All about what life is like living in Carova; the only place I know on the East Coast where you can live at the beach, away from commercialization, and among wild horses.
Here is a great article explaining Carova courtesy of Outer-Banks-Revealed.com. There were also some great photos that I left out, but can be seen at their site.
Carova:
No Crowds Here; Four Wheel Drive Required
Carova is located in the four wheel drive territorynorth of Corolla.No roads, no stores, and very few people have found this area. What you will find is the natural beauty of the Outer Banks as it was before it became the hot vacation destination it is now. Carova, so called due to its location in North Carolina (Caro) just south of Virginia (va), is eleven miles of pristine beaches leading up to the Virginia border. The communities are Seagull, Penny’s Hill, Swan Beach, North Swan Beach and Carova. It has been referred to as one of the best “undiscovered” beaches in the United States.
To find Carova, you need only take Route 12 north until you come to the end of the road, literally. A slight jug right and turn left and suddenly, you’ve left the road, and the crowds behind. Don’t be surprised if you see a few 2 wheel drive adventurers stuck in the soft sand as soon as you hit the sand, but rest assured, this is four wheel drive low gear territory.
Because of this, Carova has no restaurants, gas stations, trash collection, grocery stores or other “modern life” conveniences you’ve grown accustomed to; but this does not mean the houses up this end of the island are lacking. What you will find, interspersed with some modest homes of some year round residents, are large beautiful homes where the owners of these homes, recognizing the seclusion of the area, have built in may features to keep you comfortable and busy during your stay. Heated pools, extensive game rooms, gourmet kitchen, and large multiple bedroom houses, with quite a few having at least eight bedrooms, typically housing 18 or more people, have made this an ideal location for that family reunion orbeach weddingwhere seclusion and privacy is a big plus.
You may also be fortunate to see thewild horses of Corolla,who have been relocated to this area after development forced them out of the Corolla area. Please do not attempt to approach, feed, ride or pet the horses, as it is against the law and could result in either you or the horse getting hurt. The horses now come under the care and protection of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, who looks after their health, numbers and upkeep. In addition, up at the Virginia border, you will find the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge and the False Cape State Park, where you will find a few other endangered species, including the loggerhead turtle, the piping plovers, and the seabeach amaranths, an annual plant found on the dunes of Atlantic Ocean beaches. As you are driving the beaches to wherever you may be going, watch out for the remains of a once mighty forest, where all is left poking out of the sand are some gnarled trunks.
If you do not have a four wheel drive vehicle, there are several companies that run tours up into this area, who will bring you on nature tours and possibly show you the wild horses.
If you are seeking a vacation with plenty of uninterrupted family time, long walks on the beaches, beautiful and peaceful sunsets, and some time to decompress from the mayhem of every day life, Carova may be exactly what you are looking for
Everyone is always asking me "What is the market doing?" or "What has sold lately?" So I am going to post on here each sale in Carova as it happens with a picture, address, and sold price. If you want any more information about a specific property, then just give me a call or shoot me an e-mail.
I’ve heard this one a lot this past summer, and as I look back I realize that I thought that also before moving down to the Outer Banks. From talking with some of the lifelong residents, that statement used to be true, but not anymore. The Outer Banks (OBX) has really become a 10 month resort with different groups coming at different times. There is the pattern as I see it.
June, July, & August:
These are definitely the busiest months down here with families getting away while the kids are off from school. They will often spend 6 hours traveling through 5 states just to spend another 2 hours covering the last 20 miles.
September & October:
The big families have all gone back home to work & school. Now you see many “empty nesters” coming down to enjoy a quieter, less expensive Outer Banks. The weather on the OBX is typically in the mid 70’s to low 80’s, and the many the atmosphere is more relaxing than in the summer.
November & December:
The Holiday season is a great time again for family reunions, but instead of it being the renters coming down, it is mostly the homeowners of the large rental houses taking time off to enjoy the homes themselves.
January & February:
This is the slowest time of the year on the Outer Banks, and one of my favorites. Before moving down here, my wife and I would come down here to vacation on Valentines week. I would joke that it was the only time of the year that I could rent an oceanfront house without inviting 10 other family members. J Sure you aren’t going swimming in the ocean or sunbathing, but you also didn’t look out you oceanfront window and see the beach in front of you packed with hundreds of strangers. Most of the store and restaurants were still open, and we never had a trip where it didn’t break 70 degrees at least one day.
March, April &May:
Spring is coming back around and you see two groups coming back to the beach. First you have the home owners coming down to get the houses ready for the summer season and get in another week or two before the house starts renting again. You also see the younger couples with children who are not school age yet taking advantage of the lower prices and milder weather.
Then Memorial Day hits and the cycle starts all over again.
The OBX has much to offer no matter what time of the year it is, and each year more & more people seem to realize that.
Reducing your tire pressure to about half (15-18psi for most trucks & SUVs) will help in MANY ways.
1) It will give you better control of your vehicle.
By dropping your tire pressure you will be riding on top of the sand more than digging through it. Your tires will slip less giving you better control and a more normal feel.
