Looking for something to do on the Outer Banks on these cold winter days? It’s too chilly out for the usual outdoor activities, and many of the local attractions and activities are closed for a winter break. But these local museums stay open year round and offer educational, entertaining and warm places to enjoy a winter day.
North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
Everyone loves the aquarium. It is truly a place for all ages, and there’s so much to see and do that time flies when you there. You’ll see fish of all sorts, sharks, otters, alligators, freshwater and sea turtles, jellyfish, sea horses and so much more. You can touch stingrays and horseshoe crabs and learn about hurricanes, shipwrecks and barrier island and marine environments. Tip: If you’ve got excited kids with you, let them rush through everything on a first lap, then go back and do another lap or two more slowly.
The aquarium offers special programs and tours all winter long, including Aquarist for a Day in which you can spend the entire day with aquarium staff seeing what goes on behind the scenes.
Coming up this week:
Winter Carnival will be held on Saturday, January 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants will learn how animals adapt to cold weather, and there will be winter-themed crafts, games and activities and hot cocoa. All activities are included with a regular admission ticket.
Shark Exhibit Behind The Scenes Tours will be held Thursday, January 27 and Sunday, January 30 at 10 a.m. Cost is $8 per person.
Shark Bites, in which you get to watch the shark feedings up close, is offered on Friday, January 28 and Monday, January 31 at 12:30 p.m. Cost is $12 per person.
The aquarium is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation Center is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. You have to book your tickets online and commit to a specific arrival time. Cost is $12.95 for ages 13 to 61, $11.95 for seniors and military, $10.95 for ages 3 to 12 and free for kids 2 and younger. NC Aquarium Society members get in free. Face mask are required. Click here for info.
Photo: The shark tank at North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island is a mesmerizing attraction.
National Wildlife Refuges Visitors Center
This museum is a hidden gem; even a lot of locals don't know it's here. You'll find it on the north end of Roanoke Island, across from Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. The visitor center offers hands-on, interactive exhibits that introduce the region's 11 national wildlife refuges. The site also includes 35 acres of wild land to explore, including four walking trails that provide a block from the wind.
The center is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Face masks are required. Click here for info.
National Wildlife Refuges Visitor Center on Roanoke Island introduces visitors to the area's 11 national wildlife refuges through hands-on exhibits.
Wright Brothers National Memorial
This site in Kill Devil Hills honors the accomplishments of the Wright brothers and their first successful airplane flight in 1903. In the museum you’ll learn about the brothers and their experiments as well as some of the aviation accomplishments that followed that first flight. If the weather is nice you can walk around the grounds to see the actual locations of the flights and the monument.
Wright Brothers National Memorial is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance costs $10 for ages 16 and older for ages 15 and younger. Or you can choose to pay by the carload (cost varies depending on size of car/number of passengers). Face masks are required. Click here for info.
Photo: The Wright Brothers National Memorial visitors center is open year round.
Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
Getting to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is as fun as touring the museum. It’s all the way down at the south end of Hatteras Island, and the drive down the island is amazingly scenic. The museum is right next to the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry docks. It focuses on the maritime history and shipwrecks of the Outer Banks. Tours are self-guided, and one of the fun things about the museum is that it offers scavenger hunts that have you searching for objects among the exhibits and then receiving a reward for your efforts.
The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Face masks are required. Click here for info.
Photo: Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is in a building that was built to resemble a ship.
Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center
If you’re on Hatteras Island on a weekend, be sure to visit Frisco Native American Museum. The nonprofit museum is an Outer Banks treasure, housing thousands of artifacts from Native cultures across the country. There’s also a gallery dedicated to local tribes. The gift shop is almost like a museum, filled with unique handcrafts you don’t typically find on the Outer Banks, and the bookstore has titles you will not find elsewhere in these parts. Behind the museum are walking trails through beautiful maritime forest, which are blocked from these harsh winter winds.
Frisco Native American Museum is open on Saturday and Sunday only in the winter. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 per person, $3 for seniors or $15 per household. Face masks are required. Click here for info.
Photo: Frisco Native American Museum has a collection of baskets from many different Native cultures.
Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education
In Historic Corolla Park in Corolla, Outer Center for Wildlife Education offers exhibits on coastal North Carolina's wildlife, natural history and cultural heritage. There’s a lot to explore inside the museum, plus there’s a boardwalk outdoors. Programming is available but limited in the winter.
The educational center is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Masks are required. Click here for info.
The nearby Currituck Maritime Museum and Whalehead at Historic Corolla Park will be opening February 14.
Photo: Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education is near Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla.
If you're looking for more things to do, visit our Daytime and Nightlife pages.
About the Author Molly Harrison
Molly Harrison is managing editor at OneBoat, publisher of OuterBanksThisWeek.com. She moved to Nags Head in 1994 and since then has made her living writing articles and creating publications about the people, places and culture of the Outer Banks.
