Attractions - Hatteras Village

Blue Marlin Display

• 57690 N.C. Highway 12, Hatteras Village Library and Community Center
• Hatteras Village

Hatteras Village is the offshore fishing capital of the Outer Banks. Big-game marlin fishing began here in the 1930s. To see a blue marlin (one that’s been mounted and preserved), go over to the Hatteras Village Library and Community Center. On the outside wall, encased in a glass box, is a world-record, 810-pound blue marlin that was caught on June 11, 1962, off Hatteras Island. The world record has since been broken, but this is still an impressive specimen.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

• 46379 N.C. Highway 12 and Lighthouse Road
• Buxton
• (252) 995-4474

If any one thing represents all of Hatteras Island, it has to be the famous black-and-white, spiral-striped Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The lighthouse has become the icon of the island, representing the hopeful, stalwart, survivalist attitude that is so pervasive among the people of Hatteras. This is one of the most famous lighthouses in the nation, especially since it survived a controversial, precarious move in 1999. Now in the hands of the National Park Service, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is open to the public.

Visitors 42 inches and taller can climb the spiral staircase up to the top of the lighthouse for an unforgettable view of the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Hatteras and Buxton. For the 2011 season, the climb costs $7 for adults and $3.50 for children 11 years of age and younger and seniors ages 62 and older. The lighthouse is open from the third Friday in April through Columbus Day. Lighthouse tours begin at 9 a.m. daily and run every 10 minutes with a limit of 30 visitors per tour. The last tickets of the day are sold at 5:40 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day and 4:40 p.m. other times of the year. This is a very popular attraction and no advance tickets are sold, so the best thing to do is to get there early (before noon) and visit the ticket booth to buy a ticket, which will state the time of your tour. The ticket booth opens at 8:15 a.m. Be sure to be at the gate five minutes before your tour time. A museum about lighthouses and the history of the Outer Banks is located inside the historic Double Keepers’ Quarters Building just across the lawn from the lighthouse. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year.

FYI: The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, along with Wright Brothers National Memorial, are designated Federal Recreation Fee Areas. Eighty percent of the funds generated by park fees are used to improve visitor facilities within the Outer Banks Group. The remaining 20 percent support projects in other National Park Service areas.

Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum

• 59200 Museum Drive
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2995, (252) 986-2996

At the end of N.C. Highway 12 next to the ferry terminal, the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum attracts a lot of attention with its unique, ship-like building, porthole windows and curved timbers. One of three North Carolina Maritime Museums operated by the North Carolina Division of Cultural Resources, the museum focuses on the maritime history and shipwrecks of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, often called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Exhibitions emphasize the periods from 1524 to 1945, with shipwreck artifacts and memorabilia on display and changing exhibits telling the dramatic tales of shipwrecks and life saving along the Carolina coast.

You can visit the museum for free and see the original 1854 lens to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the Enigma machine from the U-85, the bell from the Diamond Shoals Lightship (which was sunk by the Germans in WWI) and other exhibits on maritime history and shipwrecks.

From August 15, 2011, through July 15, 2012, the museum will host Flags Over Hatteras, an exhibition commemorating the Sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary of the Civil War on Hatteras Island. Historic events included the first Union victory of the war, which led to the loss of the inland waterways of eastern North Carolina. The exhibition is focused around the little-known assaults on Forts Hatteras and Clark, which took place August 28 and 29, 1861.  Displays will also explore the capture of the Fanny and The Chicamacomico Races and will feature items and documents from the period.

A Flags Over Hatteras conference will be held in Hatteras from August 22 through 28 and will feature the most prominent Civil War historians in the country.  Held at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum and other locations, the conference will feature a VIP Blue-Gray reunion, lecturers, speakers, living history programs and an auction. See www.flagsoverhatteras.com for more information.
 
The museum holds frequent programs in the summer months. On Second Saturdays and Tuesdays at 2, you can hear speakers. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday there are activities for kids. Call for a schedule or go to the web site at www.graveyardoftheatlantic.com for more information.

From April through October, hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. From November through March, hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. When you’re here, check out the historic markers in the parking lot, which tell interesting stories about the Civil War on the Outer Banks.

Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry

• End of N.C. Highway 12
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2353, (800) BY FERRY

For a free boat ride, drive onto the ferry at the south end of Hatteras Island. You’ll cross Hatteras Inlet and end up on the absolutely charming island of Ocracoke, where you’ll definitely want to spend a few hours or a whole day exploring the village shops, restaurants and historic sites (and pick up a copy of our sister paper, the Ocracoke Island newspaper, or click on the Ocracoke tab at the top of this page ). The ferry ride is about 45 minutes long. Once you get off the ferry onto Ocracoke Island, you’ll need transportation — your car or a bicycle — because it’s about 13 miles from the ferry dock to the village. But you can walk right over to the pristine beaches of Ocracoke right from the ferry docks. The ferry is free. In the summer (April 19 to October 11), the ferry runs every hour from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., every 30 minutes between 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. and every hour between 8 p.m. and midnight. Call for off-season hours or go to the Information section of the Ocracoke site. This ride may not be free forever (the state may need the money someday), so be sure to enjoy it while it is!

Sandy Bay Gallery

• 56910 N.C. Highway 12, Stowe on 12
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-1338

Sandy Bay Gallery is a standout among the art galleries on the Outer Banks. A favorite place to shop for locals and visitors alike, it is a place of pure creativity, with original fine artwork by locals and artists from around the country. You’ll find jewelry, canvas, art glass, sculpture, iron, clay and much more.

U.S. Weather Bureau Station/Hatteras Welcome Center

• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2203

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, weather observations gathered near Cape Hatteras were important for forecasters all along the East Coast. The Hatteras Island weather station was so critical that in 1901 the U.S. Weather Bureau constructed a dedicated Weather Bureau building in Hatteras village, one of only 11 such buildings constructed in the nation at the turn of the century. The building still stands in Hatteras village and is next to the Burrus Red & White grocery store at the corner of Saxon Cut and Kohler roads. The National Park Service restored the building to its original 1901 appearance, yellow exterior and all. The NPS had the benefit of the original building plans to aid in its restoration, so the building is true to the original. The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau operates a visitors/welcome center in one room of the building; stop by to pick up tourist information and also to see the interior of this historic building. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in season (with the exception of a short lunch break); call for off-season hours. They close in January and February.

Unloading Catches at the Docks

• Hatteras Village Marinas
• Hatteras Village

For a chance to see the offshore boats unloading the day’s deep-sea catches, head down to one of the Hatteras Village marinas between 3:30 and 5 p.m. When the boats come in, the fishing mates unload the day’s catches onto the docks so the fish can be taken away and cleaned. Most days you’ll see something, usually yellow-fin tuna, mahi mahi and wahoo or some other interesting fish. The big-game fish are caught and released, so you won’t see all the white marlin, blue marlin and sailfish that were caught that day, though you can count the flags on the boats to see how many were released. If you’re really lucky in the winter months you might see a boat bring in a giant blue-fin tuna.