Bald Head Island top and above. Credit: David Broad, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Above photo:

Bald Head is an escape with plenty of amenities. Two miles off the coast and accessible only by a 20-minute passenger-ferry ride from Southport, Bald Head Island is pretty much a whole 'nother world.

It's the southernmost of the state's barrier islands, (I’ve always been told that Sunset is the southernmost—BHI is right off Wilmington, so there’s a lot of coast till you get to South Carolina… I think) just where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Cape Fear River, and less than an hour (including drive and ferry ride) from Wilmington.

Bald Head is certainly remote. No cars are allowed, only golf carts and bicycles; the speed limit's 18 mph -- perhaps a nod to the island's George Cobb-designed championship golf course. No high-rise hotels here - a whole lot of lush foliage and a whole lot of deer; you'll see sea turtles and alligators along sea marshes, tidal basins and 14 miles of gorgeous beachfront. The fishing is quite fine: king and Spanish mackerel, blues, drum and flounder. The crabbing and clamming is good too. And the folks who come live and vacation on BHI are very protective of their loggerhead turtles, hosting Turtle Trot run/walk fundraisers to expand nature education on the island.

The maritime forest throughout the island is some of the best preserved in the state—canopies of live oaks, yaupons, palmettos and interdune swamps. Bird-watching is incredible—and mosquito swatting can be a non-stop competition, too. There’s a 180 acre reserve of maritime forest in the middle of the island, threaded with boardwalks and trails. Take your binoculars, so you can see all those birds up close—and stare down the snout of an alligator or two.

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