We spent 9 nights in June at the Camp Hatteras Campground and RV Resort. This was our 2nd time camping on the Outer Banks. The last time we camped there, we stayed right next door at the Cape Hatteras KOA. We have been to the Outer Banks (OBX) at least a dozen more times throughout our lives, though on the other visits we rented various beach houses. Read about our experience at Camp Hatteras and see if it might be a good fit for your family or group!
Introduction
Camp Hatteras Campground and RV Resort is located in Rodanthe, North Carolina. It is roughly an hour south of the bridge that connects Currituck County to the Outer Banks up in Kitty Hawk, NC. This unique oceanfront-to-soundfront campground offers an array of views depending on campsite location!
Camp Hatteras opened for business in 1991 and is a family-owned campground. With over 400 full hookup sites on concrete pads, you can park your RV or pitch your tent and enjoy prime beach location.
We kicked off our drive to the OBX from Pennsylvania on a Monday morning in June. We were not in a crack-of-dawn-departure mood that day, as we were coming off of an exhausting weekend filled with our daughter’s dance recitals and son’s hockey tournament. We finally left home at around 11 am and settled in for a day of driving.
Our trip was easy and uneventful – which we were grateful for! We took our dog along for the first time ever, so even with some extra stops to walk him and give him a drink of water, we were cruising into the campground around 8:30 pm, just as the sun was setting over the sound.
Arrival and Check-In Experience
Camp Hatteras is just over a mile off of the bridge that you take into Rodanthe. It is easy to spot and we pulled in without issue. We were greeted at the gate house by Skip who was super friendly and made us feel very welcome!
He gave us a quick rundown of the campground and amenities/hours. Then he gave us our map and parking tag and directed us to our campsite. We were in campsite #70 for the next 10 days. Campsite #70 is in the “Premium Ocean” set of campsites. Our site was situated in Sea Oats Circle. This campsite is on the ocean side of the campground.
Accommodations and Campsites
Camp Hatteras offers the following site types:
- Full hookup RV sites
- Tent sites
- Rental sites
Overall, the campsites were clean and appeared well-maintained. Each site had a spacious, level concrete pad that made leveling the camper very easy.
The water hookups were set close to the road and our water hose was too short, so our first purchase ended up being a longer hose from the campground store.
We had enough room to set up our dog run and each site had a picnic table.
Overall the campground does feel a bit crowded. The campsites are pretty close to each other and there were a few times when it felt like the neighbors were right on top of us. It was great when an empty campsite lined up with our walk to the beach access point. We would really love to see a designated walkway somewhere between sites 56 and 58 (even if it means taking a site out of the loop!) for campers to walk right to the bathhouse and beach. On a hot summer day when you’re lugging kids, carts, and a dog to the beach, the most direct route to the beach is an incredible amenity.
Amenities and Facilities
Camp Hatteras Campground was a really nice place to call home throughout our stay! We felt that the grounds and facilities were nicely taken care of and very inviting. Our family used quite a few of these amenities while we were there.
- Community Room: Open and spacious, this is a very inviting space! Lots of seating, a small library, and windows that look out to the pool. This room is next to the arcade and used for a variety of group activities.
- Arcade: Pretty self-explanatory! An array of pay-to-play arcade games.
- Campground Store: Across from the registration desk, you’ll find a small camp store with plenty of basic supplies.
- Sports and Rec: miniature golf, tennis, pickleball, basketball, shuffleboard, cornhole, game room, children’s playground. We used the campground app to see what activities were being offered each day. The kids made shell necklaces one day and had a fun time!
- Jet Ski and Boat Rentals: Right next to the bayside portion of the campground, you can rent jet skis and boats. We had a blast renting a jet ski for an hour and had a really good experience at Charlie’s Boat Rentals! Tip: check rental availability on Charlie’s website. You can book your rental right on their site, reserving the timeslot and equipment that you want.
- Pools: The campground had 2 pools (1 outdoor and 1 heated indoor pool) plus a hot tub (for ages 12+). The kids spent several afternoons enjoying both of the pools! Facilities were nice and felt safe and maintained. The pools did not have lifeguards, but the areas did seem to be monitored frequently by staff.
- Dog Park: As I mentioned above, this was the first time that we have ever taken our dog to the beach! We used the dog park at the campground a bunch of times and it was a really nice area for our dog to stretch his legs. MANY fellow campers had dogs as well. For the most part, they were respectful, kept their dogs on leashes, and cleaned up after them. We only had one idiot neighbor who let their dog free roam and poop on our lawn several times. (No, of course they didn’t clean it up!)
