This coastal destination offers the kind of good oldfashioned summer fun that your grandparents would recognize.
Planning Notes: visitpender.com
Surf City Ocean Pier • 112 South Shore Dr, Surf City • (910) 328-3521 • Open mid-March–Nov 30, 24/7 • Daily, weekly & seasonal passes • surfcityoceanpier.com Jolly Roger Pier • Topsail Beach • $16/day fishing, $2 spectator • Lit at night Sears Landing • 806 Roland Ave, Surf City • (910) 328-1312 • Breakfast, lunch & dinner • Boat dock access • searslanding.com Daddy Mac’s Beach Grille • 108 N Shore Dr, Surf City • (910) 328-5577 • Opens 5 PM nightly • No reservations Breezeway Restaurant • 810 S Anderson Blvd, Topsail Beach • (910) 328-4302 • Open spring through fall NC Blueberry Festival • Downtown Burgaw • Third weekend of June annually • Free admission • ncblueberryfestival.com Summer on the Square • Pender County Courthouse Square, Burgaw • June 5, June 19, July 17, 2026 • 6:30–8:30 PM • Free Topsail Beach Craft Market • 634 Channel Blvd, Topsail Beach • Every Thursday through Sept 1 • 9 AM–2 PM • Free Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Center • Surf City • Open March–Dec • Hours vary as seasons vary. • Gen Adm $7 • reserve tickets online in advance – usually sells out! • seaturtlehospital.org Moores Creek National Battlefield • 40 Patriots Hall Dr, Currie • Closed Mondays, Open Tuesday-Sunday 9 AM– Dusk• Free • nps.gov/mocr
An old-fashioned kind of summer still exists here
Pender County sits between Wilmington and the kind of quiet that’s getting harder to find. On the coast, Topsail Island, a 26-mile barrier island shared between Surf City and Topsail Beach, has stayed deliberately low-key: no high-rise hotels, no chain boardwalk. Inland, Burgaw, the county seat, is the small town that exudes coastal Carolina charm. What Pender County offers is the summer that existed before everything got complicated. Pier fishing at sunrise. Sandbar hangouts reached by johnboat. Seafood pulled from local waters and served up fresh. Fun festivals where the whole town shows up. It’s nostalgic in the best possible way.
THE PIER
Surf City Ocean Pier
Topsail Island’s first ocean pier was built in 1948 and has been owned by the Lore family since 1973. At 937 feet long with a 40-foot octagon at the end, it’s the kind of structure that earns its place in a landscape. The pier runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week from mid-March through November 30. In summer, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and Atlantic croaker are the regulars. The tackle shop is fully stocked and rents rods with a deposit if you’re arriving empty-handed. There’s a grill on site, hand-dipped ice cream, and fish-cleaning stations with running water at the end of the day. The Jolly Roger Pier in Topsail Beach is family-owned and operated. It extends 850 feet into the Atlantic. It’s lit at night, with rod rentals and a tackle shop. An evening stroll out to the end, watching the water darken, and the dolphins play is a wonderful experience.
At 937 feet out, you’re standing over the open Atlantic. The beach is a stripe behind you, and the sunsets over the water are awe-inspiring.
THE WATER
Sandbar hangouts, the ICW, and Lea-Hutaff Island
The Intracoastal Waterway runs the length of Topsail Island on the sound side, and in summer it fills up with the kind of easy boating life that doesn’t need explaining. Sandbars appear at low tide, boats cluster, and afternoons stretch out. It’s a scene that’s been happening here for decades. Lea-Hutaff Island is the uninhabited barrier island just south of Topsail Beach, accessible only by boat. There isn’t any development or crowds. Just sea turtles, birds, seashells, shark teeth, sea glass, and sand dollars. Charter and tour companies on Topsail Island run private and group excursions. It’s the kind of place that reminds you how much of the coast is still just itself. For kayaking and paddleboarding, the calm waters of the ICW and the marshes and creeks of Pender County are the right setting. Rentals are available at surf shops along the island. The Black River and Holly Shelter Game Lands offer paddling inland if you want something quieter and wilder.
THE FOOD
Old-school seafood and the ice cream for dessert
Pender County’s food identity is built on what comes out of the water nearby. Hampstead calls itself the Seafood Capital of the Carolinas, and the restaurants up and down the island and along the ICW make a reasonable case for the claim. Sears Landing in Surf City is the one people come back for. A waterfront restaurant reachable by land or sea (boaters can dock right out back) serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner with fresh local seafood, rocking chairs on the porch, and picnic tables dockside. No hurry required.
