Ocracoke Geography

Ocracoke is the southernmost inhabited island of North Carolina's Outer Banks, a narrow barrier-island chain separating Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. The island itself is about 16 miles long but only a few hundred yards to a mile wide in most places, with the village concentrated at its southern end around Silver Lake, a natural harbor. There is no bridge: the only vehicle access is by ferry, either a two-hour-plus route from Cedar Island or Swan Quarter on the mainland, or a shorter free ferry from Hatteras Island to the north.