My Favorite Outer Banks Beach Finds

Beachcombing, to me, is one of the absolute best parts about being on the Outer Banks in the off-season. Aimlessly walking an empty stretch of beach looking for treasures is my favorite thing to do any time of year, but in the winter there are fewer people here so that’s when I like it best. Surrounded by the waves and birds and breezes, staring at the sand ahead of me, I completely lose track of time. I rarely, if ever, bring my phone on these walks because this is one of those rare times when I can completely check out.

This morning I had an amazing beach walk. It was cool enough that I needed a jacket, but warm enough that I could walk barefoot. I got out there early and was rewarded with a nice piece of sea-green beach glass, a couple of baby’s ears and some pretty little scallop shells. Some people have hobbies of making things with shells, but me, I just collect. On my walk I fill my pockets with anything that catches my eye. Near the end of my walk, I get it all out of my pockets and sort through it again. Some of it goes back to the sand or ocean, and I bring home my favorites. All over my house I have little bowls and baskets full of beach finds – a bowl of only baby’s ears, a huge lamp base full of sea glass, a basket of cool driftwood pieces, a dish of olive shells, big shells filled with little heart-shaped shells, etc. My outdoor stairs are lined with big whelks, and my garden walkway is paved with clam shells. Some little bowls have sand and shells from places I’ve visited, like the bowl that’s full of the Scotch bonnets I found on one trip to Ocracoke. These little collections are some of my most valued possessions. They make me feel so happy when I add to them or look at them.

Today I thought I’d share a few of my favorite Outer Banks beach finds with you, things I'm always looking for and things I've been surprised to find.

This haul of beach glass represents about 25 years worth of beach walks. My favorite pieces, the purples, yellows and best blues and greens, are stored elsewhere (some are in the picture at the top), but the everyday finds get placed in this big lamp base. I'm completely attached to this and would grab it first if my house was on fire. I typically don't collect amber glass, but somehow one made it in here.

These are olive shells, which I occasionally find up here in Nags Head but most often find at Cape Point or south. They're pretty common on lower Hatteras and Ocracoke.

These are Scotch bonnets. I have never found one up here on the northern Outer Banks, but I find them at Ocracoke or south pretty regularly.

I love whelks of all sizes and shapes. I have collections of big ones, medium ones, baby ones, striped ones and worn broken ones.

These are some of my worn whelk pieces. I like the ones that show the twists on the inside of the whelks.

I'm always on the lookout for anything shaped like a heart on the beach.

This basket is mostly full of stuff I found on an Ocracoke trip - Scotch bonnets, sand dollars, olives, a fish vertebrae, a sea urchin, a helmet shell. A couple of shells in here and that piece of coral look Bahamian though. In the background is a little jar full of auger shells, which I love.

I don't find a lot of whole sand dollars on the Outer Banks. I think that's because our wave energy is so powerful. Sometimes one will make it through the waves though. These were found around Ocracoke Inlet I'm pretty sure.

I call these sea beans, but I'm not sure what their official name is. These were found around Cape Point. Apparently they float in on the surface of the ocean from the tropics.

For me, shark's teeth are a very rare find on the Outer Banks. Maybe it's because my eyes are trained to look for beach glass. Two of these were found on the Outer Banks, and one I found on Topsail Island, where the teeth are more common.

This doesn't look like much, but it's a fulgurite, made when lightning hits sand and fuses the sand into a formation.

I'm always looking for driftwood too. I think I found this piece on a soundside island beach, and it's one of my favorite pieces.

Baby's ears (which look like their name) and limpets (the little hats) are pretty common, but still I pick them up and collect my favorites, something I've done ever since I was little. I also pick up smooth beach pebbles and always re-find them in my coat pockets, in my car, in my washing machine and elsewhere.

These are paper nautilus, far and away three of my most prized beach finds. I found them at separate times just lying on the beach in Nags Head. It's a pretty unusual find, but I know other people who have found them too, so it's not unheard of. The animal that lives in these shells is called an argonaut, and it's a type of octopus. The shell is an argonaut's paper-thin egg case. 

I hope you can get out there and find some fun stuff this year. Happy hunting!