Looking for the best options for tent camping near Oak Island? With The Dyrt, it's easy to find Oak Island campgrounds for you and your tent. Would you prefer a quiet dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities? Either way, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area (FFAFRA) is Federal land owned and managed by the United States Air Force, the Army National Guard, and MOTSU (Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point). FFAFRA's primary purpose is to offer recreational activities and lodging as well as training events for DOD eligible groups. There are cottages and lodge rooms along with RV and tent sites for rent by authorized persons with proper DOD identification. There are also meeting rooms, a Military Museum, and facilities available for special events, team building, and official exercises. Come and see why “Ft. Fisher is One of the Military’s Best Kept Secrets.”
Residents and visitors have long enjoyed the beach area now known as Freeman Park. In fact, the area has become one of Carolina Beach's major attractions as it is one of the only beaches in NC that you can drive your 4X4 vehicle on.
Whether coming to the area to swim, camp, fish, or go boating, crabbing or casting for minnows, people love Freeman Park. Visitors are drawn to the beautiful beach with its variety of wildlife, dunes and majestic sea grasses indigenous to the region.
Overnight camping is only allowed in designated, reserved camp sites Labor Day through the Thursday before Memorial Day each year. Reservations are on a first come/first service basis. During this period, there is a $50.00 per night fee for a campsite permit.
NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING is allowed the Friday before Memorial day through the Sunday before Labor Day.
Visitors and campers driving 4-wheel drive vehicles must have a valid Freeman Park access pass at all times to enter the park (can be purchased online or in person at entrance to park). Camping permits can only be purchased on-line.
$20 - $90 / night
We are the only adventure outfitter that has an outpost on the Waccamaw River that features 1 acre of fun yard games, tree swings, hammocks, large fire pit, clean bathroom, boat dock & ramp, river side picnic tables and access to a 48 acre private island in the middle of the river to explore and camp overnight!
We offer a variety of activities and adventures, including: Escape River Island, kayak and river boat tours to our private island, custom overnight river camping trips, birthday & group events.
$40 - $65 / night
$45 / night
Traveler
From checking in until packing up to leave, my three night stay was very pleasant and restful. I disperse camp usually, but having the advantage of a very well maintained bathhouse was super nice. I have friends in Wilmington and frequent this area. This Campground will be my go to location when I'm in town!
Guide
Such an awesome KOA, bathrooms were immaculate. Free coffee everyday and so many activities! Great communication, they text before every event, and if something is lost they send out alerts. Loved our stay!
Traveler
It is insanely packed so in a tent, you have no privacy at all. It’s also very loud and bright during the night cause of all the lights for example at the restaurant. The showers were a disgrace and need to be renovated and they booked my tent at a RV side so I paid over 70$ for one night. You don’t feel like you are at a campground but in the middle of a city.
Scout
Nice pool and walking path around the edge of the sound.
Traveler
Very clean, well kept. Pool great size.
Scout
I’ll definitely be staying here again! Beautiful and very well maintained landscaping, clean facilities, very helpful and friendly staff. Really close to the beach, a good selection of restaurants as well as other points of interest. My only regret is that I didn’t have time to stay longer. Thanks again for a wonderful weekend!
Brian Leonard
ScoutThis is a relaxing, natural campground. Many bird songs at sunrise and Whip poor will calls at sunset every night. We have dogs and there are nice places to walk along the pond, and grass areas all around the campground. The dog park is nice for some off leash time. The facilities are great with a store, laundry, and clean restrooms and showers. A very nice pool is available, but with Sunset beach, and Ocean Isle beach just minutes away we have gone there daily. I am fascinated by Bird Island that is a nature preserve and reachable from Sunset beach, this is a day trip we are looking forward to taking the dogs on. Calabash is another town we have visited and it is a gem. We didn’t expect to want anything but seafood but the Peruvian restaurants’ line out the door was intriguing and we ended up there for a late lunch and loved it. My partner is an avid fisherman and had a great day fishing on a Hurricane charter out of Calabash.
Guide
Park is pretty overall but badly aging. Renovated bathrooms are marginal with tons of maintenance issues and not terribly clean. For instance hot water is a challenge and many broken latches on showers and toilet stalls left you exposed. We had one of the ancient spots with shared power pole that we had to use converter to use the remaining 50amp (we only needed 30). Feel sorry if you were a class A rig and needed the 50 and only had 40 left. Site was large but horrible cable connection, and could not use sewer connection as our “stuff” dies not flow uphill. Avoid the back in regular spots. Pay more for newer albeit very clean together patio spots. And sadly a rustic spot like ours was $87/night. The good is you are in walking distance of Myrtle beach, shops, and restaurants. But we were very disappointed in the area either 1-3 star hotels, lousy food, and cheap trinket shops. Beach is ok but there are much better in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Like this KOA, maintenance is not a priority for the town or merchants as commercial properties were run down, littered, and many were out of business. Our advice is go someplace else. This area is sad.
