United States / North Carolina
Carolina Beach
Carolina Beach is a coastal resort area in North Carolina, United States. Its longest mapped beach stretches about 4.5 km. The sea averages 27.7 °C in August, its warmest month, and 14.3 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in May–October.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Services in the resort
- 89Restaurants, cafés & bars
- –Public toilets
- –Showers
- 95Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 39Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Campsites
- 11Grocery shops
- 3Water-sports spots
- 4Marinas & slipways
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 63 restaurants, 9 cafés, 16 bars and 1 fast-food outlet. Accommodation: 39 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Month by month
October at Carolina Beach
Beach-day index 7.7/10 · United States median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 15.3 °C | 14.3 °C | 15.6 °C | 18.3 °C | 21.9 °C | 25.6 °C | 27.4 °C | 27.7 °C | 26.6 °C | 23.4 °C | 19.8 °C | 16.9 °C |
| High °C | 12° | 14° | 17° | 21° | 25° | 29° | 30° | 30° | 27° | 23° | 18° | 15° |
| Low °C | 5° | 6° | 9° | 14° | 18° | 23° | 25° | 24° | 22° | 17° | 11° | 8° |
| Rain mm | 76 | 92 | 95 | 89 | 115 | 135 | 156 | 184 | 185 | 115 | 98 | 104 |
| Cloud % | 69 | 68 | 62 | 53 | 54 | 57 | 55 | 57 | 58 | 55 | 59 | 69 |
| Wind m/s | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| Daylight h | 10.1 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.4 | 10.4 | 9.9 |
| Record high/low | 23°/-8° | 23°/-8° | 26°/-4° | 31°/3° | 33°/9° | 34°/16° | 36°/20° | 35°/18° | 33°/14° | 32°/6° | 27°/-1° | 24°/-6° |
| Beach index | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 5.3 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 4.5 | 2.9 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in May–September; June scores 8.3/10 with highs of 29 °C, sea at 25.6 °C and 135 mm of rain.
In June that is 1.3 points above the median of the 2,466 beaches in United States covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 5.2 °C warmer than the United States median for August (22.5 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 21.1 °C, warmer than 67% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
September is the wettest month (185 mm) and January the driest (76 mm); the yearly total is about 1,440 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.9 hours in December to 14.4 hours in June; in mid-June the sun rises at 05:59 and sets at 20:23 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces east (99°). Open water fills about 42% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 242° to 299°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in every month.
Straight out to the east there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 4 m deep and 12 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 3 m above sea level 500 m inland and 7 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 55% built-up land, 19% grassland and 18% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 36% of that circle.
- Built 55%
- Grass 19%
- Tree 18%
- Bare 7%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington International Airport Wilmington | ILM | 26.4 km | north |
| Albert J Ellis Airport Richlands | OAJ | 92.0 km | north |
| Myrtle Beach International Airport Myrtle Beach | MYR | 103 km | west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 95 mapped car parks within 1 km.
3 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 10.2K residents); within 30 km there are 23 (about 247.3K).
Around the beach
Islands in view
- Pleasure Island 2.4 km SW
Marinas
- Carolina Beach Municipal Docks 200 m NE
- Federal Point Yacht Club 690 m N
- Carolina Beach Boatyard and Marina 790 m N
- Mona Black Marina 810 m N
Diving & boat hire
- Pleasure Island Rentals 160 m S
- Wheel Fun Rentals - Lake Park 670 m SW
- Carolina Beach Pontoon Rental 810 m N
Campsites
- Winner's RV Park 380 m N
Map
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Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 10.1 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w134226479; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2C_18STC_20250325_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 74K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.