The largest undisturbed barrier island along the southern part of the North Carolina coast is Masonboro Island, located approximately five miles southeast of Wilmington.  The Masonboro site is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to the west, Masonboro Inlet to the north and Carolina Beach Inlet to the south.

The 8.4 mile long island encompasses approximately 5,046 acres, 87 percent of which are covered with marsh and tidal flats.  The remaining 619 acres are composed of beach uplands and dredge material islands. The island is located in the most populous part of the North Carolina coastal area.

Masonboro Island is an essentially pristine barrier island and estuarine system.  The various salinity patterns found in the extensive subtidal and intertidal areas along the sound side of the island support a myriad of estuarine species. The habitats found within the reserve site include subtidal soft bottoms, tidal flats, hard surfaces, salt marshes, shrub thicket, maritime forest, dredge spoil areas, grasslands, ocean beach and sand dunes.  Loggerhead and green sea turtles nest on the beaches, where seabeach amaranth plants grow on the foredunes.  All of these species are listed as threatened by the Federal Government.  Of concern are the black skimmers, Wilson’s plovers and least terns that nest on the island.  Sound sediments are home to two state watch list species – Hartman’s Echiurid and a polycheate worm in the genus Notomastus.  The nutrient rich water of Masonboro Sound are an important nursery area for spot, mullet, summer flounder, pompano, menhaden, and bluefish.

Checklist of the Fishes Documented from the Zeke's Island and Masonboro Island Components of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Getting to the site

The Masonboro Island site can only be reached by boat.  There are public and private boat ramps in and near Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach.

Visiting the site

Boats usually land on the beaches along the north and south sound side of the island and visitors walk across the dunes to the beach.  Visitors may also walk down the undisturbed ocean beach for miles.  The vulnerable to disturbance areas are dunes, grassy flats, high and low marsh communities, and eelgrass beds.  Groups may use the open tidal flats as long as the habitat is not altered.

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