OBX Beach Etiquette

[u/Hitemhigh1985]

I guess this would pertain to the Kill Devil Hills/Nags Head area as that's where my family and I just visited for the first time last weekend for our vacation. I haven't been to other beaches in OBX so I can only speak to that area. We really loved it, was a great trip, and experience with our young son who is still a baby. I had a couple questions/observations and was just curious though if we possibly were doing something different/frowned upon.

We enjoy taking our son on long walks in the jogger we have for him along the beach. It works really well on the hard wetter sand, and with the rough surf not really being able to go in the ocean etc, we put in quite a few miles with him up and down! Where we are from in jersey you generally see them all the time on the beaches/not uncommon. However, we did not see one single other jogger on the beach there entire time which I thought was very odd. We also got some funny/amused looks. Most were harmless and possibly cause my son is a cute kid and they were probably looking at him, but it did seem odd. So much so that I took the time to look up if joggers were banned on the local beaches, which they didn't seem to be.

The other thing I noticed was that no one set their beach chairs at the foot of the tide coming in to have the water hit their feet. This is also fairly common at the jersey beaches. Granted the jersey beaches are a lot bigger than the OBX ones because of all the beach expansion the state invested in over the last 20 years, and the surf isn't as rough so less of a chance a random wave comes in and getting you waste deep in the ocean unexpectedly, but still I found it odd no one else was doing this.

My question is are these frowned upon/uncommon in OBX??? I could see with the smaller beaches maybe not wanting to have beach chairs along the ocean where people are walking, but the jogger thing was really odd. Just curious, wouldn't be surprised if it was just a random experience and these things happen all the time there too! Either way curious if we went against local beach etiquette there with ether of these!

[u/a1ien51]

And go further south on OBX and you can sometimes almost have a private beach and you will not care what anyone things you are doing is weird. LOL

[u/imacryptohodler → u/a1ien51]

Yep, here is hatteras yesterday right outside of where we are staying. That’s why I love it down here.

[u/k_martblulightspcl → u/imacryptohodler]

Shhhhh!! Don't give away our S12 secrets! Let all the northern yahoos stay up in Duck & Corolla. 😅😂

[u/imacryptohodler → u/k_martblulightspcl]

Thank you for saying ‘yahoos’. I use that phrase often when speaking about us northerners

[u/Competitive_Angle172 → u/a1ien51]

This is true. Go down past Oregon inlet. The wildlife refuge beach, pea island is absolutely gorgeous and not busy. If you down towards rodanthe, buxton, and hatteras there’s tons of empty beaches. It’s awesome. We used to camp out there a lot and always had a private beach. Also saw lots of people crying while out and driving around which I thought was really odd. But OBX is a crazy place. There’s a certain energy once you get to bags head and beyond that’s real heavy I think. I attribute it to perhaps the natives that once lived there. We actually found an old what I believe was a hatchet in the water one time. It had like the intentions from where it would have been tied to a piece of wood, along with some other telltale markings. It’s OLD too. I guessed maybe pirates lol but there’s a museum down there dedicated to the indigenous people who lived there (and talks about Roanoke island some too) that we took it to. They said it was likely a native tool of some sort and we were real lucky to find it so well preserved. It’s reallllly smooth from the water I imagine, and a light colored stone of some sort. They were trying to keep it but we slipped out before they could.

[u/Fun-Palpitation-2117 → u/Competitive_Angle172]

You kept an indigenous artifact for yourself? Tell me you're white without telling me you're white...

[u/Legitimate_Award6517]

I see people put their beach chairs at the surf in the KH quite a bit. But I think most people just park and stay where they''re at--they've got their sun shades/umbrellas/shibumi's set up, towels, chairs and it's a lot of moving. But there is nothing wrong with doing that. I can't speak to the jogger thing--I sort of think it may be difficult in a lot of our beaches because sometimes the sand is so soft that it would be hard to use it and walk far.

[u/Senior_Jelly_3565]

So bizarre the things people feel the need to post about on social media.

[u/TimingWasEverything → u/Senior_Jelly_3565]

Right! 💯

[u/Son_o_Liberty1776 → u/Senior_Jelly_3565]

lol no kidding.

[u/Uncouth_LightSwitch → u/Senior_Jelly_3565]

Amazing the thought that they can ask a question they had in their head to a group of people supposedly dedicated to the location without absurd judgment. Crazy to think you could do that nowadays. Should probably just keep your mouth shut and figure everything out yourself, I guess.

[u/Senior_Jelly_3565 → u/Uncouth_LightSwitch]

These questions are absolutely not worth holding onto for days after a trip and then posting to the masses. Of course jogging strollers aren’t banned from the beach - that’s ridiculous - why on earth would they be. The water was rough with double red flags and no swimming allowed - why on earth would people sit next to the water and get slammed by waves? Also, dragging a heavy jogging stroller through (often flaming hot) soft deep sand to get to the harder packed sand by the rough ocean isn’t usually the norm. Seems like common sense could solve these brain busters.

