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Emerald Isle, North Carolina Travel Guide

This Emerald Isle is not located in Ireland, but on Bogue Banks barrier island in North Carolina. The name came from the green appearance of the water. Parts of the island are narrow, where you can see both the sound and the ocean from the highway. Emerald Isle has beautiful, wide beaches in a fairly relaxed setting. Most of the stores and restaurants are on one side of the island, while beach houses available for rental are on the other. There is also a pier you can pay to fish off of, as well as construction starting for a new pier in spring 2009.

The water is generally comfortable for swimming in the summer, and if you're lucky you can get a glimpse of dolphins both in the ocean and the sound. The sound has public access for fishing, crabbing, and boats. Wildlife is usually very visible overall, with pelicans, other shorebirds, crabs, and even sea turtles. During mating season there are protected turtle nests that you can see along the beach close to the dunes. Visitors are asked not to disturb the nests.

You can choose to rent various sizes and locations of beach houses, oceanfront, second row, third row, or sound side. Most of the rentals run from Sunday to Sunday or Saturday to Saturday.

Check out these sites for more details:

• Emerald Isle Realty

• Sun-Surf Realty