Hammocks Beach State Park Primitive Campsites

It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in... It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in the afternoon and an easy spot to walk into the water to cool off. Easy paddle around the corner to the beach access and very welcomed shower. Low tide access to the beach landing requires a few walks over the shallow areas. Thank you for this clean and wonderful gem of a beach experience. Will be back when it cools a little.

It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in... It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in the afternoon and an easy spot to walk into the water to cool off. Easy paddle around the corner to the beach access and very welcomed shower. Low tide access to the beach landing requires a few walks over the shallow areas. Thank you for this clean and wonderful gem of a beach experience. Will be back when it cools a little.

It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in... It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in the afternoon and an easy spot to walk into the water to cool off. Easy paddle around the corner to the beach access and very welcomed shower. Low tide access to the beach landing requires a few walks over the shallow areas. Thank you for this clean and wonderful gem of a beach experience. Will be back when it cools a little.

It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in... It was a hot but very nice weekend paddle and camp on Bear Island last weekend. Staff at the visitor center were very knowledgeable and helpful (and the AC felt great). The kayak dock and launch was perfect...very easy to get in and out of the water with a loaded vessel. Not a fan of the kayak carts but overall, they worked okay. Stayed at site 14, was easy to find and land. Had good shade in the afternoon and an easy spot to walk into the water to cool off. Easy paddle around the corner to the beach access and very welcomed shower. Low tide access to the beach landing requires a few walks over the shallow areas. Thank you for this clean and wonderful gem of a beach experience. Will be back when it cools a little.

This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from so... This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from some campsites. The mainland campground is pretty small but fairly new. There are maybe 20 sites. There are tent and RV sites available with full hookup ups. They also have a handful of cute cabins for rent. We stayed at site 35 the last tent site on the water and it was beautiful. The sites are large and level and gravel including a picnic table, fire ring and lantern pole. There is a huge bath house in the middle with 3 toilets and 3 showers and a sink area. There is also a family bathroom with its own toilet and shower. The bath house also has a sink for cleaning dishes and a bike rack which we appreciated having bikes. The bath house is nice but the cleaning could be a little better. Cob webs and spiders in the corners and surfaces just needing to be wiped down. It would also have been great to have a washer/dryer here BUT there isn’t one. A beach campground equals needing to do some laundry with a weekly stay 😕. Also the campground sells wood bundles for $10 but no ice available! I wish they sold ice instead of wood. It’s hot and people visiting especially in summer would rather have ice over a fire. Think of the people taking the ferry over to Bear Island with a cooler. Atleast sell ice at the visitors center where the ferry departs. We had to ride our bikes 2 miles into Swansboro for ice after 2 days. The visitors center is very nice and large. Staff was friendly. If you want to take the ferry over to Bear Island or the beach you must buy your passes here in person no pre purchasing. Tickets are $10 each but if you purchased a NC State yearly pass it includes 4 free ferry tickets per day per visit! Just show them your pass and you get free ferry tickets!! Loved that! The ferry runs at different times and is closed certain times of the year. I will take a picture of that information. Ferry is nice and quick. Only takes about 10-15 minutes to reach the island. Once you get off the ferry it is a 1/2 mile walk out to the beach. Be warned there is zero shade over there so if you need it take something. There is also a golf cart to take you out to the beach if you don’t mind dropping them a “donation “. We were told no cell service on Bear Island but we have Verizon and had 2 bars 5G. There is a concession stand on the beach but it’s cash only because there is no cell service 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did you read the previous sentence?! Also there is not a bike rack at the visitors center which sucked. We had to ride our bikes over to catch the ferry and ended up locking them up to a bat house post. Please buy a bike rack for the visitors center! All in all this is a great place but if I want to do the beach I’m choosing Edisto Island SP, Hunting Island or Myrtle Beach SP so I don’t have to deal with the ferry and the 1/2 mile walk afterwards to the actual beach. Also the mainland campground is a mile from the visitors center where you take the ferry so you’ll need have a vehicle to drive there or bikes. It’s just not real convenient for beach camping in my opinion.

