Fodor's Expert Review Bald Head Island

Reached by ferry from Southport, this beautiful 12,000-acre island resort is a self-contained, car-free community, complete with a grocery store, restaurants (Jules' Salty Grub, on the harbor, and AQUA, at the Shoals Club, are highlights), marina, a 50-room hotel, a 13-room B&B, two club complexes with restaurants and pools, and the gorgeous 18-hole George Cobb golf course. Walk out onto Cape Fear, the southern tip of the island where the infamous Frying Pan Shoals extend for 30 miles into the ocean, and you'll feel like you're standing on the edge of the continent—you are—and it becomes clear why so many shipwrecks have occured in these shallow, shifting sands. On the island, there are scores of rental properties, from shingled cottages to luxury homes. You can explore the semitropical island's maritime forest preserve and its 12 miles of deserted beaches on foot, by bicycle, or in a golf cart. Climb to the top of the quaint "Old Baldy" lighthouse, visit the neighboring Smith Island Museum to learn about the island's maritime history, watch the loggerhead turtles nest on the beach, or take a guided ghost walk. The 20-minute ferry ride costs $23 per person round-trip; for most of the year, it leaves Southport's Deep Point Marina on the hour and Bald Head Island on the half hour. Advance reservations are necessary for the ferry and resort.