Topsail Beach - Boryk Avenue Access (S28C)

Topsail Beach is located on the southern end of Topsail Island. The island offers 26 miles of stunning coastline for both locals and visitors to enjoy. Note that there are no lifeguards on this quiet beach. Local history has it that Topsail received its name from the many pirates that used to hide in the channel, waiting to ambush merchants ships. The merchants caught on to this hiding spot and kept a sharp watch for pirate ships’ topsails beyond the dunes when they sailed through the area. Please be mindful of the sand dunes and the sea grasses. Dunes are extremely important to the ecosystem as well as to the properties on this low lying island, and breaches in the dunes leaves the beach extremely vulnerable to storms and floods. There is 500$ fine for walking on the dunes. Topsail Beach is nesting beach for several species of threatened and endangered sea turtles. The Topsail Sea Turtle Project manages sea turtle activities along the 26 miles of coastline. Beach goers should take care to avoid disturbing nesting females, nests, and hatchlings during the nesting season (May1-August 31). During nesting and hatching season the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission strongly encourages Topsail Beach visitors and residents use red ?lters on ?ashlights when walking on the beach at night and to ensure that lights facing the beach are turned off. During WWII the US Navy claimed the island and began to used it to carry out Operation Bumblebee. This was the beginning of the space program and an arsenal center for assembly and storage of rockets was built along with concrete observation towers. Hundreds of test rockets were launched on the island until the program was dismantled. The island was sold back to the public, however many of the military structures are still in place.