Haulover and Kite Point

Haulover Day Use Area

Quick Facts

Location:

Buxton, NC

Significance:

soundside access

Amenities

6 listed

Beach/Water Access, Canoe/Kayak/Small Boat Launch, Restroom, Showers, Water - Bottle-Filling Station, Wheelchair Accessible

Haulover Sound Access and nearby Kite Point has some of the world's best kiteboarding and windsurfing when the winds kick up in the spring and fall.

This is also a great place for families with little ones who may be hesitant around the ocean waves. Here, they can splash and play in the Pamlico Sound, which for the most part has gentle water, a gradual slope, and an average depth of one to two feet near the shoreline.

There is also a bathhouse with showers, changing rooms, and restrooms.

A Nursery, A Haven, A Home

Beneath the surface of the Pamlico Sound is a nursery perfect for marine life. Fed by the ocean and mainland rivers, the sound is a mix of salt and fresh water that is just right for many species. This estuary and its marshes provide protection and shelter for eggs and young to hatch and grow.

Some animals will spend their entire lives here. Others are born in the ocean and travel through inlets into the sound to spend their adolescence before returning to the sea. Some adult fish come into the sound to deposit their eggs among the protective eelgrass. Once hatched, the young stay and grow before leaving the sound for the ocean - only to return, maybe years later, to continue the cycle.

- In the sound, food such as plankton, is readily available. Tall eelgrass gives shelter from the elements and predators.
- The grass shrimp, periwinkle snail, and fiddler crab are some of the animals that spend their entire lives in the Pamlico Sound.
- Some animals, like the red drum, flounder, bull shark, and clear-nosed skate are born in the sound and later live in the ocean.
- The American eel and the green sea turtle are examples of sea life that may go from the ocean to the sound during their lifetime.