Scout
3 beautiful pools, a splash pad, lots of activities for kids, homemade ice cream, movie nights!, very clean bathrooms/showers, mini golf, restaurant on site, it’s wonderful!!
Traveler
The first thing is that the sites were SUPER close together which kinda ruined the “camping vibes” if that makes sense because of how packed it was. I will say the site I stayed at was pushed back in a corner so that was nice. Over all it was a really nice stay + the water was really warm and enjoyable to swim in and there was a lot to do in Myrtle which also made it really fun.
ScoutMyrtle Beach State Park Campground is nice. Overall it is quiet and has clean grounds, restrooms and showers.
If you are a local resident you can get a nice discount. During winter months you can even ride horseback on the beach. (You need reservations) There are nice walking trails, a great fishing pier and a nice store in the campground and on the pier.
RangerWe loved our time at Holden Beach RV Park! The staff is so friendly, and the campground is beautifully maintained. It’s in a perfect location too.
Upon check in we were escorted to our site, and they even helped us back in. The bathrooms and laundry were clean and kept up well during our stay. There’s a small playground and a pretty big dog park. We were there during Thanksgiving, so they had a potluck meal for all of the guests in the park. We really enjoyed that!
The gift shop is super cute, and they have the biggest DVD library for free rentals!
The only negative was that our site seemed to be one of the few that directly faced another site even though it did not show that on the park map. We ended up being super close to the other campers (so much so that we were basically all around the same fire pit) which was a little uncomfortable since they were strangers.
Overall we really enjoyed our stay and will definitely be back! We will just make sure to pick a different site number next time.
LegendMyrtle Beach, SC: Beach Access (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer with a desire for a campsite that has at least some visual privacy - after the trailer is in the spot.)
Overall Rating: 3
Usage during visit: 85% a few days before Thanksgiving.
Site Privacy: Many sites have little to no privacy. Most of the best sites are along the perimeter. Our site, 155, is close to the beach access.
Site Spacing: Close
Site surface: Sand
Reservations: Yes
Campground Noise: Not bad along the perimeter.
Road Noise: None.
Through Traffic in campground: No
Electric Hookup: Yes
Sewer Hookup: No
Dump Station: Yes
Laundry: Yes
Potable Water Available: At sites.
Bathroom: Yes. Flush toilets
Showers: Double curtain showers.
Pull Throughs: Available.
Cell Service (AT&T): 1-2 bars
Setting: Under many mature deciduous trees.
Weather: Warm. Mid to upper 60s
Bugs: None this time of year.
Host: Plenty of volunteers around.
Rig size: Large rigs will fit in many sites.
Sites: Circle 1 and 2 are pretty congested for the most part. The best chance of a good site is the perimeter sites. Among the best sites are: 188, 190, 191, 194, 196, 294 , 298, 302, 304, 307, 319, 323, 331*, 332333,334*, 336*.,237*, 240*, 241. I liked the sites near the beach access. They are not all great sites, but better than the congested area: 152,153, 154,155 (our site which was very nice), 73,64,16,17,18,19.
Scout
I’ve used this site a few times, very friendly employees and a nice short walk to the beach. Golf cart rentals available and a restaurant.
GuideJust off the road. Close to lots of places to eat and beaches. Seemed to have lots of activities some places even had chimaeras and Weber grills.
GuideAfter hearing about the mosquito situation, I was worried, but have not seen one yet - October 9. We hiked a trail to see Venus flytraps in the wild. A short peddle to the ocean beach. Very nice sites.
GuideVery overpriced! $100 for a dirt site covered in pine needles and roots making it impossible to level and no sewer. Cold showers, so far to all to everything and the pics for the dog park weren’t accurate at all.. so small I couldn’t even throw the ball for my dog. Check out is 10am so you don’t have much time to enjoy any of the amenities that morning. $140 a night for an RV pad! You can stay at an rv park in the area for half the price with hot showers and all the same amenities right on the beach. I do not recommend
GuideIf you’re traveling with kids, great place. Lots of activities for them. You can find a spot with shade or they have very nice pull through ones that include grills. Not all have grills so if that’s important to you, make sure you double check. Staff is wonderful. Refer to attached photo so you can avoid being placed right next door to the bathrooms. We rolled up and our assigned site backed up to the bathroom building. The staff was super kind and moved us since that’s not our jam. Very close to town and you can walk or bike. They also have golf cart rentals. Internet was horrible. Couldn’t get on. Quiet spot. Bathrooms are typical for a park - clean. Did not use showers but pics posted here.