- Bathhouses: Camp Hatteras has, I believe, 4 bathhouses. 3 are on the oceanside and 1 is over on the bayside. All of them have bathrooms, showers, and laundry facilities EXCEPT the bathhouse closest to the ocean – that building does NOT have laundry machines.
- Conference Center: On the sound side of the campground, you’ll find the conference center. The campground hosted a variety of activities at the conference center throughout the week. We enjoyed the Tri-Village Market craft show which takes place each Wednesday in the summer!
- Food truck: In the parking lot next to the conference center, we saw a food truck that campers were grabbing food from. We didn’t end up making it over there to get food, but it appeared to be open during evening hours.
- Fishing Access: Bayfront fishing, ocean fishing, or pond fishing (campground has 2-3 small ponds)
Location and Surroundings
- Camp Hatteras is located in the rather small, remote town of Rodanthe, NC. You won’t find any big box stores or fast food drive-thrus in Rodanthe, but the trade-off is a sleepy, beach town with a slower pace and some great mom and pop shops to enjoy.
- You will find beach access right at the campground, and plenty more is available if you head north or south.
- The closest “big” town is Avon, which is probably about 20 minutes south of Rodanthe. This is where you can find a Food Lion grocery store, Dollar Tree, Super Wings beach superstore and more.
- Rodanthe does have a handful of gas stations, small general-type stores, and eateries. We grabbed dinner one night at Lisa’s Pizza, had donuts from Dough Shack, and got ice cream cones at Sea Treasures (we also love the Village Conery).
- Rodanthe Pier is about 1 mile down the road from Camp Hatteras. You can enjoy a walk on the pier or fish (they sell bait and rent rods and reels if you don’t have your own). You do NOT need a fishing license to fish from the pier!
- Chicamacomico Historic Life Saving Station is close to the pier if you want to get a history lesson while in town!
- If you head about an hour south of Rodanthe, you will see the Cape Hatteras lighthouse (so iconic!) and we highly recommend visiting the (free!) Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum!
Customer Service and Staff
All of the employees who we encountered at Camp Hatteras were super friendly and helpful! From Skip at the front gate, to the ladies in the office, it was a really good and positive experience.
Overall Atmosphere and Experience
Overall, we had an excellent experience at Camp Hatteras Campground. We thought that the campground was very nicely maintained and efficiently run. The other campers seemed pretty friendly and we saw many groups of friends and family camping together. This campground has a good, family vibe and I can see why campers choose to return year after year!
The prices were right in line with other oceanside campgrounds where we have stayed and the facilities were all in very good condition.
Quiet hours were respected and we didn’t run into any issues.
Pros and Cons
Our favorite things about Camp Hatteras were:
- Prime location with close proximity to ocean, bay, and pier.
- Concrete pad on campsite was in excellent condition.
- Amenities were plentiful and well-maintained.
- We were traveling with 2 kids (15 and 10) and a dog. The campground had plenty of spaces and amenities for all to be entertained.
- Easy to book our stay on their website.
- Their app, while a bit primitive, was very efficient and a nice option for quick and easy service lookups.
- We loved being just a short walk from the beach. It made beach time super easy and convenient, whether we were up early and catching a sunrise or settling in for the afternoon.
Some improvements we would love to see:
- Campsites were packed super tight and we felt like we were on top of our neighbors.
- We would have loved a walkway from the inside of our loop to the beach bathhouse/beach access point.
- We saw way too many kids riding bikes and scooters at dusk and after sundown with no lights or reflectors. They were really hard to see. I’d love to see the campground try to educate parents upon arrival as to how important visibility is.
Conclusion
We had an excellent stay at Camp Hatteras! As I stated earlier, we stayed for 9 nights in early June. We booked the stay for June in mid-February and I remember that at that point, there were zero oceanfront spots left and only a handful of premium ocean spots (where we stayed) left.
This campground seemed to be a wonderful choice for families, friend groups or even couples or solo travelers. As dog owners, we felt very welcomed and our dog loved the campground.
We would definitely recommend this campground to others! I would advise you to book early (I think you can book up to a year in advance!) if there is a specific campground location you want.
Take a look at our recommendations for our beach camping must-haves before you leave home!
Have you stayed at Camp Hatteras Campground and RV Resort in Rodanthe, NC before? What type of site did you stay in? What was your experience like? Drop us a comment below – we would love to hear from you!
