The southern coast of North Carolina is a great place to visit if you’re looking for a lesser-known coastal destination.
This area offers beautiful beaches, outdoor adventures, amazing local restaurants, and unique eco experiences.
Thanks again to Only in Onslow, NC, for hosting my visit. All opinions are my own. This article contains affiliate links.
Where is Onslow County, NC, Located?
Onslow County is on the southern coast of North Carolina, an hour north of Wilmington, and almost 3.75 hours south of the Outer Banks.
Family-Friendly Fun for All Ages at Mike’s Farm
1600 Haw Branch Rd. Beulaville, NC
Mike’s Farm checks all the boxes for guests of all ages looking for an agritourism experience.
A visit to the farm offers a variety of family-friendly experiences, seasonal produce, a petting zoo, shopping, dining, special seasonal events, and educational opportunities throughout the year.
Animal Areas at Mike’s Farm
There’s no admission cost to visit the animal areas of the farm during their open hours.
Guests at Mike’s Farm can view a variety of animals, including donkeys, chickens, ducks, sheep, turkeys, and cows. There are corn machines and feeding stations where you can purchase food to feed the animals.
One of my favorite ways to feed the goats was using the conveyor belt that travels to the top of the platform where the goats wait for the bucket to arrive.
A pond is located at their old mill, where you can feed the goldfish and ducks, too.
Shop Local at the NC Products Barn
The NC Products Barn at Mike’s Farm features the largest variety of products produced, crafted, and manufactured in North Carolina.
The goal is to have products from all 100 counties represented within the barn.
You’ll find a variety of gift ideas ranging from specialty foods, housewares, jewelry, decor, apparel, and more.
If you find a product you love but don’t have the space in your luggage, you can also purchase it online.
Seasonal Events at Mike’s Farm
Mike’s Farm offers a lot of family-friendly seasonal events that are very popular. Make sure you book the special holiday events in advance.
- Strawberry Picking (April- Early May)
- Pumpkin Picking (Month of October)
- Fall Educational Tours
- Pumpkin Patch Hayrides
- Fall Saturdays on the Farm
- Festival of Lights Hayride
- Christmas Events
Family-Style Dining at Mike’s Farm Restaurant
While you’re at the farm, plan on dining at Mike’s Farm Restaurant for a delicious home-cooked meal served family-style.
Guests pay in advance for their meal before being seated in one of the themed dining rooms.
Pricing varies for adults, seniors, children 7-11, and children 3-6.
I can promise you won’t leave hungry after experiencing their amazing country-style cooking.
Country ham biscuits were brought out as an appetizer before the rest of our meal arrived.
Their menu includes fried chicken, pork loin and gravy, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, corn, beverages, and a dessert.
I’m still dreaming about their homestyle macaroni made with three different types of cheese.
You can ask for refills on the sides, but keep in mind that you’re eyes may be bigger than your belly.
I know it’s going to be hard, but save a little room to try their desserts, no matter how full you are.
During our visit, we enjoyed strawberry shortcake made with fresh strawberries from the farm, and a bonus of banana pudding.
The restaurant is open without reservations from Thursday to Saturday from 4 -8 PM, January 16 – September 26. Adjusted hours for Saturdays are from late September to mid-November.
Reservations are required from Monday to Sunday, mid-November to late December.
I’d recommend wearing stretchy clothes and spending some time relaxing on one of their rocking chairs on the porch before or after your meal.
A Guided Eco-Tour of Topsail Beach With Paddle NC
2976 Island Dr, North Topsail Beach, NC
I love any excuse to be on the water, and an eco tour is always a great way to get some exercise while enjoying nature.
Paddle NC offers eco kayak tours, sunset tours, and stand-up paddleboard tours that last 2 hours.
Reservations are required for all guided tours in advance. All tour participants are given an overview and safety instructions before entering the water.
Our eco tour paddled along Topsail Island’s Permuda Island Nature Reserve.
The nature reserve in Stump Sound is 63 acres and 1.5 miles long, home to a range of land and marine life.
It’s best to observe the nature preserve from the water due to its thick vegetation and abundance of snakes and insects.
Kayak and stand-up paddleboard rentals are also available at Carolina Beach, Hammock Beach, and Topsail Beach from late March until late October.
Rental equipment must be reserved in advance. Check their website for hours and availability.
Tour the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center
302 Tortuga Lane, Surf City, NC
You can book a guided tour of an active sea turtle hospital at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.
The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center rescues, rehabilitates, and releases sick and injured sea turtles, and protects nesting sea turtles, nests, and hatchlings.
If you have a soft spot in your heart for sea turtles, this guided tour is a must!
