Do you have a four wheel drive vehicle? If so, then the OBX offers a unique opportunity to drive on the beach for free and hopefully spot the wild ponies! Most drive on beaches require you to have a pricey pass. Overall, it’s a pretty easy drive with hard packed sand so even if you aren’t experienced at driving in the sand, you should be fine. Make sure you air down to around 20 psi prior to driving on. You can fill back up at the closest gas station when you get off the beach. Take some shovels with you as well just in case and stay on the “road” rather than going up into the loose sand area.
We drove all the way down to the Virginia state line, which took what seemed like an hour. During the drive we saw NO horses and were super bummed. We got out to investigate and found horse “evidence” so we knew we were close. If you are looking for a private beach experience, this is definitely the place for that. The beach is HUGE and the water is perfect.
We headed in to the town of Carova after playing in the water to continue our search. This town is incredibly unique in that the only way to access it is by the beach. And wouldn’t you know it, this is where we found the horses! In and among all the vacation homes, just hanging out.
If you don’t have a 4×4 vehicle, no worries! There are several companies that offer pony tours and do all the work of finding them for you.
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