A barrier island, briefly.

Topsail Island runs twenty-six miles down the North Carolina coast, a thin strip of sand between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway. Three towns share it (North Topsail Beach at the top, Surf City in the middle, Topsail Beach at the southern tip), and they feel meaningfully different from one another. The ocean side does sunrise and surf; the sound side does dolphins, marsh, and sunset.

We keep a longer field guide to the island over at Best of Topsail , our editorial sister site, also family-run. Here's a handful of entry points to start with.