Reservations are required for the guided tours. These tours book up quickly, so book your preferred dates in advance, especially if you’re trying to visit during peak times.
No public tours are available during January and February, and summer tours typically sell out 2-3 weeks in advance.
The 35-40 minute guided tours occur every 10 minutes with a maximum group size of 15 people.
During the tour, you’ll learn more about how the center is dedicated to the conservation and protection of all marine turtles, both on the beach and in the water.
You’ll also learn more about the sea turtle season, incubation period, and ways to help protect sea turtles.
Five of the seven sea turtle species in the world are in North Carolina, and 90% the turtles that nest in North Carolina are loggerheads.
The local sea turtle nesting season for the southern coast of North Carolina is May 1 to August 31. Sea turtles will nest 3 to 5 times during a single season, with an incubation period of around 60 days.
One of the biggest threats to sea turtles is artificial light along the beach because it can cause the turtles to go the wrong direction. Fishing hooks, boat strikes, and plastic ingestion can also be a threat to sea turtles.
Follow their Facebook page for upcoming public events for sea turtle releases.
All proceeds in the gift shop help fund Education programs, and when you symbolically “adopt” a stuffed animal sea turtle, your purchase provides funds to buy food and medicine.
You even get an official adoption certificate with your sea turtle’s name, a photo of your adopted turtle, a Species Information Card, and other gifts. This is a great gift idea for animal lovers of all ages.
Take an Educational Oyster Farm Tour With Ghost Fleet Oyster Co.
310 Fulcher Landing Rd, Sneads Ferry, NC
You’ll learn so much on the working oyster farm tour with Ghost Fleet Oyster Co. and have a greater appreciation for oysters, regardless of whether you enjoy consuming them.
Their boats pick up tour guests at the Hampstead or Snead Ferry public boat ramps and take them to the oyster farm.
Their 3-hour tour with a farm worker includes education about the oyster life cycle, time for Q&A, and an opportunity to enjoy unlimited freshly harvested oysters.
Does an oyster taste better if you shuck it yourself?
I say yes…but I’m still not a big fan of raw oysters…But I may get there one day.
I will say that the Mignonette sauce made a big difference for my second go around.
But you don’t have to be a fan of oysters to appreciate this tour.
In fact, you’ll have a greater appreciation for oysters regardless of whether you choose to eat one at the end of the tour.
If you LOVE raw oysters, you’re really in for a treat.
Oyster flavors mimic their environment, and you may notice their salty and sweet profiles.
You’ll learn about the environmental impacts of oysters (wild and farmed) and oyster recycling.
Oyster recycling is important for reef building.
In fact, in North Carolina, it’s illegal to dispose of oyster shells in landfills or use them as mulch.
You need oyster shells to create more oysters; baby oysters need oyster shells to grow.
You don’t need to feed or water oysters. Oyster farmers tend them with the best home to help them thrive, and it takes a seed around 18 months to transform into an adult oyster.
Fun fact: an adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water, and one million adult oysters can filter up to 50 million gallons of water per day.
Recycling brings oyster shells back into the water, helping clean it up.
The Oyster Farm tour is offered year-round. The company focuses on sustainability, doing its part for clean water for future generations to enjoy.
In fact, oyster farming is one of the most sustainable farming styles in the world.
Unlike wild oysters with a wild harvest season, you can eat farmed oysters all year round.
Oysters from the Ghost Fleet Oyster Co. have a tag with their origins, and they strive to get oysters to restaurants within 24 hours or less.
Shark Photo Op at Shark Attack
1295 State Hwy 210, Sneads Ferry, NC
Who doesn’t love a good photo op spot/ roadside attraction?
Take some fun photos and then walk through the mouth of The “World’s Largest Shark” to step into this large souvenir and gift shop in Sneads Ferry.
The giant fiberglass shark was created by artist Bob Duato.
Inside the store, you’ll find a large selection of apparel, beach gear, gifts, souvenirs, and more.
Honor Sericemen and Women at Lejeune Memorial Gardens
105 Montford Point Landing Road, Jacksonville, NC
Lejeune Memorial Gardens honors the lives and sacrifices of servicemen and women in the American military.
There are several memorials in the nearly 25-acre gardens, including the following:
The Beirut Memorial honors the 273 Marines who lost their lives when a truck bomb destroyed barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the few memorials that lists all the names of the fallen and is only second in size to the National Memorial in Washington, DC.
The names of 58,229 men and women who lost their lives are etched in the glass wall around the fountain.
The Montford Point Marine Memorial is dedicated to all Montford Point Marines.
There are 20k stars in the memorial representing black Marines who served during 1942-1949 during a time of segregation.
The 9/11 Memorial Beam is dedicated to those who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
The beam in the memorial was from one of the Twin Towers in New York City.
