1. Island House Of Wanchese Bed And Breakfast
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (252) 473-5619, (866) 473-5619
Address: 104 Old Wharf Rd.
Description: This old home, built in 1902, was converted into a bed-and-breakfast several years ago. Furnished in period antiques, with Oriental rugs and cabana fans, the small but cozy establishment offers many comforts, including private baths, cable TV, clock radios in every room, beach towels and chairs, and a hot tub for guests. Each of the four rooms and one suite has a double bed. Island House offers a breakfast buffet often including casseroles, grits, fresh fruit, sweets, and juice. Evening tea is served with snacks. A guest pantry is open 24 hours a day. This is a nonsmoking establishment, but smoking is allowed on the porch. Kids 8 and up are welcome, as are small pets. Island House is open year-round.
2. Wanchese Inn Bed And Breakfast
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (252) 475-1166, (252) 473-0602
Address: 85 Jovers Ln.
Description: Dock your boat just behind this quaint bed-and-breakfast. Nestled in the heart of Wanchese, this delightful inn serves a full breakfast each day. Pets are not allowed; and the inn is open all year.
3. The Wanchese Christian Academy
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Education
Telephone: (252) 473-5797
Address: 39 The Lane
Description: The oldest private school on the Outer Banks, this K–12 facility was founded in 1978 by members of the Wanchese Assembly of God Church, who wanted to teach their children moral values and Bible studies. This Christian school is open to members of any religion. About 110 students from Currituck to Avon attend. (Transportation is not provided.) The Wanchese Christian Academy meets North Carolina private-school requirements.
4. Thicket Lump Marina
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (252) 473-4500
Address: Thicket Lump Road
Description: This family-owned and -operated, 28-slip marina rents dock space to pleasure and fishing vessels up to 45 feet by the day, week, month, or year. A ship’s store and tackle shop are at the marina, and both gas and diesel fuel are available. Thicket Lump offers inshore and offshore charters; call for information. The marina is open throughout the year.
5. Tideline Charters
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (252) 261-1458
Address: Thicket Lump Marina
Description: The 34-foot custom Carolina boat called the Tideline takes full- and half-day inshore and intermediate trips. Half-day inshore trips and full-day intermediate trips are offered.
6. Mill Landing
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: NC 345
Description: Near the end of a winding 5-mile road, past a long expanse of wide, waving marshlands overflowing with waterfowl, Wanchese is well off the beaten path of most visitors and remains one of the most unspoiled areas on the barrier islands. At the very end of NC 345, one of the most picturesque and unchanged areas of the Outer Banks is often overlooked: Mill Landing, which embodies the heritage of the Outer Banks. Here active fishing trawlers anchor at the docks, their mesh still dripping seaweed from the wide roller wheels. Watermen in yellow chest waders and white rubber boots (known locally as Wanchese wingtips) sling shark, tuna, and dolphin onto cutting-room carts. Pieces of the island’s past float silently in the harbor, mingling with remade boats that are still afloat and sunken ships that have long since disappeared.The fish houses at Mill Landing include Wanchese Fish Company, Etheridge’s, Jaws Seafood, Quality Seafood, and Moon Tillett’s. These houses ship seafood to restaurants in Hampton Roads, Baltimore, New York, Boston, and Tokyo. Scallops, shrimp, fish, and crabs are available here in season.
7. Wanchese Seafood Industrial Park
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (252) 473-5867
Address: 615 Harbor Rd.
Description: A 69-acre industrial park on a deep harbor at Wanchese, this state-supported facility was built in 1980 with $8.1 million in state and federal funds. It was designed to attract large-scale seafood-processing companies to set up shop on the secluded Roanoke Island waterfront. After federal promises about stabilizing Oregon Inlet failed to materialize, few deep-draw fishing trawlers could keep risking the trip through the East Coast’s most dangerous inlet. Oregon Inlet continued to shoal terribly through the 1980s, and the seafood park remained largely vacant until 1994, when some smaller area businesses and fish-processing plants began establishing themselves there. Unpredictable weather patterns still affect the channel’s navigability. The industrial park is an educational attraction for anyone interested in the maritime world of boatbuilding and sea harvesting. Visitors are welcome to drive or walk through and visit the boat docks. Stop by the office if you have questions.
8. Nick Sapone
City: Wanchese, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (252) 473-3136
Address: 292 The Lane
Description: Local decoy carver Nick Sapone produces hand-carved, hunting-style decoys. He makes both wooden decoys and the traditional Outer Banks–canvas style. He welcomes visitors to his home studio by appointment.