Oak Island Tide Chart

Oak Island faces due south, which makes it one of the few North Carolina beaches where you can watch the sun rise and set over the water. Between Lockwoods Folly Inlet on the west and the Cape Fear shipping channel on the east, it fishes like a mini-Outer Banks with a fraction of the drive.

What runs when

• Red & black drum: spring and fall; the fall mullet run stacks them in the surf.
• Flounder: May through October around inlet structure and pier pilings.
• Spanish mackerel: summer, schools within casting range on calm mornings.
• King mackerel: September-October off the piers — Ocean Crest runs a live-bait king season.

Where to cast

The surf east of the Ocean Crest pier on a rising tide; Lockwoods Folly on the outgoing for drum; either pier for Spanish when the water clears.

Tide timing here

The south-facing beach means light matters as much as tide: dawn rising tide is the local money window. Use this page’s pre-high window and the first-light time on the moon-and-sun strip together.

Rules to know

NC coastal fishing license required for surf; piers carry their own. Flounder season is tightly managed (some years fall-only). Check NC Marine Fisheries rules before keeping.