Corpsmen Memorial honors the Navy corpsmen who fought alongside the Marines.
The Lejeune Memorial Gardens Greenway & Trail connects the community of Jacksonville to the Military community of Camp Lejeune as a pedestrian/ bike path.
Be on the lookout for the Carolina Museum of the Marine, a 25,000 sq ft museum dedicated to honoring marines and sailors, due to open in the Spring of 2026.
Learn About Local History at the Onslow County Museum
301 S Wilmington St, Richlands, NC
The Onslow County Museum helps tell the story of the county’s history and its
people with exhibits on natural history traveling up to the present.
The museum is a Blue Star Museum, offering free admission to active-duty military personnel and up to five family members with appropriate ID from Memorial Day to Veterans Day.
The museum is open 6 days a week with an inexpensive admission fee, which is perfect for a rainy day or if you need a break from the sun.
If you’re visiting with kids, a scavenger hunt is available to help children engage more with the museum exhibits.
As you enter the building, there’s a small exhibit about Venus Flytraps.
Venus flytraps are native to the Coastal Plain and Sandhills of North Carolina and South Carolina, within about a 100-mile radius of Wilmington, NC.
You’ll learn about what life was like for the first English and European settlers who arrived in the area in 1713 in The Water and the Wood permanent exhibit.
You’ll learn more about the local flora, fauna, ecology, and geography of Onslow County at The Discover Onslow exhibit.
Museum Director Lisa Whitman-Grise shared more about the museum and helped bring many of the exhibits to life with her extensive knowledge of the exhibits and storytelling.
It’s required that tours be requested two weeks in advance.
We got to experience a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum, where even more artifacts are stored between exhibits. This iron casket dates back to 1867.
Special exhibits at the museum change every six months, providing an incentive to return.
You can hunt for fossils at the museum’s outdoor classroom, the Richard Tellekamp Fossil Find is filled with reject ore, courtesy of the PCS Phosphate Mines in Aurora, NC.
Be on the lookout for special events at the museum, including Summer Arts Programs, Family Fun Fridays, Heritage Day, and outreach programming.
Visit Hammocks Beach State Park
1572 Hammocks Beach Road, Swansboro, NC.
Hammocks Beach State Park has hiking trails, paddling, fishing, birding, and an educational visitor’s center.
You can also take a ferry from the state park to Bear Island, a 4-mile-long, undeveloped barrier island. This island can only be reached via the water by ferry, canoe, or kayak.
Ferries hold up to 40 passengers and are on a first-come come first-served basis. The 2.5-mile ferry ride to Bear Island takes around 15 minutes.
You’ll want to check their website for ferry hours and days of operation before you go.
On your way to the ferry, you may notice the living wall along the shoreline part of the “Living Shorelines Project.”
The barrier helps protect the shoreline from erosion and provides a substrate for oysters, as a quick reef for oysters to grow and thrive.
You can reserve primitive campsites on Bear Island in advance. Campsites with electric hookups and small cabin rentals are available on the mainland at the state park.
Explore Downtown Swansboro
You’ll find a charming historic downtown filled with local restaurants and boutique shops within steps of the water in Swansboro, NC.
Yana’s Restaurant – 119 Front St, Swansboro, NC
You can’t go wrong with a meal from this 50’s theme diner for breakfast or lunch, cooked made-to-order. Don’t leave without trying their famous fruit fritters.
Preston’s Corner Bar & Grill – 106 Front St, Swansboro, NC
For fresh seafood and more, you’ll want to check out Preston’s Corner Bar & Grill.
Dini’s Martinis and Desserts – 118 Front St, Swansboro, NC
For craft cocktails, small bites, and dessert, you’re in for a treat at Dini’s Martinis and Desserts. This is also a popular spot for themed events.
Enjoy the views with your drink of choice from Bake, Bottle, & Brew, or relax at the Church Street Gazebo.
A Coastal Eco Boat Tour with Pogie’s Fishing Center
114 E Corbett Avenue, Swansboro, NC
You can choose your own adventure with a boat charter from Pogie’s Fishing Center.
Pogie’s Fishing Center offers a variety of fishing trips, eco tours, and excursions.
Our group enjoyed their eco tour which included searching for sand dollars and sharks’ teeth.
I’ve seen plenty of broken sand dollars on the beach, but I never anticipated I’d actually find multiple whole sand dollars on this excursion.
Owner Ethan Pogue was our guide, who also had a great eye and years of experience to quickly spot the sand dollars all around us.
He’d also give us clues when we asked/needed them for the general area where we could find one.
He also pointed out other sea life in the water, providing us with opportunities to learn more about each creature and take a closer look.
