Boating

Oceans RV Resort

193 RV Sites, 10 Cottages

Oceans RV Resort in Holly Ridge, North Carolina, offers 193 full-hookup RV sites and 10 cottages on the Onslow County coastal plain, with 30 and 50-amp service, open all year. Deluxe exterior sites with extended yard and parking join interior and exterior standard and Plus categories, with a pool, fitness center, bar, and boat storage. One hundred ninety-three sites span exterior standard, exterior Plus with extra parking, interior standard, interior Plus with extra parking, and deluxe exterior with extended yard and parking categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with site WiFi, with fire pits and picnic tables. Naming categories by position and by how much parking and yard you get is unusually practical — extra vehicle space matters if you are towing a boat or traveling with a second car. Ten cottages and cabins round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, restrooms, showers, RV storage, and boat storage handle the practical side. An outdoor pool anchors the warm months, with a fitness center, sports courts, pickleball, basketball, corn hole, a pond, playground, dog park, and bar filling the grounds. Fishing, swimming, and picnicking round it out, with planned activities through the season and a beach, golf course, and wine tasting nearby. Pets are welcome. Holly Ridge sits within reach of the Topsail Island beaches and the Crystal Coast's barrier islands, with Camp Lejeune and the region's military heritage close by. Summer beach season drives the heaviest demand on the southern North Carolina coast. Reserve well ahead.

from $67/night

The Lakes RV & Cabin Resort

49 RV Sites, 5 Cabins, 4 Tent Sites

The Lakes RV & Cabin Resort in Maysville, NC, offers 49 full-hookup RV sites, 1 cabin, and 4 tent sites, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and back-in sites for rigs up to 40 feet. Sites come in three categories — preferred, lake view, and poolside — all back-ins carrying water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table. EV charging is available, still uncommon in this part of the state. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, propane fills and exchange, golf cart rentals, and both RV and boat storage cover the practical side. Check-in for RV sites is 2pm with a 1pm checkout; cabins run 4pm. Pets are welcome, with a dog park. An outdoor pool, a beach, a boat ramp, sport courts, volleyball, a pavilion, a playground, and walking trails fill the grounds, with swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, live music, and planned activities on the calendar. Maysville sits in Jones County on the eastern North Carolina coastal plain, midway between the freshwater lakes of Croatan National Forest and the coast. Rates for sites, the cabin, and tent spots are on the booking page. Lake view and poolside sites are the ones to request and they go first.

from $41/night

Dixon Landing RV Resort

28 RV Sites

Dixon Landing RV Resort in Grantsboro, North Carolina, offers 28 RV sites across 130 wooded acres on Goose Creek, with 20, 30, and 50-amp water-and-electric service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 70 feet. Deluxe waterfront and waterview 30/50-amp categories join a standard tier, with a recreation center, walking trails, and pond. Twenty-eight sites span 30/50-amp deluxe waterfront, 30/50-amp standard, and 30/50-amp waterview categories, carrying water and electric, sized to 70 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Plan around the hookups — sites carry water and electric but not sewer, so manage tank capacity and use the dump station. Accessible sites are available, and two of three categories touch the water. Seventy feet accommodates a long coach with a tow. A general store, laundry, propane fills and exchange, dump station, restrooms, showers, and recycling handle the practical side. A recreation center, walking trails, pond, dog park, corn hole, and picnicking fill the grounds, with boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing on the creek and genuinely productive birding through the surrounding forest. Pets are welcome. More than 2,000 feet of creek frontage opening toward the broad Neuse River estuary gives the property real waterfront substance. Pamlico County sits on the Inner Coastal Plain about 20 minutes from Oriental, the sailing capital of North Carolina, with New Bern's historic district and the Croatan National Forest close and the Outer Banks reachable to the east. Spring and fall bring the most comfortable coastal plain conditions and the best birding, with summer drawing boating traffic. Reserve ahead for warm-weather weekends.