This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from so... This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from some campsites. The mainland campground is pretty small but fairly new. There are maybe 20 sites. There are tent and RV sites available with full hookup ups. They also have a handful of cute cabins for rent. We stayed at site 35 the last tent site on the water and it was beautiful. The sites are large and level and gravel including a picnic table, fire ring and lantern pole. There is a huge bath house in the middle with 3 toilets and 3 showers and a sink area. There is also a family bathroom with its own toilet and shower. The bath house also has a sink for cleaning dishes and a bike rack which we appreciated having bikes. The bath house is nice but the cleaning could be a little better. Cob webs and spiders in the corners and surfaces just needing to be wiped down. It would also have been great to have a washer/dryer here BUT there isn’t one. A beach campground equals needing to do some laundry with a weekly stay 😕. Also the campground sells wood bundles for $10 but no ice available! I wish they sold ice instead of wood. It’s hot and people visiting especially in summer would rather have ice over a fire. Think of the people taking the ferry over to Bear Island with a cooler. Atleast sell ice at the visitors center where the ferry departs. We had to ride our bikes 2 miles into Swansboro for ice after 2 days. The visitors center is very nice and large. Staff was friendly. If you want to take the ferry over to Bear Island or the beach you must buy your passes here in person no pre purchasing. Tickets are $10 each but if you purchased a NC State yearly pass it includes 4 free ferry tickets per day per visit! Just show them your pass and you get free ferry tickets!! Loved that! The ferry runs at different times and is closed certain times of the year. I will take a picture of that information. Ferry is nice and quick. Only takes about 10-15 minutes to reach the island. Once you get off the ferry it is a 1/2 mile walk out to the beach. Be warned there is zero shade over there so if you need it take something. There is also a golf cart to take you out to the beach if you don’t mind dropping them a “donation “. We were told no cell service on Bear Island but we have Verizon and had 2 bars 5G. There is a concession stand on the beach but it’s cash only because there is no cell service 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did you read the previous sentence?! Also there is not a bike rack at the visitors center which sucked. We had to ride our bikes over to catch the ferry and ended up locking them up to a bat house post. Please buy a bike rack for the visitors center! All in all this is a great place but if I want to do the beach I’m choosing Edisto Island SP, Hunting Island or Myrtle Beach SP so I don’t have to deal with the ferry and the 1/2 mile walk afterwards to the actual beach. Also the mainland campground is a mile from the visitors center where you take the ferry so you’ll need have a vehicle to drive there or bikes. It’s just not real convenient for beach camping in my opinion.

This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from so... This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from some campsites. The mainland campground is pretty small but fairly new. There are maybe 20 sites. There are tent and RV sites available with full hookup ups. They also have a handful of cute cabins for rent. We stayed at site 35 the last tent site on the water and it was beautiful. The sites are large and level and gravel including a picnic table, fire ring and lantern pole. There is a huge bath house in the middle with 3 toilets and 3 showers and a sink area. There is also a family bathroom with its own toilet and shower. The bath house also has a sink for cleaning dishes and a bike rack which we appreciated having bikes. The bath house is nice but the cleaning could be a little better. Cob webs and spiders in the corners and surfaces just needing to be wiped down. It would also have been great to have a washer/dryer here BUT there isn’t one. A beach campground equals needing to do some laundry with a weekly stay 😕. Also the campground sells wood bundles for $10 but no ice available! I wish they sold ice instead of wood. It’s hot and people visiting especially in summer would rather have ice over a fire. Think of the people taking the ferry over to Bear Island with a cooler. Atleast sell ice at the visitors center where the ferry departs. We had to ride our bikes 2 miles into Swansboro for ice after 2 days. The visitors center is very nice and large. Staff was friendly. If you want to take the ferry over to Bear Island or the beach you must buy your passes here in person no pre purchasing. Tickets are $10 each but if you purchased a NC State yearly pass it includes 4 free ferry tickets per day per visit! Just show them your pass and you get free ferry tickets!! Loved that! The ferry runs at different times and is closed certain times of the year. I will take a picture of that information. Ferry is nice and quick. Only takes about 10-15 minutes to reach the island. Once you get off the ferry it is a 1/2 mile walk out to the beach. Be warned there is zero shade over there so if you need it take something. There is also a golf cart to take you out to the beach if you don’t mind dropping them a “donation “. We were told no cell service on Bear Island but we have Verizon and had 2 bars 5G. There is a concession stand on the beach but it’s cash only because there is no cell service 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did you read the previous sentence?! Also there is not a bike rack at the visitors center which sucked. We had to ride our bikes over to catch the ferry and ended up locking them up to a bat house post. Please buy a bike rack for the visitors center! All in all this is a great place but if I want to do the beach I’m choosing Edisto Island SP, Hunting Island or Myrtle Beach SP so I don’t have to deal with the ferry and the 1/2 mile walk afterwards to the actual beach. Also the mainland campground is a mile from the visitors center where you take the ferry so you’ll need have a vehicle to drive there or bikes. It’s just not real convenient for beach camping in my opinion.