2) It will keep you from tearing up the beach.
Every time your wheel are slipping & spinning while on full pressure you are digging little divots with you vehicle. The more people do this the divots multiply and get deeper until the beach becomes horrible to drive and the people who help cause it become some of the biggest complainers about it.
3) You might get stuck.
If your tires slip and dig enough, you can dig yourself right down to your axels. Then you are faces with a towing bill of $100 or more.
4) You might do worse than get stuck.
If the thought of a more enjoyable ride doesn’t make you want to take the time to let some air out of your tires. If you believe that your vehicle has the power to keep from getting stuck. Then you might also consider this: by not dropping your pressure and instead choosing to plow your way through the sand, you put a lot of unnecessary stress on both your engine and transmission. All the added work could cause something wors to happen that just “getting stuck”. You could end up looking like this.
This is a recent question that I had gotten and had to think about for a while.
If you enjoy riding jet skies, there are a few places along the sound that allow you to rent them by the hour. There are are none to use on the ocean as the launching of Personal Water Craft (i.e. jet skies) is not the ocean from the surf is not allowed anywhere on the Currituck Outer Banks. If you are planning on coming down here with your own jet skies your options become even more reduced by the fact that there are currently no public boat ramps in Carova at this time, although there is one planned for Carova Park in the near future. That would make the closest place to launch your own jet skies at the Whalehead Club in Cuttituck Heritage Park.
On the plus side, while you're there, you can take in the many sites including the Currituck Lighthouse, Currituck Wildlife Museum, and the actual Whalehead Club. There are also many events that go on there though out the year that are worth stopping over for.
I get this question asked from time to time and the answer is yes....well mostly.
We will not get delivery from UPS, DHL, or FedEx; but we do get mail brought up the beach from the good old USPS! The mail does get delivered up here but not to our houses. anyone wanting their mail delivered into Carova can get get a mail box assigned to them across the street from the fire station in Carova Beach. For some residents that pretty convenient, for others living in Swan Beach or North Swan Beach, it is as much as 6 miles in the wrong direction. Consequently many of these residents choose to rent a P.O. Box at the closest post office which is located in Corolla.
The Corolla Post Office is located about 1 mile south of the end of the paved road. like most post offices it is accessible 24/7, but catching someone at the window is a little more of a challenge. their hours are M-F 9:00-12:30 1:00-4:00 & Sa 10:00-12:00. Yes the post office window actually closes down from 12:30-1:00 for lunch so keep that in mind when you have to make a special stop.
Another interesting thing about the Corolla Post Office is that the number of out going runs each day changes depending on the time of year. From Memorial Day to Labor Day they have mail going out at 11:00 & 3:00. During the rest of the year, they only have the 3:00 run.
To some people this can be seen as a major inconvenience. There have been times that I needed to get something out that day only to find that I missed the pick up at the mail box and found myself driving 50 minutes round trip and going through almost a 1/4 tank of gas to make sure that it went out on time. but that is the exception, and usually I enjoy the "small town" & "good old days" feel that this post office as well as the rest of the town has.
That is very much not right. Then there is also the question “FEMA will not insure houses up there, will they?” This is closer but still incorrect. There was a time when FEMA provided flood insurance for the “Off Road” beaches of Carova. Then later on they designated to whole area a CBRA Zone (Coastal Barrier Resources Act)
A CBRA zone (pronounced COBRA zone) is an area designated by Congress that prohibits all federal expenditures, including flood insurance, for residential and commercial development in such zones.
When Carova was designated a CBRA zone, FEMA did grandfather in any houses that could document that they were built prior to a certain date. I believe it was October 1st 1983, but I could be off. So there are some houses that are insured through FEMA. You can get flood insurance on the other houses, but you have to go to the private sector. Which can cost you a lot depending on the flood one you are in and how much your house is worth.
There are basically three flood zones in Carova: VE, AE, & X. In this scenario X is a good thing. It is determined to be outside the 100 and 500 year floodplains. If your house is in an X zone than now flood insurance should be required. I say “should” because a bank can still insist on one although I have never heard of it happening. Some lots are not entirely in one zone & it doesn’t have to be, but if even one piling is in an AE or VE, then the whole house is considered in that zone.
AE is inundated by 100-year flooding, for which BFEs have been determined. BFE stands for “Base Flood Elevation”. If your property is in an AE zone you can hire a surveyor to get an elevation certificate or do a topographical survey (TOPO). If this shows that if any of your property is above the Base Flood Elevation, then you can apply to FEMA for a LOMA (Letter Of Map Amendment). Again ALL of the house must be within the LOMA area. So if you’re in an AE zone you can get a TOPO to try and get a LOMA from FEMA. Confused yet?
Then there is VE. Some jokingly say that it stands for "Very Expensive". VE is inundated by 100-year flooding with velocity hazard, BFEs have been determined. FEMA is not currently giving out LOMAs for VE flood zones. These are mostly the oceanfront and semi-oceanfront lots. I have heard of the flood policies on some of these costing $25,000 a year. But remember, these houses can run well over a million dollars in purchase price.
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