from $40/night

Beaufort Waterway RV Park

13 RV Sites

Beaufort Waterway RV Park in North Carolina is a 55-plus community offering 13 full-hookup RV sites on the Crystal Coast, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 55 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, open all year behind a gated entrance. Back-in and pull-through categories join a marina, boat ramp, fishing pier, fishing guides, and a concierge. Thirteen sites run in back-in and pull-through categories, both carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with site WiFi, sized to 55 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Two straightforward categories keep booking simple. Cabins round out the lodging. A laundry, restrooms, showers, RV storage, firewood, and a concierge handle the practical side — a concierge at a 13-site park is genuinely unusual and says something about the service level. The park is LGBTIQA+ friendly. A marina, boat ramp, boat docks, boat rentals, and a fishing pier open the water, with on-site fishing guides available. A clubhouse, community fire pit, and dog park fill the rest. Pets are welcome. Directions from the Beaufort Bypass: turn onto NC-101 west, go 6.6 miles to Core Creek Road, and take the left. Beaufort is one of the most charming and historically authentic maritime towns in the South — eighteenth-century homes along Front Street, a working waterfront, and the North Carolina Maritime Museum holding artifacts from Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge, wrecked just offshore. Cape Lookout, Shackleford Banks' wild horses, and the Outer Banks ferries are all close. Spring and fall bring the best weather and fishing. Reserve well ahead.

In The Pines RV & Cabin Village

8 Cabins

In The Pines RV and Cabin Village in Bolivia, North Carolina, is a quiet, nature-close camping destination in Brunswick County — a tucked-away small campground near Wilmington that gives campers the peaceful pine forest setting as an alternative to the coastal strand resort campgrounds, with RV sites and cabin accommodations in the longleaf pine and wiregrass woodland that the Brunswick County interior's sandhills landscape sustains between the Cape Fear River and the Intracoastal Waterway's coastal strand. Bolivia's Brunswick County position on US-17 south of Leland gives the campground the practical access to both the Wilmington metropolitan area's cultural and historical attractions and the Brunswick Island beaches that the US-17 and NC-211 corridor connects to Holden Beach, Sunset Beach, and Ocean Isle Beach in the Brunswick County's most visited family beach communities. Small-scale RV sites and cabin accommodations in the pine forest setting give In The Pines the specific quiet, close-to-nature character of a Brunswick County campground whose scale and natural setting give guests the pine forest camping experience that the larger commercial campgrounds' developed landscape cannot sustain — the campground's tucked-away character and the surrounding longleaf pine woodland give the Bolivia property its specific identity as a nature-first campground in the Brunswick County sandhills landscape that was historically the native range of the longleaf pine ecosystem. Pets are welcome. The Brunswick County Islands — Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach, and Brunswick Island — give the campground its most visited day-trip destinations on the North Carolina coast south of Wilmington, where the Brunswick County barrier island beaches' calm family character, the Intracoastal Waterway's boating and kayaking access, and the Brunswick Islands' less-commercialized resort character distinguish the Brunswick strand from the more developed Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach resort corridors. Sunset Beach's Kindred Spirit Mailbox on Bird Island — the most remote accessible beach in Brunswick County — sustains the decades-old tradition of strangers leaving journal entries in the beachfront mailbox. Southport, 20 miles southeast of Bolivia on NC-211 at the Cape Fear River's mouth in Brunswick County, is one of North Carolina's most charming and most filmed coastal communities — a Victorian-era river port whose tree-lined streets, the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Southport's maritime heritage collection, and the recurring role as the filming location for films and TV productions (Safe Haven, Under the Dome, and Dawson's Creek among others) give the Brunswick County port town its specific combination of architectural heritage and coastal town character. The Fort Anderson Civil War earthworks at Brunswick Town State Historic Site eight miles north give the Cape Fear River its specific colonial and Civil War heritage. In The Pines RV and Cabin Village serves guests year-round in Brunswick County's mild southeastern North Carolina coastal climate, with the spring and fall seasons providing the most comfortable camping conditions for the longleaf pine forest walks and the Brunswick Island beach visits that the US-17 corridor's easy access to the barrier island bridges enables without the summer heat and maximum beach crowd density. The N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, 25 miles northeast of Bolivia in New Hanover County, is the largest aquarium in North Carolina — a 100,000-gallon shark tank and the sea turtle recovery program give the Fort Fisher facility the coastal marine ecology interpretation. Reserve sites and cabins ahead for the summer beach season and the fall migratory shorebird season on the Brunswick strand.

