Thanks for the Award as a Top Beach Blog!

Presented by: Online School

We appreciate the recognition for our blog on life and events at Sunset Beach. Our entire staff gets a chance to contribute posts to the blog, and we hope those that follow it on a regular basis enjoy those efforts.

Try A Charter Fishing Trip on Your Next Sunset Beach Vacation

The kids and I wanted to try something different before school started, so we we opted for a half-day fishing trip on "Follow Me" charters.

Captain Steve and Tom made it a fun trip for us novice fishermen. The "Follow Me" is a 40' boat, and is docked at Sharky's Restaurant on Ocean Isle Beach (a 10 minute drive from the island of Sunset Beach). We had a bit of weather delay our trip from the typical 6:30 am start for an hour or so. To keep out of the storm once we went out, we stayed close to the beach instead of going the typical 11 miles off-shore for the trip.

As it turned out, we probably had more fun this way. We were catching spanish mackerel-most of which were just over the size limit. But we probably caught about 50 fish, and kept 35 of them. The kids stayed busy for most of the trip reeling them in and letting Tom help us store the fish away.

Most of the trip was spent just off of the Ocean Isle Beach strand, but we also did some fishing off of Sunset Beach as well. At the end, our two sons tried their hand at shark fishing. No luck this trip on that-we lost the bait, but didn't catch anything.

Captain Steve wrapped up the trip by taking us back through the Little River inlet, and up the waterway past the Sunset Beach bridge.

We were told that September is a great time to fish in our area. If you would like to try something different on your next vacation with Sunset Properties, consider a fishing charter with "Follow Me" out of Ocean Isle, or our Perks Club participant Hurricane Fleet out of Calabash. Our kids really enjoyed the trip!

The catch! Followmecharter.com

Celebrate Labor Day Weekend at the Beach with our Wacky Sunglass Contest!

Our staff was wondering how we could celebrate the end of summer on Sunset Beach this year, and we've come up with a fun promotion. Book a short-term stay (minimum of two nights) at a Sunset Properties' vacation home for the Labor Day Weekend anytime during the period of September 1st through 7th. Then once you are here, send us a beach photo of you with your craziest set of sunglasses on. Once our staff stops giggling over the pictures, we'll pick a winner. And the winner gets? A FULL VACATION REFUND sent to them. We'll have instructions on where to send the photos included in your Welcome Envelope with the house keys at arrival. So start making your beach plans for the Labor Day Weekend by visiting our rental search page at www.sunsetbeachnc.com. Once the vacation is booked, find those old pink flamingo sunglasses in the back of your closet, and we'll see you here at the beach shortly!

Keep The Turtles In Mind

Last week, I had the opportunity to witness baby sea turtles hatching with the Sunset Beach Turtle Watch program. Over 110 turtles hatched from a single nest! This happened around 10:00 at night on Saturday, August 14th. For someone who has never seen this before, it was quite the experience; seeing how the Turtle Watch program helps these baby turtles make it to the ocean.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a great shot. Due to the turtles being really sensitive to light, those with cameras were prohibited from using their flash. The picture above was taken with my cell phone. As a reminder to all our guests staying in oceanfront houses, please turn your outside lights off at night. Lights will confuse the turtles and they may not make it to the ocean.

Rent a Boat for fun on the water!

We had some friends in town last week, and by mid-week, we were looking for something to do off of the beach strand. We ended up renting a boat for a half-day ride up and down the waterway, and had a great time! There are several places in the area that you can rent boats from. We went to the Ocean Isle Fishing Center on OIB, and rented a boat for 10 for four hours from 1 until 5pm. Now, you have to understand, we live at the beach, but we're not boaters. But the folks at the Fishing Center walked us through the handling of the boat, and we were off. We travelled one way up the waterway pass Holden Beach, and then flipped around and travelled down through the Sunset Beach bridge to the state line. We had a chance to stop and let some of the kids try their hand with fishing rods while waiting for the bridge to turn. By the time we turned once again and headed back to the fishing center, we had a great time. Expect to pay $150 to $300 for a rental boat-we found that the prices at the fishing center were very reasonable as compared to others in the area. You can also rent jet-skis at the center. You can learn more about what's available at www.oifc.com/boat.cfm, or just stop in our Sunset Properties' offices when you are down. Reservations are suggested at the peak times of the summer.

Play in the 1st Oyster Festival Tennis Tournament Oct 1-3

Calling all tennis players-plan to head back down here to the beach in early fall for the 1st Oyster Festival Tennis Tournament scheduled for October 1st-3rd.

Sunset Properties is the tournament sponsor for the event, which will be held at the new eight court complex at the Ocean Isle Beach Park. There will be singles and doubles divisions for both juniors and adults.

The tournament is presented by the Brunswick County Tennis Association, Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce, and the Brunswick County Parks and Recreation. Proceeds will go to the community through both the Chamber of Commerce and BCTA.

Entry forms are posted on www.bcta.net (click on the tournaments link). You also can call Ron Watts at 910-575-8644 for more information.

2010 Check-In Policy

Sunset Properties has revised our check-in procedures for 2010!

Check-in now takes place at our office located at 102 Causeway Drive for Ocean Isle Beach rentals and 419 Sunset Boulevard for all Sunset Beach rentals. As you can see from the photos, our Sunset check-ins have become even easier by having guests check-in outside in our parking area. Guests will not have to stand in line at the office, but can instead park their car and walk up to our arrival tent. If your home is not ready for occupancy, a member of our staff will take your cell phone number and add it to our records. You will receive an automated call to this cell phone number notifying you should your home become available prior to the standard check-in time of 4pm. We have been utilizing this new procedure during the 2010 season and have found it to be very helpful to our guests. Please keep this new procedure in mind when preparing for your summer trip to the beach.