a great reputation for being entertaining and informative. Their tours last two hours and incorporate quite a bit of local history to complement the sightseeing while showering you with interesting lore. In the four-wheel-drive area you’ll see the Corolla wild horses grazing in their natural habitat and the occasional deer and surfing dolphins. Back Beach tours are given in safari-style,...read more

Back Beach Wild Horse Tours' highly trained staff has a great reputation for being entertaining and...read more

Back Country 4x4 & Kayak Safari

Outer Banks Thing To Do
Meet at Corolla Light Town Center, 1159 Austin Street, Corolla
(252) 453-0877

Some of the best wildlife viewing and paddling on the Outer Banks takes place in the remote northern waterways of the Currituck Sound near the Virginia border. Back Country’s unique 4x4 & Kayak Safari carries small groups and families by custom open-air Safari Cruisers through 30 miles of off-road beach, dune and sand trail to paddle from the private Spanish Mustang Preserve where they have...read more

Some of the best wildlife viewing and paddling on the Outer Banks takes place in...read more

Back Country Wild Horse Safari Tour

Outer Banks Thing To Do
Meet at Corolla Light Town Center, 1159 Austin Street, Corolla
(252) 453-0877

Scott Trabue’s Wild Horse Safari is an off-road eco-adventure that will deliver you and your family directly to the wild Spanish mustangs that have thrived on the northern Outer Banks for nearly 500 years. Your naturalist guide will carry you in custom open-air Safari Cruisers through 30 miles of beaches, dune and back-country sand lanes to discover the Outer Banks’ unique wildlife. Shore life including...read more

Scott Trabue’s Wild Horse Safari is an off-road eco-adventure that will deliver you and your...read more

Bianca's Readings

Outer Banks Thing To Do
1523 N. Croatan Highway, The Bypass, MP 8, Kill Devil Hills
(252) 473-2277
205 Sir Walter Raleigh Street, Manteo
(252) 473-2277

Highly intuitive and well known for her honest and accurate readings, Bianca can give you insight on your new normal (and help you understand where your spirit animals are taking you) using yoga cards, energy readings, tea leaf readings and color therapy. For more than 30 years, Bianca has helped hundreds live a healthier and stress-free life, and as a life coach she assures you...read more

Highly intuitive and well known for her honest and accurate readings, Bianca can give you...read more

Bob's Wild Horse Tours

Outer Banks Thing To Do
817-B Ocean Trail, Corolla
(252) 453-8602

Bob White is a legend in the horse-tour business. He and his highly trained staff have been offering tours since 1996, and they have a reputation for being both entertaining and informative. Bob’s tours last two hours and incorporate quite a bit of local history and interesting lore to complement the sightseeing. In the four-wheel-drive area, you’ll see the horses grazing in their natural habitat, often along with...read more

Bob White is a legend in the horse-tour business. He and his highly trained staff have...read more

Captain Johnny’s Dolphin Tours

Outer Banks Thing To Do
400 Queen Elizabeth Avenue, Manteo Waterfront, Manteo
(252) 473-1475

It’s very exciting to watch bottlenosed dolphins frolicking and rolling through the water. Dolphins live in the sounds and from June through October frequent the local waters. Capt. Stuart Wescott, a ninth-generation Roanoke Island native, has been conducting dolphin watch tours in the Roanoke Sound aboard the 53-foot pontoon-type boat Capt. Johnny for more than 25 years. If you miss the dolphins on your first...read more

It’s very exciting to watch bottlenosed dolphins frolicking and rolling through the water. Dolphins live...read more

Carolina Shores Electric Bikes OBX

Outer Banks Thing To Do
8568 B Caratoke Highway, Harbinger
(252) 599-0040

E-bikes are not only a fun way to explore the Outer Banks, but also a convenient and inexpensive way to get around without getting caught up in summer traffic or paying high gas prices. E-bikes make it easy to get to the beach, restaurants and attractions quickly, without wearing yourself out in the process. Carolina Shores E-Bikes OBX offers daily rentals, two-day rentals and weekly...read more

E-bikes are not only a fun way to explore the Outer Banks, but also a...read more

Causeway Watersports

Outer Banks Thing To Do
7649 S. Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head/Manteo Causeway, Nags Head
(252) 441-8875

Whether you enjoy the thrill of parasailing or the excitement of a Waverunner, it's waiting for you at Causeway Watersports. This adventure mecca is on the Nags Head/Manteo Causeway (look for the 30-foot observation tower near Basnight’s Lone Cedar Cafe). They offer Jet Ski rentals and tours and pontoon boat rentals so you can be your own captain of a dolphin tour. For a great deal...read more

Whether you enjoy the thrill of parasailing or the excitement of a Waverunner, it's waiting...read more

Charter Boats on the Outer Banks

Outer Banks Thing To Do

Charter fishing on the Outer Banks is one of the most popular activities. Thousands of visitors and locals take advantage of the excellent fishing these waters offer, so not surprisingly there are many businesses that can connect you with the sort of charter you're interested in. Without a doubt, the offshore charter boats that go after the Gulf Stream big game of tuna, wahoo, mahi...read more

Charter fishing on the Outer Banks is one of the most popular activities. Thousands of...read more

Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station

Outer Banks Thing To Do
23645 N.C. Highway 12, Rodanthe
(252) 987-1552

The Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station is the nation’s largest and most complete existing example of the life-saving stations that were built along the Atlantic coast in the late 19th century to attend to shipwrecks and to rescue survivors. The 1874 Station was the first operational U.S. Life-Saving Service station built in North Carolina, serving until 1954. Chicamacomico has been partially restored, thanks to numerous volunteers who...read more

The Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station is the nation’s largest and most complete existing example of the...read more