from $70/night

Camp Clearwater Family Campground

112 RV Sites

Camp Clearwater Family Campground in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, offers 111 full-hookup RV sites on White Lake, with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs accepted up to 105 feet. Luxury back-in, premium pull-through, and standard pull-through categories sit behind a gated entrance, with a beach, boat ramp, fishing pier, and mini-golf on the property. One hundred eleven sites run in luxury back-in, premium pull-through, and standard pull-through configurations, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with cable TV and site WiFi, sized to 105 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Laundry and restrooms handle the practical side. Two booking notes: the office is closed Wednesdays and staff are occasionally out at RV shows, so call ahead, and a $10 booking fee applies to each reservation on top of listed rates. The lake carries the recreation. A beach gives direct swimming access, a boat ramp and fishing pier serve boaters and anglers, and boating runs from the property. Mini-golf, a ball field, basketball, volleyball, gaga ball, an arcade, a playground, a dog park, and a pavilion fill the grounds, with on-site dining and a boutique shop for meals and supplies. A gated entrance controls access. Pets are welcome. White Lake is a Carolina bay — one of the shallow elliptical lakes found almost exclusively on the Atlantic Coastal Plain — and its artesian-fed water is exceptionally clear, which is the reason families return. The surrounding Bladen County landscape carries longleaf pine restoration and bottomland hardwood forest along the Cape Fear watershed. Summer lake season drives demand. Reserve ahead for warm-weather weekends.

from $40/night

Natures Trace Park

17 RV Sites, 4 Cabins, 1 Tent Site, 4 Onsite RV/Trailers, 1 Apartment, 2 Tiny Houses

Natures Trace Park in Bayboro, NC, offers 21 full-hookup RV sites, 7 apartment, cabin, and tiny house rentals, and 1 tent site, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 48 feet. Sites come as 30/50-amp full-hookup back-in lots, 30/50-amp full-hookup pull-through lots, and deluxe buddy lots for two rigs traveling together, plus camper rentals for guests arriving without one. All carry water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi and a picnic table, and ADA-accessible sites are available. The property is gated and rated big rig friendly, with laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, a storm shelter, RV storage, and boat storage on site. Pets are welcome, with a dog park. Fishing guides operate from the property, and a community fire pit, pavilion, corn hole, and wooded grounds fill the rest. The park also serves as a wedding venue. Bayboro sits in the quiet coastal plain of Pamlico County, on the Bay River arm of the Pamlico Sound, with serious fishing and coastal waterway access minutes from the gate. Rates for sites and rentals are on the booking page. Buddy lots are limited — ask for one if you're traveling with another rig.

from $40/night

Oak Island Campground

52 RV Sites, 2 Onsite RV/Trailers

Oak Island Campground in Southport, NC, offers 54 full-hookup back-in RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 50 feet. Sites come in four categories — deluxe full-hookup, premium full-hookup, and two named sites, Flounder and Wahoo — all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi. The campground is rated big rig friendly. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a boutique shop, on-site dining, a pavilion, a community fire pit, and cabins cover the rest. Pets are welcome, with a dog park. Creek frontage, beach access, corn hole, live music, and coastal dark sky for stargazing fill the grounds, with swimming, fishing, boating, and picnicking. Southport is a postcard-pretty waterfront town just south of Wilmington on the Brunswick County coast, and the campground sits within a mile of the beach. The Southport trolley, the ferry, the Oak Island Lighthouse, and downtown are all close. Rates by site category are on the booking page. Summer on the Brunswick coast books early — deluxe and premium sites go first.