Daddy Mac's Beach Grille right next to the Surf City Pier, is the local standard for oceanfront seafood. Enjoy crab cakes, fried fish, and ocean views from the covered deck.
Breezeway Restaurant, located on the ICW in Topsail Beach, is Pender County’s oldest restaurant, serving up fresh seafood and what many call “the best” hush puppies on the island. Cape Fear Seafood and Fishmonger’s Honest Seafood, are two more local seafood favorites, but there is no shortage of local favorite spots to try! T he area offers a wide variety of dining experiences. For ice cream: the Surf City Ocean Pier Grill makes homemade waffle cones and carries 16 flavors. Get a milkshake with your lunch. Larry’s Deli-Que in Topsail Beach is a local favorite for ice cream alongside the sandwiches and BBQ. Scoops Microcreamery, a national award winning ice cream shop where the flavors are blended daily, will leave you screaming for more.
THE FESTIVALS
NC Blueberry Festival — Burgaw
The third weekend of June (June 20), Burgaw turns its courthouse square blueberry blue. The festival has been running since 2003 and draws more than 50,000 visitors for a BBQ cookoff, 5K, Tour de Blueberry bike ride, car show, live music, and vendors selling everything from blueberry jam to blueberry candles. Fresh blueberries from local farms are available all summer — Pender County is one of the state’s largest blueberrygrowing regions, with farms open mid-May through July.
Summer on the Square — Burgaw
Burgaw’s free outdoor concert series on the Pender County Courthouse Square runs through the summer. Bring your lawn chair. Food trucks on site. The 2026 lineup includes Chocolate Chip & Company (June 19), Autumn Tyde (July 17), and Thirsty Horses (August 14) all 6:30–8:30 PM.
Topsail Beach Craft Market
Every Thursday morning through September 1 at the Breezeway Restaurant and Motel parking lot, from 9 AM–2 PM. Local artisans, handmade goods, and the kind of low-key browsing that fits the pace of a beach town morning.
Autumn with Topsail
The island’s largest festival, hosted by the Historical Society of Topsail Island, features artisans, music, food, dancing, and more.
THE DESTINATIONS
Burgaw
The county seat sits about 30 minutes from the beach and looks the way a small Carolina town is supposed to look with a courthouse square, shaded streets, and historic buildings. Brown Dog Coffee Company on the square has been roasting its own beans since 2004. Burgaw Brewing on South Wright Street has small-batch beer and a great outdoor patio. T he Burgaw Visitor Center on East Wilmington Street was once the county jail.
Moores Creek National Battlefield – Currie
A few miles from Burgaw, the preserved site of the 1776 Patriot victory that broke Loyalist momentum in North Carolina sits quiet among the pines. Walking trails, historical exhibits, and summer ranger programming make it a halfday stop that earns its place on any Pender itinerary. In 2026, as part of America’s 250th anniversary, the site carries extra weight.
Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center — Surf City
The volunteer-run nonprofit rescues and cares for injured sea turtles along the North Carolina coast. Open to visitors from March through December, hours vary in varied seasons. It’s the #1 thing to do in Surf City according to every local who gets asked. Reservations are required at seaturtlehopital.org.
“People come in thinking it’s a nice little aquarium stop. They leave talking about individual turtles by name.” — Tammy Proctor, volunteer, Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center
Topsail Island’s Missile Towers
One of the odder pieces of American history hiding in plain sight: after World War II, the US Navy used Topsail Island for secret missile testing under Operation Bumblebee. The concrete launch towers still stand along the shore — now repurposed as private homes and the Assembly Building housing the Missiles & More Museum in Topsail Beach. Worth a slow drive to take them in. A visit to the free Missiles and More Museum is a must.
IF YOU DO ONE THING
Walk out to the end of Surf City Ocean Pier at dusk The pier has been here since 1948. At 937 feet out, you’re standing over the open Atlantic, the beach is a stripe behind you, and the light is doing things it doesn’t do anywhere else. You can rent a rod, buy bait, and spend all day. Or you can just walk to the end, look around, and understand immediately why people keep coming back to Topsail Island.
