Treasure of the Tides Book your week
Aerial view of South Nags Head beach houses, dunes and the Atlantic Ocean on a sunny day
MP 20 · SOUTH NAGS HEAD, NC

Your OBX vacation awaits

A four-bedroom family beach house a short walk over the dunes from the Atlantic, minutes from lighthouses, National Seashore beaches and the tallest living dunes on the Atlantic coast.

Check availability See the house
  • 4 bedroomsKing, queen, two twins, bunks
  • 2 full bathsPlus an outdoor shower
  • Sleeps 8Dining table seats 8
  • Parking for 4+Driveway fits four vehicles
  • Big sunny deckSeating for eight
  • Fast WiFiPlus TVs in every bedroom
Welcome home

Your home away from home on the shores of Nags Head

Treasure of the Tides sits near the quiet southern end of Nags Head, just north of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It has four comfortable bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a full kitchen and a sunny deck, and the ocean is just over the dunes.

Our family loves this place. Some days we spend the whole day at the beach, just playing in the sand and watching the waves. Sometimes at night we walk down with flashlights to look for ghost crabs and watch the waves in the moonlight. The kids always want a stop at the candy shop, and there are plenty of local restaurants for dinner. You're going to love it here.

“We're sure your family will fall in love with Nags Head and the Outer Banks, just like ours did.”

Greg and Leslie Harshfield, owners

Front of Treasure of the Tides: a raised shingled beach house with a wide deck and stairs
The house

Room for the whole crew

Each bedroom has its own flat-screen TV. The main living area has a big-screen TV with cable, a window seat and plenty of sofa space for movie night after a long beach day.

King bedroom with peach walls and a seashell quiltKing bed

The king suite

Bright and airy, with sea-glass colors and starfish on the walls.

Queen bedroom with seafoam walls and a coral-print comforterQueen bed

The seafoam room

Seafoam walls and a white cottage bed for a calm night's sleep.

Bedroom with two twin beds in blue patterned quiltsTwo twins

The twin room

Two twin beds, good for siblings, cousins or grandparents.

Bunk room with white bunk beds, a ship's wheel and a hand-painted fish dresserBunk beds

The bunk room

The kids' favorite, with a ship's wheel and a hand-painted fish dresser.

Full kitchen and dining

Everything you need to cook a real meal, and a table that seats eight.

Big sunny deck

A huge deck with seating for eight, including a tall bar table for morning coffee.

Outdoor shower

Rinse off the sand and salt before heading inside.

Laundry

A washer and dryer on site for towels and swimsuits.

WiFi and TVs

High-speed internet, a big-screen TV with cable and a TV in every bedroom.

Modern climate control

Stay cool in July and cozy on a fall weekend.

Two full bathrooms

Plenty of room for everyone to get ready for the day.

Parking

The driveway fits at least four vehicles, so bring the whole family.

House rules

Sleeps 8. No pets and no smoking, please.

Explore the Outer Banks

Everything is measured in mileposts here

Locals give directions by the milepost markers along the Beach Road. They start at MP 1 in Kitty Hawk and count up as you head south. Treasure of the Tides is at MP 20, so the best of the northern Outer Banks is a short drive away.

South of the mileposts, NC 12 runs into Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Distances there are approximate.

Sandy path and wooden walkover through the dunes to the beach
STEPS FROM THE HOUSE

Your beach, just over the dunes

Walk past the sea oats and you're on the sand. Come back after dark with a flashlight and look for ghost crabs at the water's edge.

~3 MI SOUTH

Bodie Island Lighthouse

The black-and-white banded tower was first lit on October 1, 1872. It's the third lighthouse to stand here. You can climb it in summer with a ticket bought online.

Climbing info (NPS) ↗
ACROSS FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE

Coquina Beach

A wide National Seashore beach. The weathered timbers of the schooner Laura Barnes, which came ashore in fog in 1921, rest here.

Shipwrecks of the Seashore ↗
MP 16.5

Jennette's Pier

A 1,000-foot ocean fishing pier, part of the North Carolina Aquariums. The first pier here was built in 1939.

Visit Jennette's Pier ↗
MP 12.5

Jockey's Ridge State Park

The tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic coast. Fly a kite, take a hang gliding lesson or climb up for a sunset over the sound.

NC State Parks ↗
MP 8 · KILL DEVIL HILLS

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Stand where Wilbur and Orville made the first successful airplane flights on December 17, 1903. Walk the flight line and climb Big Kill Devil Hill to the monument.

Plan a visit (NPS) ↗
SOUTH OVER OREGON INLET

Pea Island Wildlife Refuge

Founded in 1938 on the north end of Hatteras Island, with more than 370 bird species on its list. The North Pond trail is an easy 0.6 miles each way.

Refuge info and hours ↗
ROANOKE ISLAND · MANTEO

The Lost Colony

America's second-longest-running historical outdoor drama, first staged in 1937 on the site of the 1587 Roanoke colony.

Show schedule ↗
NAGS HEAD

Local favorites for dinner (and dessert)

  • Sam & Omie'sServing fishermen since 1937, across from Jennette's Pier. Early breakfasts, shrimpburgers and clam chowder.
  • Blue Moon Beach GrillSouthern coastal comfort food at MP 13.5, with local seafood, burgers, daily specials and great cocktails.
  • Basnight's Lone Cedar CafeFamily-run spot on the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway, known for fresh local seafood and its crab soup.
  • Miller's WaterfrontTwo stories on the sound with sunset views. Seafood, steaks and chicken.
  • Fish Heads Bar & GrillEat right out over the ocean at the Outer Banks Fishing Pier.
  • Surfin' SpoonSelf-serve frozen yogurt and gelato at MP 11.5, run by former pro surfer Jesse Hines and his wife, Whitney.
More ideas at outerbanks.org ↗
Day trip · Roanoke Island

Manteo and Roanoke Island

Head north to Whalebone Junction at MP 16.5 and take the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway across Roanoke Sound. Roanoke Island fills an easy day, especially on a cloudy one.

