Jennette's Pier
7223 S Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head, NC
Nags Head, NC
The oldest fishing pier on the Outer Banks was flattened by a hurricane and reborn in concrete, and today it reaches a thousand feet into the Atlantic under three tall wind turbines.
Jennette's Pier is the oldest fishing pier on the Outer Banks, first built of wood in 1939 and long a gathering place for anglers who came to work its rail over the Atlantic. For decades it weathered the storms that batter this thin ribbon of barrier islands, until Hurricane Isabel tore most of it away in 2003. Rather than let it disappear, the state of North Carolina bought the ruin and rebuilt it, not in wood but in concrete, as a modern landmark that reaches a thousand feet out to sea.
The pier that reopened in 2011 is unlike any other on the coast. It is run by the North Carolina Aquariums, so alongside the anglers at the rail there is a pier house full of saltwater tanks, touch exhibits, and classrooms, and three tall wind turbines stand over the parking lot to help power the building. It is at once a working fishing pier, a small aquarium, and a green demonstration of how a coastal landmark can be rebuilt to last.
What Guests Love
- Walking a thousand feet out over the Atlantic with the surf breaking beneath the deck
- Watching anglers work the rail for drum, mackerel, and whatever the season brings
- The saltwater tanks and hands-on exhibits inside the pier house
- Sunrise over the ocean and the three wind turbines turning against the sky
Worth Knowing
- The pier is run by the North Carolina Aquariums, so it is part fishing spot and part small aquarium
- You can walk the pier as a sightseer or pay to fish, with tackle and bait available on site
- Weather and rough surf can close the pier, so check conditions before a stormy-day visit
- Parking and the pier house tend to be busiest on summer mornings and around sunrise
Details
Nags Head, NC
Learn about Jennette's Pier
From a wooden pier to a concrete landmark
When Warren Jennette and his family built the first pier here in 1939, ocean fishing piers were the social heart of the Outer Banks, places where visitors and locals alike came to fish, to watch the water, and to escape the summer heat on the breeze at the end of the deck. Jennette's grew into a beloved fixture, but the same sea that drew people to it also wore at it, storm after storm, over more than sixty years.
Hurricane Isabel destroyed most of the wooden structure in September 2003. Instead of losing the pier for good, the North Carolina Aquarium Society acquired it and, after years of planning, rebuilt it in reinforced concrete engineered to stand up to the storms that had claimed its predecessor. The new pier, at a thousand feet, is longer than the old one and designed to be an educational and environmental landmark as much as a place to fish.
Fishing the rail and the life below
Anglers still come to Jennette's for the same reason they always have. From the deck they cast for the fish that run these waters through the seasons, among them red drum, Spanish and king mackerel, bluefish, flounder, sea mullet, and croaker, with the catch shifting as the water warms and cools through the year. The pier sells tackle and bait, and newcomers can learn the ropes from the regulars who know the rail.
The water beneath the pier is a whole world of its own. Pilings gather barnacles and small fish, which draw larger fish and the pelicans and gulls that patrol overhead, and dolphins are a common sight offshore. From the end of the deck on a clear morning, the ocean stretches unbroken to the horizon, and the sunrise over the water is one of the great open spectacles of the Outer Banks.
An aquarium at the edge of the sea
Because the pier is operated by the North Carolina Aquariums, the pier house holds a set of saltwater tanks and hands-on exhibits that make it a small aquarium in its own right. Visitors can meet local sea creatures up close, learn about the fish and the ecosystems just offshore, and join the education programs the aquarium runs throughout the year.
The three wind turbines that turn over the parking lot are part of the same idea. They help power the building and stand as a visible lesson in coastal sustainability, a fitting symbol for a pier that was destroyed by a storm and deliberately rebuilt to be tougher, greener, and more useful than the one before it.
Nags Head and the Outer Banks around it
Nags Head is one of the oldest resort towns on the Outer Banks, a strip of beach cottages, restaurants, and shops along the barrier island where the Atlantic meets Roanoke Sound. Jennette's Pier sits toward the south end of town, an easy landmark on the oceanfront road, with wide public beaches stretching in both directions.
The pier makes a natural stop on a longer tour of the northern Outer Banks. The towering sand dunes of Jockey's Ridge rise nearby, the Wright Brothers National Memorial marks the first flight just up the coast, and across the sound the town of Manteo holds the state aquarium on Roanoke Island and the story of the lost Roanoke colony.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Nags Head
Jockey's Ridge State Park
About 3 miles
The tallest natural sand dune system on the East Coast, where visitors climb the dunes and watch hang gliders launch into the wind.
Wright Brothers National Memorial
About 6 miles
The Kill Devil Hills site where the Wright brothers made the first powered flight in 1903, marked by a granite monument on a great dune.
North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
About 10 miles
The state aquarium in Manteo, with sharks, sea turtles, and a sister site to the pier across Roanoke Sound.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
About 25 miles south
The long, wild stretch of protected barrier-island beach and the famous black-and-white Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.