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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
Monday, June 29
4.9ft swing · spring tide · low 1:41 PM · ~0.3ft below predicted (offshore wind) · 1.55" recent rain
77
Great
2
Tuesday, June 30
4.8ft swing · spring tide · low 2:22 PM · 1.46" recent rain
76
Great
3
Thursday, June 25
4.6ft swing · low 10:53 AM · post-storm
72
Great
4
Friday, June 26
4.7ft swing · low 11:35 AM · post-storm
71
Great
5
Sunday, June 28
4.9ft swing · low 12:59 PM
69
Good
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.