from $77/night

Cotton Patch Landing

3 RV Sites, 5 Cabins, 1 Tent Site, 1 Cottage

Cotton Patch Landing in Chocowinity, NC, offers 3 full-hookup RV sites, 6 cabin and cottage rentals, and 1 tent site, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 80 feet. Every RV site is a full-hookup 30/50-amp back-in carrying water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table, and ADA-accessible sites are available. At 80 feet the sites take the longest coaches — remarkable for a three-site property. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, and propane fills and exchange cover the essentials. Pets are welcome, and there's a playground. The marina carries the property: boat docks, a boat ramp, boat and kayak rentals, boat storage, on-site dining, a snack bar, food trucks, and a pavilion, with fishing, boating, paddling, and picnicking on the creek. Chocowinity sits on Blount's Creek in the tidal estuary country of North Carolina's Inner Banks, where the Pamlico River meets the creek system draining the coastal plain south of Washington. Rates for sites, cabins, and the tent spot are on the booking page. Three RV sites at a working marina means booking early is essential.

from $26/night

Cedar Island Ranch

60 RV Sites, 15 Tent Sites

Cedar Island Ranch in Cedar Island, NC, offers 21 full-hookup RV sites and 7 tent sites, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 75 feet. The three site categories are named for the view: waterfront full-hookup back-ins, waterview full-hookup pull-thrus, and wooded full-hookup pull-thrus. All carry water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table. At 75 feet the pull-thrus handle long coaches. A bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, and a dump station cover the essentials, and pets are welcome with a dog park. Kayak rentals, a beach, sport courts, volleyball, corn hole, and a playground fill the grounds, with swimming, boating, fishing, horseback riding, and paddling on and around the property. Cedar Island sits at the edge of the Pamlico Sound, where miles of undeveloped barrier beach run to the horizon — about as unspoiled as the North Carolina coast still gets, and the ferry landing for Ocracoke. Rates for sites and tent spots are on the booking page. Waterfront back-ins are the premium spots and book first.

Brunswick Beaches Campground

76 RV Sites, 14 Tent Sites

Brunswick Beaches Campground in Sunset Beach, NC, offers 76 full-hookup RV sites and 14 tent sites, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 100 feet. Sites come in four categories — back-in, pull-thru, pull-thru 30-amp, and pull-thru 50-amp — all carrying water, sewer, electric, and cable TV with site-delivered WiFi. At 100 feet the pull-thrus take the longest coaches. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, propane fills, a dump station, on-site dining, and both RV and boat storage cover the practical side, with cabins for guests without a rig. Pets are welcome — the dog park has separate sides for small and large dogs. An outdoor pool, a pond, a pavilion, basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, corn hole, and a playground fill the grounds, with fishing, swimming, biking, and boating nearby. Sunset Beach sits at the southern end of the Brunswick Islands on the Cape Fear coast — a string of barrier islands with some of the least crowded beaches on the East Coast, between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. Rates by site category are on the booking page. Summer on the Brunswick Islands books early.

from $23/night

North Myrtle Beach RV Resort and Dry Dock Marina

230 RV Sites, 12 Cottages

North Myrtle Beach RV Resort and Dry Dock Marina in Little River, South Carolina, offers 230 RV sites and 12 cottages on the Intracoastal Waterway, with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 75 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. A full marina, boat docks, splash pad, and hot tub sit behind a gated entrance. Two hundred thirty sites span back-in, water-and-electric back-in, premium back-in, premium pull-through, and pull-through categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted with cable TV, sized to 75 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Accessible sites are available. Twelve cottages round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, dump station, restrooms, firewood, and boat storage handle the practical side. Sites along the activity areas fill fastest — the resort is busy through summer and school breaks. The marina is the distinguishing feature. Boat docks, boat rentals, kayak rentals, and dry dock storage give direct Intracoastal access for boating, fishing, paddle boarding, and canoeing. A splash pad, hot tub, sports courts, pickleball, volleyball, basketball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, corn hole, an arcade, craft room, playground, dog park, and golf cart rentals fill the grounds, with a bar, on-site dining, snack bar, and live music besides. Pets are welcome. Little River sits at the Grand Strand's northern end, with beaches, golf courses, and an amusement park close. Summer is decisively the season. Reserve well ahead.

from $160/night