Attractions - Hatteras Village
This page provides information for attractions in Hatteras Village, NC on the Outer Banks.
Blue Pelican Gallery
- 57762 N.C. Highway 12
- Hatteras Village
- (252) 986-2244
Inside a restored 1950s Hatteras cottage, Blue Pelican Gallery offers an eclectic mix of artwork, most of it local. Owner/artist Jennifer Johnson is a native Hatteras Islander, and her photography reflects her love of the area. She also creates jewelry, which she sells here as well. Blue Pelican represents other local artists too, and you’ll find surf art, prints, tiles, pottery, ornaments, hard-carved birds, music and much more. Look for this gallery beside Burrus Red & White.
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 2010 season, the climb will cost $7 for adults and $3.50 for children younger than 12 and seniors age 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.
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 its 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; call for off-season hours. They close in January and February.
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.
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 in its unique, ship-like building with porthole windows and curved timbers. Now a regional history museum operated by the North Carolina Division of Cultural Resources, the museum has several exhibits plus a gift shop, lobby and community room. The museum focuses on the maritime history and shipwrecks of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, often called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The exhibits 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.
All of the planned exhibits are not finished yet. For now, 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. 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 tabloid, 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. The ferry is free. In the summer (May 30 to September 6), 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.
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.
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 plus 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.