Scout
It was a wonderful experience and everyone was so helpful and kind
Traveler
We stayed in site 5 for 11 days. The Yurt had been removed but the platform stayed. We were able to get up our large tent on the platform and have enough space for our chairs. The lake is beautifully kept and clean. Very shallow. You can walk out a good 300 meters. We kayaked and fished while we were here. The rangers were helpful and checked in to make sure we didn’t need anything and kept the trash can empty. All the locals we spoke to we friendly! The down side is you are a long walk to the toilets. This is primitive so no power or water at the site. We absolutely loved it and plan to come back again!
Bring mosquito netting or pop up to keep the horse flies away!
ScoutWe stayed here for one night and I cannot say enough good things about this place ! First of all, we weren’t even supposed to stop here but my mother got sick and we could not continue, so I found this within a 5 min search and book a deluxe spot within 10! We showed up no more than a half hour after that and they were already ready for us. Secondly, I locked my keys in my with the car running and with my sleeping kid and cat in it…. while I was freaking out, their INCREDIBLE staff, I don’t use the word incredible lightly they truly were the most caring people I’ve had at a campsite, tried to find a car kit and when they couldn’t called the fire department for me (shoutout to the firefighters for being so fast) and checked in on us the whole time. Definitely felt embarrassed and mad at myself but the staff was so kind to me I couldn’t thank them enough. Some of my favorite things beside the staff was the welcome packet which includes a free gift at the general store (has everything you forget lol) as well as the tide tables, amazing bathrooms (Pristine and even had linoleum with an outdoor light for nighttime), small shrubbery between the spots so even if you are right next to someone you have still feel like you have your own space, firewood delivered to your sight upon request (obviously you pay for it lol), a free trolly to the public beach and shops, and all amenities were so nice and so clean. Will 100% be back again and if you are looking for a myrtle beach style of vacation, check out Holden Beach and this amazing RV park!
ScoutWe come here a couple times a year. They are always making improvements along with keeping it clean and comfortable. Nice sites for a private campground with meticulously maintained facilities. They also have a new pool that is wonderful.
GuideNice family campground
ScoutI think Myrtle Beach State Park is very nice it's very clean the employees are very nice and sweet and they're very good at telling people what to do and where to go
GuideWe arrived on a Wednesday night after the office had closed but there was a person available at the gate to check us in. Went right to our campsite and set up for the night, campsite was flat and located right near the jump pad which was great for us. The next few days were nice as well, we had a few hot days to get in the pool and sprinkler area which were all clean and easy to access at the campsite. We walked up to where the playground and Gaga pit were and they seemed nice enough but didn’t stay there long because our children were more interested in the jump pad anyway. It was easy to bike around the campsite and you can rent a golf cart as well. This campsite was close (walking distance) to the main strip (business 17) of Myrtle beach. A close drive to all the Myrtle beach attractions and the beach as well. We visited in April and were very lucky to have hot and sunny weather. The day we left was raining and very cold. Check out was fine, no issues. Compared to some of the other RV resorts in the area, the price was better but they had less amenities for children. I also prefer more dispersed sites and more privacy which I doubt is offered here but was good for a few days. Thank you, we’d return.
GuideThis was one of our stops during our trip south from New Hampshire to The Keys…We were the only campers during our stay. We met the managers who made us feel welcomed. We had power and water but no bathroom during this timeframe. We are set up for dry camping so it is not an issue.
ScoutI’ve been camping here since I was born in 30 now that means 30 total stays. We stay for one week over July 4th and it’s been the best time every time. This campground is part of our family and provides one of the best experiences I’ve had at a campground. There is something for everyone and they continue to better the experience. I now have a child and a camper of my own and we are continuing the tradition of visiting this campground. I love this place and can’t wait to return.
Tent camping near Oak Island, North Carolina offers a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in nature while enjoying the beautiful coastal scenery. With a variety of campgrounds to choose from, you can find the perfect spot for your outdoor adventure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Oak Island, NC?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Oak Island, NC is Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area with a 4.1-star rating from 11 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Oak Island, NC?
TheDyrt.com has all 8 tent camping locations near Oak Island, NC, with real photos and reviews from campers.
