If you had one family/fishing day on Ocracoke or Emerald Isle... where would you go?

Our family experience at the beach is pretty much day trips to Emerald Isle. Can't afford the week at the beach, yet EI is close enough (2 hr) for us to have a good day at the beach and enjoy food at El's on the way home. We stay at the public access near the mini-golf place where the Live Oaks shade the parking lot, the parking is still free, and there are showers. The 4 ladies in the family especially love the shower/bathhouse option. (I think there are showers at the south end of OI now, though).

To get to Ocracoke, we have to take the Swan Quarter ferry and either come home on it or drive the long way around through Nags Head - which would give us more time on the beach. However, you are limited in how early you can get on the beach given the arrival time of the Swan 1/4 ferry. (7am out of SQ, arrives OI @940am).

I usually fish the whole time with very little success in catching my target species - pompano and flounder. (I'd take drum, trout, blues, spanish, too, of course.) I have a rod rigged for the kids who enjoy catching the little stuff. Note: the last pompano caught on my rod was by my daughter. I let her fish my rig while I started casting at birds and caught a nice blue (@EI).

Judging by the photos and reports, Ocracoke seems like a much more fishy place than EI.

• If you had a day on one beach or the other, which location would you choose and maybe why?

Ocracoke, just because it was one of my favorite places on earth as a boy and I haven't been since I was little...


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hawkman said:

We stay at the public access near the mini-golf place where the Live Oaks shade the parking lot, the parking is still free, and there are showers. The 4 ladies in the family especially love the shower/bathhouse option. (I think there are showers at the south end of OI now, though).

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Where is this place you speak of?

Ocracoke is too long a trip for just a day trip in my opinion.

I guess it's actually in "Indian Beach" across from the mini-golf place. The 'bathhouse' is a misnomer. There is one shower pedestal there now with mutliple sprays coming out and a bathroom for men/women. It's NOT as nice as Coquina's setup, but certainly adequate. The live oaks are awesome.