Brunswick County coast
Sunset Beach
North Carolina's last developed Atlantic beach before South Carolina, with a mailbox walk on Bird Island.
Last updated October 15, 2026.
- County
- Brunswick
- Setting
- Westernmost beach town in this guide, island plus mainland, beside Bird Island Reserve
- Elevation
- Sea level on the island
- 2020 census
- 4,175
Sunset Beach is the westernmost town in this guide, and the last developed Atlantic beach in North Carolina before South Carolina. Part of town is the barrier island. A bigger share of town, and of the 4,175 people in the 2020 census, lives on the mainland. A bridge crosses the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.
Just west of the cottages is Bird Island Coastal Reserve, run by the North Carolina Coastal Reserve. The walk everyone means is to the Kindred Spirit mailbox in the dunes. The reserve puts it about 1.4 miles from the 40th Street beach access. That's 2.8 miles round trip, in sand, with the ocean muttering the whole way.
Mad Inlet closed after Hurricane Bonnie in 1999. The reserve says you can walk the length of the island at all times. Old advice about waiting for low tide is out of date. Stay on the beach and the marked paths. Nesting-season signs are not suggestions.
Bird Island and the South Carolina line are west. Calabash is the closest mainland town that way. Ocean Isle Beach is east, across Tubbs Inlet: inland, then a second bridge. Short drive. Not a beach stroll.