Evidence suggests that the first stretch of continental American coastline described by a European explorer may have been the beach now called Masonboro Island. The explorer was Giovanni da Verrazzano, the year, 1524. During the Civil War, Masonboro's beaches were visited by three blockade runners and one Union blockader.
Before 1952 Masonboro was not an island but was attached to the mainland. In that year Carolina Beach Inlet was cut, giving Carolina Beach its boom in the tourist fishing trade and creating the last and largest undisturbed barrier island remaining on the southern North Carolina coast — 8-mile-long Masonboro Island. Made up of 5,046 acres, of which 4,300 acres are tidal salt marshes and mud flats, Masonboro is now the fourth component of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, the other three being Zeke's Island, which lies south of Federal Point in the Cape Fear River (see listing below), Currituck Banks and Rachel Carson Island, the latter two being farther north.
Most impressive is the island's profusion of wildlife, some abundant and some endangered, in an essentially natural state. Endangered loggerhead turtles successfully nest here, as do terns, gulls, ghost crabs and brown pelicans. Their neighbors include gray foxes, marsh rabbits, opossums, raccoons and river otters. Several types of heron, snowy egrets, willets, black skimmers and clapper rails forage in the creeks and mud flats at low tide. The estuarine waters teem with 44 species of fish and a multitude of shellfish, snails, sponges and worms. Masonboro's accessibility to UNCW's marine biology program, among the world's best, makes the island an ideal classroom for the study of human impact on natural habitat. More information on Masonboro Island and barrier island habitats may be obtained through UNCW's Center for Marine Science, (910) 962-2470.
Masonboro Island is a peaceful place where generations of locals have fished, hunted, sunbathed, surfed, camped and sat back to witness nature. Small wonder Masonboro Island has always been close to locals' hearts. Accordingly, the Coastal Management Division of the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources administers the island with as little intrusion as possible. Camping, hunting and other traditional activities pursued here are allowed to continue, albeit under monitoring intended to determine whether the island can withstand such impact. (See our Camping chapter for more about staying over.) So far, so good. If you don't own a boat and can't rent one for getting to Masonboro, refer to the listing for Turtle Island Ventures in the Rowing and Canoeing section of our Watersports chapter.
