Carova Beach

We are leaving for Carova Beach NC in June. My rental company originally told me my vehicle would be fine to drive. I have a Mistubishi Endeavor. Now they are telling me I cannot drive an all wheel drive vehicle on the 4 wheel drive beach. They said I will get stuck. I was told when I bought the car that all wheel drive does the same thing as 4 wheel drive so I%26#39;m confused. I%26#39;m afraid I will get stuck if I drive my car. Does anyone have any info or suggestions that can help

Thanks Lisa

Carova Beach

I grew up driving on the beach there. Often people get stuck in a 4 wheel drive!! The sand is deep and often soft. I would not suggest an all wheel drive unless you have lot%26#39;s of experience driving on the beach. Not familiar with that model but there should be lots of clearance between the beach and the vehicle? Your rental Co seems to have given you bad info and should be willing to switch you to a cottage maybe in Corolla.

Carova Beach

Another idea...if you really want to stay in Carova? You could drive down and then rent a jeep from the dealership on the Bypass in Kill Devil Hills............just depends on how badly and why you wish to stay in Carova.

We just got back from Carova yesterday. You will definitely want 4WD - our Escalade even had trouble at times - and whatever you do, make sure you take the tire pressure down to 20psi- we tried without that and realized quickly that we needed to do it. We fell in love with the area and can%26#39;t imagine staying anywhere else - and are already discussing our return trip next year. We were at mile marker 20 - which was 7.3miles from road - depending on the tide it took us anywhere from 10 -25 minutes. Enjoy!

Did you end up going to Carova last summer? We are supposed to go in August 2008. We have a Honda Pilot AWD but it can go into 4WD. Just wondering your your Endeavor held up if you made your trip. Our Honda dealer said it would be fine as did the realtor in Carolla, but reading your post made me wonder!

Thanks,

Terri

I would heed lois%26#39; report as she did the trip recently and it is first hand advice. I%26#39;ve been stuck on that beach with the tide coming in and it is not a good feeling even with 4 wheel drive. Tire pressure is definitely a key so be sure you have a gauge with you.

I rented a jeep last year up there and saw people getting stuck. The sand is soft %26amp; deep with plenty of ruts. You need low pressure and balloon type tires. I wouldn%26#39;t take your vehicle out there at all. Even if you manage to not get stuck, the environment is pretty harsh on a vehicle. There are a couple of companies that rent to Corova vacationers.

One thing I noticed, this is just me, but the constant buzzing back %26amp; forth of 4x4%26#39;s on Corova seemed to detract from it. It%26#39;s great to experience %26amp; see, but to stay in Corova, I don%26#39;t know how much I could relax and take in the full beach feeling with trucks whizzing by every ferw minutes.

Good point jmass, you really have to be careful with children on the beach there. Crazy drivers, hot days, and cold beverages can be a dangerous situation. One reason we like Ocracoke is that the beach is really much wider-plenty of room for cars and people.

Fortunately, our children are 12 and 6 years old, so I don%26#39;t have to worry about them running about aimlessly. We are staying quite a ways up the beach--only 2.5 miles from the VA border...Is there as much traffic up that far?

You will not have any traffic up in the Carova area. In addition to the things listed above about driving on the beach, there are a couple of other things I%26#39;d like to add. Get a tide chart, you need to know the times for high and low tides-it%26#39;s important to know if you have a vehicle on the beach. Also, if the tide chart only shows the time for Oregon Inlet, you will need to check the time difference for tides in the Corolla/Carova area. It%26#39;s a good idea to have a shovel with you, just in case you do get stuck. One of the smaller camping shovels will work fine. Use landmarks when driving-this may sound crazy at first, but nothing is marked up there, and after a long day all the dunes can look the same! The last thing is driving at night-Please be careful. It can be very tricky up there, and there are NO lights, and very few homes. It is also much more difficult to gage sand depth, water, etc at night, and I have heard some bad stories about people stuck up there on the beach at night. I am not trying to scare anyone with this, but driving on the beaches at night is dangerous if you%26#39;re not very experienced with beach driving, and if you don%26#39;t really know/live in the area.

You will love Carova. It is really beautiful, and a really unique area beacuse it is so open and not built up. Hopefully, you will see the horses, too. I would also stock up for groceries in Corolla at the Harris Teeter or Food Lion stores. Both are nice, but the Harris Teeter is a newer store, and they have everything.

more than one person has lost their life over the years driving that beach at night. The shifting sands often uncover ';stumps'; of trees from when the woods were where the shoreline is now! Mostly in the area of Penny%26#39;s Hill. If you must drive at night stay a bit up from the shoreline and slow down! Don%26#39;t even think of going on the beach without a shovel and a small board to place under your stuck tire as well as a tire gauge. The tide comes in quickly. Many photos exist of 4 wheel drive vehicles swamped by the tide. Most accidents happen when not observing caution and paying attention to what you are doing. I have been stuck there in a jeep and it is no fun when getting out just as the tide approaches your door jamb! Less fun if the sea gets the vehicle!