Bald Head Island Vacation Review

It had been 17 years since I had been back to Bald Head Island, and I couldn't wait to get there. My parents invited Blake and I to join in on the family vacation along with 2 of my younger sisters, 3 younger brothers, and my niece. While we were sad my twin brother Matthew, and step sister Mary Catherine could not make it, we still had a great time! 

We got lucky to visit Bald Head Island this summer because most of the beach houses were booked months in advance, but last minute a house opened up that fit us all pretty comfortably. The house is three stories with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a big front porch. The first floor housed the boys in 2 separate rooms, one queen sized bed, and 2 twins and a bathroom. The second floor was for the girls, same layout as the first floor, and the third floor is one giant master bedroom and bathroom. While we were thankful to find a place to stay, we personally will not book the same house again. There were not nearly enough towels provided, the house could have been cleaned a *little* bit better, and the water pressure was little to none. None the less, we still enjoyed the trip, and didn't let those minor things mess up our trip. I'll link the house here if you'd like to check it out for yourself! 

I think my favorite part about the island has to be the transportation! You have to take a ferry over to the island and you drive a golf cart during your stay. The only vehicles you'll see are for construction. Riding around in a golf cart, while on a barrier island has some sort of freeing feeling I can't explain, it's awesome! We rented one 4 person golf cart, and the house we stayed at provided a 6 person golf cart for us to use as well. 

We purchased a Shoals club membership to have access to the pool while we were on the island. Unfortunately, COVID rules still require a reservation to be at the pool, but that didn't mess up our plans at all. We mainly stayed at the beach, but the little ones preferred the pool some days! The beach is very shelly compared to Charleston beaches. We found so many cool shells that have now made for beautiful decoration in our guest bathroom that is beach themed! I loved that everyone spread out a lot on the beach, so you never felt like you were on top of other visitors. 

As for places to eat on the island, there are only a few options. We wanted to eat at the club restaurant which requires reservations, and is more of a white table cloth dinner, but unfortunately they were fully booked. We went out to dinner twice and ate at Jules both times. Bald Head Island’s only waterfront dining experience located in the heart of the Bald Head Island Marina. It was delicious! I had scallops the first time, and the steamed seafood bowl the second time, The seafood bowl had just about everything you can think of for $45 and my dad and I split it!  Blake and I ventured over to the Maritime Market Cafe located in the grocery for breakfast one morning. They serve simple breakfast items for CHEAP! I got a chicken biscuit which was just a tender on a biscuit but it was perfect for me! We grabbed coffee every morning from Sand Piper Ice Cream and Coffee. Get the iced tan with oat milk! SO good!  Blake and I stayed a little later than my family did on our last day, so we grabbed lunch from the restaurant right next to Jules. They only serve pizza, and it comes in a to go box. It wasn't the best we've had, but it didn't suck. 

There is one grocery store on the island which has all of the basics and some. My biggest suggestion if you visit the Island is to pack all of your dried goods because the grocery store is expensive. Bring snacks in a storage container, bring your alcohol, and save the cold stuff for the island grocery store. 

There are numerous gift shops on the island, and we visited each one numerous times. My favorite one was definitely Island Passage. It was basically a boutique selling all of my favorite brands! Visit the Bald Head Island website for a full list of shops! 

Besides the beach and the pool, the only other activity we decided to do was paddle boarding! While the current was extremely hard to paddle against, we still had a blast! I'd recommend renting kayaks or paddle boards for a change of pace one day. We didn't go up inside the lighthouse this trip, but we did it 17 years ago, and I remember we loved the view! We had too many people to try to coordinate that this trip. 

I hope this helps you plan out your trip to Bald Head Island if you decide to visit. It really is one of my favorite beaches to vacation! The beach holds so many childhood memories for me when my parents used to take just my sister, bother and I before the other kiddos were born. I can't wait to go back!