This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from so... This is a very nice state park. It’s in 2 sections for camping. You have Bear Island primitive campsites that you have to ferry over to or paddle in. I think there are some local boat services available to take you and your stuff over for a fee also. If you camp on Bear Island there is a restroom and showers and water available in the public beach access area. This could be pretty far from some campsites. The mainland campground is pretty small but fairly new. There are maybe 20 sites. There are tent and RV sites available with full hookup ups. They also have a handful of cute cabins for rent. We stayed at site 35 the last tent site on the water and it was beautiful. The sites are large and level and gravel including a picnic table, fire ring and lantern pole. There is a huge bath house in the middle with 3 toilets and 3 showers and a sink area. There is also a family bathroom with its own toilet and shower. The bath house also has a sink for cleaning dishes and a bike rack which we appreciated having bikes. The bath house is nice but the cleaning could be a little better. Cob webs and spiders in the corners and surfaces just needing to be wiped down. It would also have been great to have a washer/dryer here BUT there isn’t one. A beach campground equals needing to do some laundry with a weekly stay 😕. Also the campground sells wood bundles for $10 but no ice available! I wish they sold ice instead of wood. It’s hot and people visiting especially in summer would rather have ice over a fire. Think of the people taking the ferry over to Bear Island with a cooler. Atleast sell ice at the visitors center where the ferry departs. We had to ride our bikes 2 miles into Swansboro for ice after 2 days. The visitors center is very nice and large. Staff was friendly. If you want to take the ferry over to Bear Island or the beach you must buy your passes here in person no pre purchasing. Tickets are $10 each but if you purchased a NC State yearly pass it includes 4 free ferry tickets per day per visit! Just show them your pass and you get free ferry tickets!! Loved that! The ferry runs at different times and is closed certain times of the year. I will take a picture of that information. Ferry is nice and quick. Only takes about 10-15 minutes to reach the island. Once you get off the ferry it is a 1/2 mile walk out to the beach. Be warned there is zero shade over there so if you need it take something. There is also a golf cart to take you out to the beach if you don’t mind dropping them a “donation “. We were told no cell service on Bear Island but we have Verizon and had 2 bars 5G. There is a concession stand on the beach but it’s cash only because there is no cell service 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did you read the previous sentence?! Also there is not a bike rack at the visitors center which sucked. We had to ride our bikes over to catch the ferry and ended up locking them up to a bat house post. Please buy a bike rack for the visitors center! All in all this is a great place but if I want to do the beach I’m choosing Edisto Island SP, Hunting Island or Myrtle Beach SP so I don’t have to deal with the ferry and the 1/2 mile walk afterwards to the actual beach. Also the mainland campground is a mile from the visitors center where you take the ferry so you’ll need have a vehicle to drive there or bikes. It’s just not real convenient for beach camping in my opinion.