Whether you're an ardent watersports expert or just an enthusiastic novice, North Carolina's southern coast is the perfect place to hone your skills. With its combination of mild weather, warm water temperatures, good water quality and clean, uncrowded beaches, the region's overall subtropical climate allows watersports aficionados to indulge their particular passions from early spring through late fall. Add the Intracoastal Waterway, sounds, tidal marshes, rivers and their tributaries to a generous Atlantic coastline, and the opportunities for fun in the water are limited only by your sense of adventure.
Please make note of local ordinances and observe safety precautions when near other swimmers, personal watercraft, channel markers, buoys and other water hazards. For example, swimming and surfing are forbidden within 100 feet of most fishing piers. Disturbing or walking on protected dunes is strictly prohibited and carries a fine. Also be careful to not disturb turtle nests.
This chapter is divided into sections dealing with the area's most popular watersports, where to practice them, helpful resources, related businesses and places to find equipment for sale or for rent. Other chapters of this book that address beach and water-related topics include the Sun, Sand and Sea, Fishing and Marinas chapters.
