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Writer's pictureMary-Iris Taylor

IMHO, OKI is just OK...

Updated: Jan 21, 2023



Our 1 month stay in Oak Island, NC began right around the New Year, and started off slow due to my hubby's first and only bout with Covid (thus far anyway). Yours truly did most of the exploring that first week, and I quickly realized that what began as a slow stay would pretty much remain that way for the duration.


Oak Island, otherwise known as OKI, was recommended to us by several people, all of whom said it was a sleepy, fairly affordable, laid-back beach town. And it is - and then some. In our heads, Pawleys Island, SC (one of our favs) is a sleepy, laid-back beach town.

But OKI makes Pawleys seem like the hustle-and-bustle capital of the Carolina coast! From a location perspective, OKI is 45 minutes south of Wilmington, and about an hour north of Myrtle. Let me put it this way. When I set out to get Paul a Medicine Ball from Starbucks at the peak of his Covid infection, I learned that the closest location was 30 minutes away. Now, not being a regular patron of Starbucks, I didn't really care that it wasn't exactly around the corner, except that this revelation made me wonder what else wasn't exactly around the corner -- and what we've learned is, pretty much everything!


Though the island does have a lot of seasonal mom and pop establishments, there isn't much more, except for a few chain grocery stores, Walgreens, CVS, Big Lots and Walmart. However, there is a good amount of building going on here - I suspect due to the area's price point. Even right on the ocean, there aren't huge McMansions - they are more modest beach escapes.

And, there are still plenty of empty ocean-front and Intracoastal-facing lots for sale. For a beach town, dare I say it almost seems underdeveloped. And for those who come to the beach to escape the rat race, that's exactly OKI's appeal.


Not far from OKI (15 minutes) is Southport, a small, very quaint southern town right on the Cape Fear River. And that's where the action is -- if you can call it that. Southport is home to 3-4 square blocks of cool restaurants, antique shops, bakeries, and the like. Southport is certainly part of the area's draw and I suspect that's where people who live here go to show off the place when they have visitors.


Now, it's not lost on me that it is the middle of January. Many beach towns are fairly quiet right now. But this area is especially so. That's why when Andre, our fabulous Airbnb host, graciously offered his beach cottage to us for another month, we said, "Thanks, but no thanks." We've seen a good deal of the area already and will most definitely have seen all of it by the end of the month.


We did have a fun excursion last weekend though. We took the Southport Ferry to Fort Fisher -- a national historic site and Confederate fort that just happened to be marking the anniversary of its fall to a massive amphibious assault that took place on Jan. 15, 1865. That was super interesting. We plan to take another ferry ride to Bald Head Island this weekend - a small and remote village that's home to the oldest lighthouse in NC. Beyond that, there's that Starbuck's 15 miles away in Shallotte...



The beach? Well, it is lovely to stroll on during low tide, but not really walkable during high tide - not enough beach. A local guy who used to live in Florida complained to us that he can't spear fish because the water is always murky, and he can't surf because the waves rarely get big enough. Now, not that we plan to surf and spear fish any time soon, but that wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of the beach from someone "in the know."


Anyway, we have two more weeks here in OKI. Our accommodations are great - a new home on a quiet street in a very walkable neighborhood just 1/2 mile from the water. Best Airbnb host ever too! (He left us an apple pie and a bottle of Argentinian Malbec as a token of his thanks, and even arranged for a house cleaner to come mid-stay on his dime! Not the norm - lol!).


We are making the most of Oak Island in the meantime - found a cute sports bar where we can watch Marquette games and the NFL playoffs (the streaming services in many of these Airbnbs do not accommodate our viewing preferences!). We're methodically checking off all the restaurants we can find that are still open in the off season. And we've sought out nearby walking trails and other historic landmarks. We will likely spend a day putzing around Wilmington too. But it's safe to say we are eager to return to HHI next month and bide our time until our new home is move-in ready - which now is slated for the end of March. So, for us, OKI is just OK. But for others who want a really quiet, affordable beach escape, this could be the ticket. It's just not for us.


Next up: What we've learned about Airbnb stays - what to look for, what to lookout for, and what to overlook.







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