The Wilmington,Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach waterways offer two distinctively different types of entertainment for the boating enthusiast. Our local beach areas boarder the intracoastal waterway which is used by transient boaters traveling from New York to Florida. Our local boaters have the advantage of cruising the secure intracoastal waterway or passing through one of the local inlets to cruise into the Atlantic ocean. The avid sport fisherman can catch fish immediately leaving the inlet or run 65 miles to the area known as the Atlantic gulf stream where the larger tournament fish can be caught. On any given weekend you can see dozens of smaller boats cruising the waterways with families headed to areas ,like Banks Channel, to water ski and or just cruising in the pristine waters of Wrightsville beach. One of the most popular area for picnicking and swimming is the barrier island, known as Masonboro Island.
On any given summer weekend, you will find hundreds of people of all ages enjoying the pristine sand and waters around Masonboro island. In the Wrightsville Beach area you will find several major marinas that offer dockage ,fuel and other amenities. Cruising south in the intracoastal waterway, you are now heading for the popular beach town of Carolina Beach. Arriving in the Carolina Beach waterfront, you will see several new marinas offering many services to the boating enthusiast. Multimillion dollar homes line the waterway and both of these beach towns. Restaurants specializing in local seafood are abundant in both of these beach towns. For the boater who would like to cruise into the Cape Fear river, a man made canal, known as Snows Cut, is available to cross through to the Cape Fear river which can take you south or turning north back up the river will take you into the downtown area of our port city.
Approximately six miles heading north up the river, you can explore a completely different landscape as you enter the historic town of Wilmington. Dockage is available at several locations in the downtown area. You can enjoy yourself for several days in the many restaurants and taverns in the downtown district. Shopping is a very popular pastime for those looking for those unusual items. One of the most popular shopping sites is the old Cotton Exchange. Originally a cotton warehouse during the 1800’s, now is used as a large shopping mall with not your typical merchandise. The historic downtown area offers historic homes tours either by bus or horse drawn carriage. You can easily spend several days enjoying the fine restaurants, taverns, shopping and history of this old southern town. Leaving the town of Wilmington, heading south on the Cape fear river, the transient boater is now heading for two other popular boating destinations, Baldhead Island and the historic town of Southport. The distance from Wilmington to the mouth of the Cape Fear is 20 miles. Cruising the Cape Fear river either north or south offers the history buff the opportunity to travel back in time when the large sailing ships were plying these waters, delivering materials from England and the Caribbean islands and carrying cotton and other goods produced in the local area back to foreign countries. If you are looking at the Wilmington or beach areas to live, owning a boat will bring you many pleasurable hours in exploring our historic coastline.