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Located two nautical miles off the coast of southeastern North Carolina, Bald Head Island is a resort and residential community accessible only by private boat or ferry. Transportation on the island is limited to electric carts, bicycles and pedestrian traffic.
The island is open to the public and accessible only by boat. Bald Head Island operates daily ferries to the island, which run hourly from 6:00 am. Return evening hours vary by day and season. The ten-acre Bald Head Island Marina is home to both the Passenger Ferry Terminal and the Bald Head Island Yacht Club. Bald Head Island is the northernmost semitropical environment on the East Coast and the last point at which sabal palms grow naturally. Moderated by the warm waters of the nearby Gulf Stream, the weather on Bald Head Island is generally mild year-round. With beaches along its eastern, southern and western shores, Bald Head Island allows you to witness the sun both rising and setting over the Atlantic Ocean each day.
Bald Head Island got its name from early river pilots’ reference to its “bald" headland that is devoid of vegetation. Pilots would look for this high dune headland on the island's southwest point as a landmark leading to the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Just offshore are the “Frying Pan Shoals” that extend 20 miles from the cape point, the site of hundreds of shipwrecks in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The most visible landmark on the island is Old Baldy, a lighthouse commissioned by Thomas Jefferson and completed in 1817. Old Baldy is North Carolina's oldest lighthouse and is open daily from dawn to dusk. Visitors are welcome to traverse the 108 steps to reach Old Baldy's pinnacle, which provides visitors panoramic, 360-degree views of the entire island. The entire island complex (historically referred to as Smith Island) consists of 12,000 acres, featuring 14 miles of pristine beaches and seven distinct environments – West Beach, South Beach, East Beach, Marsh and Creek, Maritime Forest, Harbor Village and Golf Course. Bald Head Island is the southernmost barrier island in N.C., where the mouth of the Cape Fear River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The eastern tip of the island forms the Cape Fear Point. Bald Head Island features nearly 885 private residences (including condominiums) and approximately 200 year-round residents.
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