DOWNTOWN MANTEO

Manteo waterfront

A small harbor town on Shallowbag Bay. Walk out to the replica screwpile Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse, have lunch at one of more than a dozen downtown restaurants, or book a sunset sail or dolphin cruise.

About Manteo ↗
MANTEO WATERFRONT

Roanoke Island Festival Park

Climb aboard the Elizabeth II, a full-size representation of a 16th-century sailing ship named for one of the ships in Sir Walter Raleigh's fleet that brought English colonists to Roanoke Island. Costumed interpreters bring a colonial settlement and an American Indian town to life, and there's a hands-on history museum.

Plan a visit ↗
OPEN APR–EARLY DEC

Island Farm

A living history farm built around the Etheridge family's 1847 farmhouse. Kids can meet the cows, sheep and chickens, take a cart ride and watch blacksmithing, weaving and cooking the 1850s way.

Hours and events ↗
ROANOKE ISLAND

North Carolina Aquarium

Sharks, alligators and river otters, plus a Graveyard of the Atlantic exhibit with a scale replica of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. Reserve tickets online before you go.

Tickets and hours ↗
Tales from the tides

A little Outer Banks history

These barrier islands have seen shipwrecks, lost colonies and the first airplane flight. Here are a few of our favorite stories.

Our street name

What's a Limulus?

Limulus is the scientific name of the Atlantic horseshoe crab. Their ancestors lived 445 million years ago, about 200 million years before the first dinosaurs. Horseshoe crabs aren't true crabs. They're closer to spiders and scorpions, and their blood is blue because it carries oxygen with copper instead of iron. Drug makers use a substance from that blue blood to test medicines and vaccines for safety.

Legend

How Nags Head got its name

Nobody knows for sure. The likeliest answer is that it was named after one of the headlands called Nag's Head on the English coast. Locals prefer the legend. As the story goes, "land pirates" hung a lantern on a pony's neck and led it along the dunes at night. Ship captains mistook the bobbing light for another vessel, steered for it and ran aground, and the wreckers looted the cargo. A horse still appears on the town's emblem.

Graveyard of the Atlantic

More than a thousand shipwrecks

An estimated 1,000+ ships have been lost along this coast. Offshore, the cold Labrador Current meets the warm Gulf Stream, and the shifting sandbars of Diamond Shoals reach about eight miles out from Cape Hatteras. Flat islands with few landmarks, plus hurricanes and nor'easters, made it one of the most dangerous coasts in America.

The Unpainted Aristocracy

Nags Head's first beach cottages

In 1866 Dr. W.G. Pool built the first oceanfront cottage here. Soon a row of summer homes followed, built of unpainted cedar that held up to salt air better than paint. They had wraparound porches, lean-out benches and top-hinged shutters. Some were moved back from the encroaching sea as many as three times. The row is now the Nags Head Beach Cottage Row Historic District.

Outer Banks timeline

  1. 1585

    The Tiger runs aground. An English ship from Sir Richard Grenville's expedition becomes the first recorded loss in the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

  2. 1587

    The Lost Colony. About 120 English colonists settle Roanoke Island, and Virginia Dare is born, believed to be the first English birth in North America. The colony's fate is still a mystery.

  3. c. 1830

    A resort is born. Nags Head becomes known as a summer resort.

  4. 1866

    The first oceanfront cottage goes up, beginning the "Unpainted Aristocracy."

  5. 1872

    Bodie Island Lighthouse is lit on October 1, the third tower at the site.

  6. 1903

    First flight. On December 17 the Wright brothers make the first successful airplane flights near Big Kill Devil Hill, 12 mileposts north of the house.

  7. 1921

    The Laura Barnes, a four-masted schooner, comes ashore in dense fog. Its remains now rest at Coquina Beach.

  8. 1937

    The Lost Colony opens on July 4 at Manteo, written by Pulitzer-winning playwright Paul Green.

  9. 1938

    Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is established, giving snow geese, shorebirds and hundreds of other species a home.

  10. 1939

    Jennette's Pier is built by Warren Jennette Sr., a 750-foot wooden pier.

  11. 1946

    Owens' Restaurant opens and becomes a Nags Head institution.

  12. 1977

    The historic cottage row is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

  13. 2011

    A new Jennette's Pier, now 1,000 feet long, opens after Hurricane Isabel destroyed the old one in 2003.

Book your stay

Peak season fills up fast

Reserve on VRBO, or contact us directly to book and skip the booking fees.

Book direct and save

Email us with your dates and the size of your group. We'll get back to you about availability and rates.

Email us
Coming back? Returning guests get first chance at the same week the following year.

Reserve on VRBO

See rates and reviews, and book instantly.

4 bedrooms · 2 full baths · Sleeps 8 · No pets · No smoking

View on VRBO ↗

105 E Limulus Drive, Nags Head, NC 27959 · Open in Maps ↗

Availability

Booked dates sync from our VRBO calendar. Open dates are available to book here or on VRBO.

The live calendar is on our VRBO listing. Check dates on VRBO ↗