the beach today
Pleasure Island Guide

Carolina
Beach

Pleasure Island

Everything for a day on the Pleasure Island sand: conditions, parking, the Boardwalk and the river sunset, and where to eat after.

Today on the Sand

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Water Temp

84°

warm · gentle surf

UV Index

9

very high · 10am–4pm

Beach Crowd

Busy

holiday weekend

Beach Toolkit

Beach Conditions

Surf, tides & water temp

Parking Finder

Boardwalk lots, meters & Freeman

River Sunset

Cape Fear River & the marina

Dining

Donuts, chowder & fresh oysters

Things to Do

Head boats, dolphins & the river

Events

What's on this week

Pick Your Sand

north to south

The Boardwalk

Old-time boardwalk, arcades & Britt's

Paid lots nearby

Lake Park Blvd Accesses

Central beach access & showers

Metered · Access lots

Freeman Park

4WD drive-on north end by the inlet

Permit required

Carolina Beach State Park

River, marina & Venus flytrap trails

Free · nature

Kure Beach

Quiet neighbor, pier & aquarium

Free & metered

Fort Fisher

Wide free beach & Civil War fort

Free lot · south end

Dolphin Cruises

Open →

Compare daily sails from the marina — wild dolphins on nearly every trip.

Beyond the Beach

day trips

Kure Beach

10 min south

Fishing pier, the NC Aquarium & Fort Fisher

Wilmington

20 min north

Riverwalk, downtown dining & the USS North Carolina

Wrightsville Beach

35 min north

Surf town, Banks Channel & Masonboro Island

Southport

45 min west

Historic waterfront & the Bald Head ferry

see you on the sand

Water temp, surf and UV are live from NOAA & Open-Meteo; sunset is computed locally for Carolina Beach. Crowd level is a weekday/weekend estimate.

Right now at Carolina Beach, the water is 82°F, surf is running 2–3 ft and the air is 76°F but feels like 82°F. Wind is 4 mph from the SSE and the UV index peaks at 7 (high) today. Today’s tides: High 12:13 AM, Low 5:59 AM, High 12:51 PM, Low 7:19 PM. Dogs are allowed right now, on a leash. Allowed until 9 AM.