Oregon Inlet Campground — Hotel in Wanchese

Fantastic - BUT PREPARE. SERIOUSLY ( NO SEE UMS )

Experienced tent camper here and this is a beautiful place but i rushed a trip and CAUGHT off guard here. Everyone online warns about the mosquitoes which is common sense... but there was NOTHING on No-See-Ums flies. And they are there in hoards....

Which means make sure your tent screen/window mesh is the no-see-um/micro mesh designed specifically against no-see-ums taking over your tent. Many name brand tents models are not and in most situations regular netting is fine and better for air circulation, but not for locations heavy w no see ums... My tent was not and from the torturous sounds of neighboring campers chatter/early morning departures theirs weren't either... These are WAY worse than mosquitoes and leave you itching for days/weeks sometimes.

I brought a great tent for cool/colder weather that didn't have micro-mesh and in attempt to get some relief from the heat at night we took down the rain fly and unzipped windows to mesh only and THAT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE.... Turned on flash lights and you could see those things flying in droves through the regular mesh like it wasn't there... and many times by the time you know those things have bitten you its too late... And once several dozen are in it is not going to be a good night.

Needless to say a longer trip cut short simply due to this alone. Will go back properly prepared. Another big surprise was how muggy it was after sundown till about 4 am. It was summer but i kind of counted on the ocean breeze coming thru to cool things down at night but NO DICE at my site. 0 mile an hr breeze at and steamy conditions until about 3am...

Reading more on the weather this seems to be common condition at certain times of year. I do think the position of the camp site you pick impacts this as well... We stayed at A25 which had a nice breeze during the day/eve... but gone by night time... but went to bath room at night which is just a short walk but i noticed different areas were getting a little more of a breeze than others... the heat alone i can deal with but no see ums without micro mesh in hot muggy conditions... no way.

Bottom Line: It is a gem of tent campground... nice people, very very clean... I will go back better prepared. Distance between sites not as big as they appear online but still very good. Great fishing around.... Marina across the street. Sites r much closer to the highway than i thought so quite a bit of road noise till 12pm or so but some sites would do better on this than others. Ideally come when its cooler climate because you can't count on cool nights, and 10000% make sure you're tent netting is micro-mesh if you do come when...

Pros: Plenty of camp spots. There are some beach accesses within walking distance from the camp, but we decided to drive 15' down to Rodanthe for a nicer beach site. Restroom facility is ok with just minutes walk and have warm shower rooms. No campfire is allowed but picnic table and coal grill on spot. We brought our own water but it looked like they have drinking water fountain outside of the restroom. Good distance in between Rodanthe and Nags Head. Decent price. (online websites said $20 but it is actually $28 now, still acceptable for us I guess). One can pay each day at a time if decide to extend the stay.

Cons: No soap in the bathroom. No light in the shower room if one decides to take a shower when it gets dark. Cactus: oh yeah, we stepped on some while walking in our flip-flop and the "pulled the thorns out of our feets" part really isn't something you want to feel so watch where you walk if in your flip-flop. Bugs attack: we were warned about the bugs before we decided to pay for the camping days because it's non-refundable. I didn't think it would be so bad since we have bug spray but it was pretty bad at least to me. The gnats and mosquitoes are too crazy. They could be everywhere and invisible to normal eyes when it got dark outside.

My husband was ok with just bug spray and short sleeves but I don't know why I was bitten badly even I covered myself up with long sleeves and pants. I only find it make sense that it's because of my scent that attracted them. So I guess it depends on the people. Make sure your tent is sealed too, we didn't realize there was an open hole in our new tent for power access and woke up with bunch of gnats inside our tents the 1st night.

In general, it was a short - ok option for us to have a place to clean up and rest for couple days staying at the Outer Bank but may not be for everyone due to...

Endured 7 hours of driving through beautiful scenery to finally arrive at the campsite which had been reserved months in advance. A reservation being absolutely necessary as the campground was completely full for the duration of our stay. We were greeted at the ranger station with a smile and a warm welcome by a ranger who remembered us from the previous years’ adventure. The ranger checked us in and directed us to our camp site. That site was easy to find through the hordes of campers and barking dogs because it was the only site not occupied. We fought our way through the armies of sand fleas and squadrons of mosquitoes, which were only kept at bay by the relentless winds from the sound, to set up camp. We were thankful to the many negative reviewers to have warned us of the imposing threats of sand fleas, mosquitos, sand spurs, noisy generators and barking dogs. We came fully prepared for battle with shoes to prevent sand spur penetration. For the mosquitos and sand fleas we also came prepared with insect repellent the determination to bite back. To combat the noisy generators and barking dogs we came fully prepared to mind our own business and be respectful to other campers, and enjoyed the eerily silent quiet hours of the campground which are posted in several locations throughout the campground. Although dealing with all the great forces of nature and human activity was difficult, our trip could not have been more enjoyable. If you are looking for a sea side campground with easy access to the calm, clear waters of Pamlico sound and beautiful beach access to the deep, blue waters of the Atlantic, this is absolutely the place to be. Just be warned there may, in fact, be minor inconveniences that can make or break your stay here, depending on how you perceive those challenges. Already looking looking forward to next...