Tides & Towns
Crystal Coast · NC

Cedar Island

The end of the road Down East, where the ferry leaves for Ocracoke.

Population
About 170 (2022)
Ferry to
Ocracoke and Swan Quarter
Wildlife refuge
More than half the island

Then

  1. 2019

    Hurricane Dorian brings about nine feet of storm surge, damages a third of the buildings and sweeps away 28 wild horses and about 15 cows.

Now

Cedar Island is a fishing community in Carteret County's Down East, though fishing is declining; the state ferry is the other big employer. Ferries cross Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke and Swan Quarter.

More than half the island is Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge. Sea Level is about 10 miles back down NC 12.

3 tide stations around Cedar Island

Sources