Rick's Picks: Camp Hatteras RV Resort, Waves, NC

Camp Hatteras located in Waves, NC straddles both sides of NC Hwy12 with the largest part of the park oceanside and the smaller number of sites soundside on Pamlico Sound. This campground has been here a long time and as we understand from talking with several guests initially sold time shares for a 25 year period and these are coming to an end in about three years. All sites provide FHU with stable 50 amp service (in fact the electric handled our 70 amp draw with no issues). The concrete pads are level and include a small concrete patio thus avoiding the necessity of laying down a patio rug. The grounds are well maintained, especially considering that the OBX is a sandy beach island 20 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean from the mainland. Ocean side sites are surrounded by a thick green carpet of grass and many back into huge backyards. The park also offers a sprawling pristine private beach on the Atlantic. The soundside sites are sand and grass and provide unparalleled views of Pamlico Sound and guests engaging in various water sports. Buildings are well maintained, there are three pools: one large sparkling outdoor swimming pool, a heated indoor swimming pool, and an indoor hot tub. The bathrooms and laundry buildings are dispersed among the campsites and are reasonably clean considering the heavy usage (they clean them twice a day). Access into the park off Route 12 is wide and uncomplicated; even the u-turn to exit and cross Hwy 12 to the soundside sites was possible in our 45’ motorcoach with tow. All streets are paved and wide with good turning radii. The brochure states that they provide WiFi and at the welcome center they caution you that it may not be reliable; we found the contrary and using our Winegard ConnecT were able to stream movies with little or no buffering. Speed was 5.81Mps download, 0.23Mps upload and signal strength was 87% at -49dBm. We did experience the internet going down several times however they were quick to reboot the module whenever we called. The Winegard Rayzor Automatic enabled us to pull in the local tv channels; since this is the OBX there are a limited number of over-the-air channels available in SD; cable is provided at each site which we did not avail ourselves of. Pictures on their web site and Google Maps are representative of the conditions we observed July 2019.

The Takeaway: vast sandy stretches of beach on the unparalleled OBX offer a inimitable vacation experience. The park stretches from oceanside to soundside in a quiet area of the OBX away from the vacation dense populations of Nags Head to the north and Avon to the south. Level concrete pads with patio, FHU, strong 50 amp electrical, and cable. WiFi is good and supports streaming. There are some very good local restaurants and seafood markets in Waves, Manteo and Avon; all worth driving to. And there are 5 lighthouses from Oracoke to Corolla to explore and climb. We visited September 2017 and July 2019.Go to www.rickpicks.com for other reviews, critiques and essays with links to area attractions and a more detailed review of this park,etc.