After each discovery, he returned the sea life to the water.
Another highlight of the tour was visiting the beach area known for shark’s teeth.
Once again, this is where clues from the pro came in, although I did find a few on my own.
I really enjoyed this tour and would recommend it for all ages. What impressed me even more was hearing Ethan’s heart and passion for giving back to the local community with all of their family-run businesses.
They also own Pogie’s on the Farm, which focuses on getting people outdoors through hands-on learning, agricultural education, and community events, including free fall and winter family-friendly events.
Pogie’s Fishing Center offers kayak rentals that are charged by the boat. Book your kayak rental online 24 hours in advance for additional savings compared to the walk-in rate.
Distillery Tour and Tasting at Walton’s Distillery
261 Ben Williams Rd, Jacksonville, NC
Walton’s Distillery is located on the same property where previous generations of the Walton family operated illegally.
During the tour, you’ll learn more about the process for making their products at the distillery.
All tastings and tours at the facility are free and run every 30 minutes. The last tour of the day starts at 4 PM.
I recommend calling the distillery in advance about their hours and tour times. They may vary based on availability and staffing.
If you have a group of 10 people or more, you’ll need to call in advance.
Of course, the best part of a distillery tour is always the tasting. Guests 21 and up can try samples of their moonshine, bourbon, and corn whiskey.
Their corn whiskey is a family recipe that dates back to the 1700s, and many of their products are named after the owner, Don Walton’s relatives and ancestors.
Check out their website for recipe inspiration, featuring appetizers, sides, main dishes, desserts, and creative specialty cocktails made with their products.
Walton’s Distillery also houses The Copper & Stow building, a large event space for weddings, parties, and corporate gatherings.
Take a Ghost Tour with Crystal Coast Ghost
502 W Church St, Swansboro, NC
Crystal Coast Ghost Tours uses a history-first approach to their paranormal tours.
During the 90-minute “Spirits of Swansboro Ghost Walk” walking tour, we learned more about the stories of haunted locations as we explored the “Friendly City by the Sea.”
You’ll find the stories and history presented by the expert tour guides to be really interesting, regardless of whether you’re a skeptic or a believer in paranormal activity.
Our tour guide was a great storyteller. She brought the history at the sites to life with more historical context and paranormal accounts shared by local residents.
Tour participants can use their state-of-the-art paranormal investigation equipment along the way.
The EMF reader detects electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in an environment, and there’s a good chance you’ll notice the readings on the device change at different locations throughout the downtown.
Our group experienced varying EMF readings on our devices at different sites, which was fascinating to observe during our tour.
You’ll start in the evening daylight and conclude after dark under the moonlight that adds to the spooky vibe.
The walking ghost tours are dog-friendly and family-friendly, recommended for kids ages 10 and up.
Group maximums are 18 people, and a portion of each ticket purchase is donated to the Swansboro Historical Association.
If you’re looking for a unique pub crawl, check out their SOS After Dark (21+ Haunted Pub Crawl).
Where We Stayed During Our Visit
There are a variety of hotels and vacation rentals to choose from, for a range of group sizes and needs in Onslow County.
Dock of the Bay Vacation Rental
North Topsail Beach, North Carolina
This GORGEOUS vacation rental has the best of both worlds; it’s located steps from the beach and also offers incredible sunset views on the bay.
The vacation rental sleeps 14. There are 5 bedrooms, each with its own private ensuite bathroom, and there’s an additional half bath.
It has a reverse floor plan design, with an open living area/ full kitchen/ dining room on the top floor.
Don’t worry, there’s an elevator that goes to all of the floors, so you won’t have to carry your suitcases or groceries up all the stairs.
There’s plenty of seating for dining between the dining room tables inside and outside on the large deck,
You can see the ocean from the kitchen window and the smaller covered deck on the top floor.
And enjoy the views of the Intracoastal waterway off the back deck from the first and second floor decks.
I’d recommend planning at least one sunset viewing from the deck during your stay.
There are two deck levels for viewing, but the top was my favorite.
The backyard is fenced in and has a private dock with a swing.
Of course, spending time at the beach is always a must! I really treasured my walks on the beach to watch the sunrise.
Beach access is a short walk across the street from the vacation rental.
Be on the lookout for beautiful beach shells and shark teeth during a morning walk.
The vacation rental is a short beach walk to Seaview Pier (There is a small fee to walk on the fishing pier)
See a One Tree Hill Filming Location
A “Castle in the Sand” beach house was a filming location for the TV show “One Tree Hill” during the show’s 2009-2011 season.
If you’re a fan of the series, you may remember that it was Clay and Quinn’s Beach House in the show.
This vacation rental is also a short walk from the “Dock of the Bay.”
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