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Trip planner
Sunset Beach / Bird Island (Brunswick County NC)
Best windows in the next two weeks, plus a packing list calibrated for tidal beach hunting.
Top 5 windows · next 14 days
1
Sunday, May 31
5.0ft swing · spring tide · low 2:05 PM · ~0.4ft below predicted (offshore wind) · post-storm · 4.1ft swell · 0.20" recent rain
89
Prime
2
Saturday, May 30
5.1ft swing · spring tide · low 1:26 PM · post-storm
81
Great
3
Monday, June 1
4.8ft swing · spring tide · low 2:43 PM · post-storm · 0.20" recent rain
81
Great
4
Tuesday, June 2
4.6ft swing · low 3:22 PM · ~0.5ft below predicted (offshore wind) · post-storm · 0.85" recent rain
81
Great
5
Saturday, June 13
7.0ft swing · low 12:15 PM
74
Great
Packing checklist
Essentials
- ☐Water (more than you think)
- ☐Hat + polarized sunglasses
- ☐Reef-safe sunscreen
- ☐Phone with offline copy of this dossier
- ☐Snack / electrolytes
- ☐Trash bag — leave it cleaner than you found it
Tools
- ☐Mesh sifter or basket (1/4″ mesh is the sweet spot)
- ☐Knee pads or kneeling foam
- ☐Sand scoop (long handle for water work)
- ☐Quart ziplock + small lidded jar for finds
- ☐Permanent marker for labels
- ☐Caliper or ruler for sizing
Beach-specific
- ☐Rash guard for long sun exposure
- ☐Water shoes — shells and stingrays
- ☐Tide chart screenshot for your day
- ☐Headlamp if hunting low tide near sunrise/sunset
Find care
- ☐Soft toothbrush
- ☐Padded box for any 2″+ tooth
- ☐Cotton or tissue layers between teeth
- ☐Notebook (or open the Toothhound logbook)
Tactic refresher
Walk the wrack line on a falling tide after a NE blow. Cover the half-mile west toward the Bird Island Kindred Spirit mailbox — the further you walk, the better the odds. Sift dark shell-and-pebble lag.
Don't forget
Open beach collection of loose surface fossils is fine. Bird Island Reserve has stricter rules — no digging, no removing live shells/wildlife; surface tooth collecting is tolerated.