Best Surf Spots in North Carolina

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The best surf spots in North Carolina, ranked by how highly LazySurfer surfers have rated them — each with its ideal swell, wind and tide plus a live NOAA buoy report and tide chart. Tap any spot for the full report.

• Cape Hatteras Lighthouse — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the east, low incoming tide
• Oceanana Pier — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the south, high incoming tide
• Buxton Coastal Hazard — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the east, low outgoing tide
• Frisco Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, low incoming tide
• North Buxton — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, low incoming tide
• Lighthouse Third Groin — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, low incoming tide
• Billy Mitchell — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, low incoming tide
• S Turns — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, mid incoming tide
• Rodanthe Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, mid incoming tide
• Southern Duck — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Abalone St — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, mid outgoing tide
• Carolina Beach Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the southeast, high incoming tide
• 1st St — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the south, high incoming tide
• Avon Pier — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, low outgoing tide
• Kure Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Bogue Inlet Pier — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southeast, mid outgoing tide
• Nags Head Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, mid incoming tide
• Jennette's Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the east, mid incoming tide
• C Street Wrightsville Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the southeast, high outgoing tide
• 3rd St — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Eckner Street — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Old Station Laundromats — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Avalon Pier — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Bath House — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Bennett St Kitty Hawk — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, high incoming tide
• Kitty Hawk Pier — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southeast, high incoming tide
• Jennette's Pier Northside — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the east, mid incoming tide

Frequently asked

What's the best surf spot in North Carolina?

By LazySurfer's session ratings, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the top-rated surf spot in North Carolina. Oceanana Pier and Buxton Coastal Hazard rank close behind. Each spot's page shows its ideal conditions and a live NOAA buoy and tide report.

Where can beginners surf in North Carolina?

For learning, look to the North Carolina breaks that are at their best on small, forgiving waves — including Abalone St, Avon Pier, Bogue Inlet Pier. These tend to be the most approachable, though every spot gets bigger on a good swell, so check the live report first.

How does LazySurfer rank surf spots in North Carolina?

LazySurfer ranks each break by the surf-quality ratings real users logged there, and trains a custom deep-learning model — a PyTorch neural network with per-user embeddings, retrained weekly on those logged sessions — to predict the 1-to-5 star rating you personally would give, rather than a single average for everyone.

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