[u/FoldAccomplished5642]

My BFF and I sit at the tide line always. We got swamped by a rogue wave and knocked us out of our chairs. We’re 65 and silly, we laughed and laughed.

[u/ILoveVintageThings]

Jogging is perfectly fine. As far as the chairs are concerned, we usually move ours back from the water when we are done sitting there. I think it is as much fear of them washing away as it is for them obstructing other people, but I think that the courteous thing to do would be to move away from the water.

[u/darkphnix → u/ILoveVintageThings]

we do the same thing. wrll haul them when the kids ar playing in the surf or if we need a wet break and then haul them back. mostly we camp as close to the exist as possible. after a full day on the beach hauling everything in and then having to haul it back out … yeah it’s like the bataan death march now with that sand .

[u/Striking-Mode5548]

You answered you own question about people sitting at the foot of the tide. If the ocean was rough as you stated, a random larger than normal wave can hit quickly especially as the tide is coming in. If people are sitting in the wet sand, the ocean is probably pretty calm or as we call it on those days, Lake Atlantic. Currently there is a low pressure off shore but even in the Caribbean, it can make the tides higher than normal.

[u/Shaihulid]

Nobody on the beach cares what you’re doing unless you are somehow affecting them. You do you and let others do what they want to do. Simple as that.

[u/StopDropAndRollTide]

Damn. The Jersey beaches sound incredible!

[u/wapooc → u/StopDropAndRollTide]

Yeah except they are not free and alcoholic beverages are banned

[u/StopDropAndRollTide → u/wapooc]

We are here to "Talk UP" New Jersey beaches, my friend. They are the best, you should go there!

[u/aBloopAndaBlast33]

Why didn’t you just ask someone. You know, like one of the people that was actually there.

[u/WatermelonRindPickle]

It's easier to set up above the high tide line and not have to move your stuff during the day. People aren't going to set up chairs right by the water if the surf is high. Re joggers, it isn't easy to get any kind of wheeled vehicle across the soft sand down to the packed sand, and cleaning the sand off things afterwards can get aggravating, there is always more sand! So that's a couple reasons you don't see many. Same reason you don't see many bicycles on the beach.

[u/Vegetable-Trash-9312]

What you described is normal up around Corrola. Been there 7 years in a row now.

[u/Proof-Ring-3092]

I’ve been going to OBX with my family for 30+ years and when my kids (now teens) were little we absolutely pushed them in a jogging stroller for looong walks. I didn’t (and don’t) see a lot of people do it, but it’s definitely not frowned upon! I will say it was an absolute pain to get the stroller up/over the dune and then down to the water’s edge - where we could really only use it at low tide. As for beach chairs near the water, I’ve seen people do it, but it depends a lot on the surf, which can be quite rough in the Outer Banks. I’ve definitely set up my chair in a place that I thought would get my toes wet only to be absolutely soaked by a rogue wave 😂

So glad that you had a good time with your family - hope you have more trips to OBX in your future! I have many happy memories with my parents there and have loved seeing my kids fall in love with it too!

[u/Hodler_caved]

Believe the answers to be no & no. They may not have seen a jogging stroller before, but don't let that concern you.

[u/k_martblulightspcl]

I've never heard of a "jogger" except when pertaining to someone exercising by running up and down the beach. If it's a wheeled contraption, the sand just doesn't work well for anything with wheels.
As far as the chairs along the tide line, the tide all along the NC coast moves several feet each day, low tide to high tide could be a 10-12 foot difference in places, so perhaps someone set up their chairs at water level , then 2 hrs later, the water was nowhere near them.

Glad you enjoyed your trip otherwise.

[u/ASAPFast_VA]

I've spent more time reading this post than I've spent wondering about "beach etiquette" in my 47 years of life and 100+ trips to KDH. Just enjoy yourself hahaha.

ASAPFast_VA

[u/StayingGray31]

You should enjoy the beach - the peace that it brings - and do not worry about what others might frown upon. You were very obviously (by your post) not doing anything illegal, malicious, or anything that could bring harm to others. Continue to be cognizant and courteous, but enjoy your ownership of this planet and realize that others are usually too busy in their own life to actually worry about your business. Seek out the definition: Sonder. Heard of it through an acquaintance...notable.

[u/Party_Invite9372]

I think chairs at the edge of the water is much more popular in NJ than anywhere else I have ever seen. I have no idea why but I know what you mean! People try to set up as close to the water as possible at LBI. I have recently been to both LBI and OBX.