Things to Do at OIB Pier: A Full Family Day from 7am to 10pm

If you're planning a day at Ocean Isle Beach and wondering what to actually *do* while you're here — this is our honest breakdown of a full day at the pier. It's the kind of day you can't quite put together anywhere else on the island.

We open at 7am and don't close until 10pm. That's fifteen hours of options. Here's how to spend them.

7:00 AM — Breakfast at the Pier Grill

The Pier Grill opens at 7am sharp, and if you're even thinking about a beach breakfast, this is where you want to be. The menu is honest, homestyle, and fast — egg platters, biscuit sandwiches, grits, pancakes, and the kind of coffee that tastes better because you're drinking it fifty feet from the ocean.

Grab a table inside, take it to go, or sit out back overlooking the beach. Phone-in orders work too if you're trying to beat the line: (910) 579-3095.

Breakfast runs until 11am. Then it's lunch — cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, and fries until 4pm.

8:00 AM — Walk the Pier

After breakfast, take the walk. Nearly a thousand feet of weathered wood stretching straight into the Atlantic. Benches all the way down. Salt air. The kind of morning that makes you forget what day it is.

• Adults: $2 per person
• Kids under 6: $1

If you're fishing, walking is included — just grab a fishing pass at the desk.

9:00 AM — Drop a Line

If anyone in your group has ever said "I should try fishing" — this is the easiest day to start. No license needed (you fish under the pier's blanket license). No boat needed. No experience needed.

Pier fishing passes:

• Daily: $10
• Weekly: $45
• Season: $200

Don't have a rod? Rental rods are available at the desk for $20 daily per rod. The shop inside sells bait, tackle, and whatever else you need.

Tip: The fishing desk staff will tell you what's biting and what rig to use. Just ask. It's the single best piece of advice you'll get all day.

11:00 AM — Ice Cream at Scoops

By 11am the temperature has usually started to climb, and that's the ice cream hour. Scoops is right on the pier property — 24 hand-dipped flavors of Blue Bell, soft serve in chocolate, vanilla, and swirl, plus sundaes, milkshakes, and slushies.

The move, especially with kids, is a soft-serve cone and a walk back down the pier.

Open 11am to 10pm daily.

12:00 PM — The Arcade (When It Gets Hot)

Ocean Isle summers are beautiful, but the midday sun is no joke. The arcade is the move — a full-sized, air-conditioned, clean arcade with video games, skill games, and prize redemption.

The whole thing runs on a magnetic stripe card — no quarters, no tokens, no digging through pockets. Load the card, play, collect tickets digitally, redeem at the counter.

Fair warning: the kids will want to come back the next day. That's just how it works.

1:00 PM — Lunch at the Grill (Again)

The Pier Grill shifts from breakfast to lunch at 11am, so by the time the arcade break wraps up, lunch is ready. Cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, fries. It's not fancy — it's not trying to be. It's the best beach burger you'll have all week.

2:00 PM — Mini Golf at River Country

Directly across the street from the pier is River Country Mini Golf — an 18-hole course that's been a family tradition since the 1970s. It still has the favorite fiberglass safari animals in their natural habitat (the unnaturally blue river with the floating colored golf balls).

• One game: $10
• All day come-and-go until 5pm: $12

Free parking while you play. This course has been part of every local kid's memory for fifty years, and it still holds up. Call 910-579-2030 to verify seasonal hours before you plan around it.

4:00 PM — Shop the Pier Store

Before you head back to wherever you're staying, swing through the shop. Pier t-shirts and hats (the kind you'll actually wear), beach supplies if you forgot sunscreen or a cooler, fishing bait and tackle, puzzles and games for the beach house, and the full lineup of souvenirs.

This is also where you'll find Duplin wine slushies — NC-made, pier-famous, and probably the best way to end a beach day.

6:00 PM — Sunset on the Rail

Walk the pier one more time before dinner. The sunset from the end of the pier is one of those things you'll remember long after the vacation is over. Benches all the way down. No rush. No reason to be anywhere else.

8:00 PM — Evening Fishing

The night bite picks up in summer. If fishing from earlier in the day got anyone hooked, come back. The pier is open until 10pm and the evening crowd is its own quieter vibe — fewer tourists, more regulars, cooler air.

Parking: How It Works

This is the part that saves you money.

Parking is free for pier customers. Fishing, eating at the grill, arcade, ice cream — any of it. Just let the attendant know and display your vehicle pass.

If you're using the lot for beach access only (not visiting the pier), it's $10/day. Season passes are available.

The Short Version

Here's the whole day on one line: breakfast → pier walk → fishing → ice cream → arcade → lunch → mini golf → shop → sunset → fish one more time → go home happy.

You don't have to do all of it. But you can. That's kind of the point.

Planning your trip? Check our hours before you come — they shift slightly by season. Call ahead if you're bringing a big group: (910) 579-3095.

Ocean Isle Beach Pier · 1 W First Street · Est. 1957