Kayak Tour at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, NC

Located on the northern section of Hatteras Island, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of 5,834 acres of land and 25,700 acres of water. Kayaking is the best way to explore this “birders paradise”. The official list of birds sighted on this refuge is 365 species long. The tour starts at a location named New Inlet which closed in the 1930’s. With every passing storm and hurricane the inlet threatens to reopen. We kayak under the old wooden bridge which was built to allow car traffic to cross the inlet. Ironically, the inlet closed before its completion. Today, the remains of this structure provide a reminder of the volatility of this island and a resting spot for brown pelican, osprey, cormorants and royal tern. As we navigate in and around the many marsh islands which make up this refuge we will talk about the migrating nature of the Outer Banks and how it was formed some 12,000 years ago. This tour has the clearest waters of any of our tours, which allows us to view a wide variety of aquatic life beneath our kayaks including stingray, oysters and hermit crabs. Along our tour route it is also possible to land our kayaks on a sandy beach where we can explore the shallow waters on foot or take a swim. You can enjoy this tour from March through November. Tours depart from the New Inlet parking area 6 miles south of Oregon Inlet at mile post 34 in the mornings and a few hours before sunset.