Featured Stories
Ocracoke to celebrate Earth Day with weekend festival April 19 & 20
Ocracoke’s pristine beaches, maritime nature trails, village gardens, glorious live oaks and thriving wildlife inspire residents and visitors alike to appreciate and celebrate our...
Overwash all along NC12 is a dire situation
Editor's note: NWS Newport/Morehead on March 27 issued another flood watch effective from 8 p.m. Wednesday night through Thursday (March 28) evening for all...
Portsmouth Island Homecoming scheduled for April 27
By Peter Vankevich
Portsmouth Island these days is normally quiet with small groups of visitors braving the notorious mosquitoes in summer and those fewer in...
What’s open, closed on Ocracoke
The following is a list of the establishments on Ocracoke that are open or closed for the season. Most island businesses will be open...
General Island Information
The Ocracoke lighthouse was 200 years old in 2023. Photo: C. Leinbach
The Ocracoke Observer website won first place in the 2020-2021 NCPA contest Online Division, plus four other awards. Winner of 10 awards in 2019, including first place for breaking news coverage of Hurricane Dorian.