Sunset Beach Seashore — Attraction in North Carolina

Visited this beach for the first time ever since living here in NC. The beach would get a 5 for me....except for a few things...parking be one. We drove around for about 30 minutes trying to find parking...we drove up to a lot that looked like the main entrance and I rolled my window down and my husband only pulled in so that we were not holding up traffic to ask a question about where we could park and if the lot was paid parking only to have a sign shook at us that read "Paid Pass Holder Parking Only" and he turned his back on us. Every street had a sign that stated no parking, no parking on corner, park directional, until we drove down a little more and ended up on a back street. We happen to come upon a spot where 4 cars where facing north and one car south so we parked facing north like the other cars and my husband pulled our SUV sedan as close to the fence as he could. We were happy to find a spot so we could enjoy our anniversary. We enjoyed being at the beach until my husband heard a young boy and his family walk by and he stated "they are the only n-word" on the beach...to which his mom popped him....my husband heard him say it again to which his mom hit him again..unfortunately I did not hear about it until after we packed up and got back to the car. To which I told my husband I wish he would have let me know asap. As we drove off I notice we had a ticket on our windshield for violating directional parking (which there was no sign) and they stated we were an obstruction in the road...smh. I disputed the ticket only to get the response that it was valid. No wonder the beach is so beautiful...it is kept clean by all the parking violations paid because there is no appropriate parking. Beautiful beach....some of the people were nice...until we ran into an uneducated young boy and his racist remarks...and of course parking. I would suggest not going during a holiday....I would also suggest to find out about the parking situation before you go....they give you 3 days to pay a fine if you do not pay it by that timeframe it jumps up by $25 and if you do not pay it before 10 days or so it jumps up another 25.00. Loved the beach and the serenity..but the rest of the...

Sunset Beach is the southern most Brunswick Islands beach and ranked by National Geographic’s as one of the 21 Best Beaches in the World. Miles of pristine, clean and serene beach front and neighbor to Bird Island, a 1300 acre state preserve, and the Kindred Spirit Mailbox. Three miles of white sand and undisturbed sand dunes, offer a natural habitat for a vast array of coastal wildlife and nesting ground, including the endangered loggerhead sea turtle. Sunset Beach has a full-service fishing pier with snack bar and grill, outdoor showers and modern bathroom facilities. If one is willing to make the 1.5 mile stroll along the beach one will first encounter the primitive 1.25 mile nature trail etched into the north side of the dunes. And shortly after, the Kindred Spirit Mailbox located up in the dunes offering travelers the ability to pen encouraging words to those who come afterwards. Author Nicholas Sparks was so moved by the mailbox, it became the inspiration behind his 2018 novel Every Breath. Parking is available right on site and on-street parking but comes at a price of $5/hour. An adjacent sand lot does offer all day parking at $10, so for a planned day a...

Sunset Beach is aptly named—there are always great views of the sunsets since the beach is unobstructed by buildings along the dunes. My family has been coming here for a decade. Reasons for this include the lack of commercialism on the beach, lack of crowds (once you move away from the pier), beautiful waves and clean beaches, sea turtles, etc. Sunset Beach is a haven and great...