With 311,384 visitors recorded in the first three months of 2024, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) is on track to have another busy year.
Per statistics from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, CHNS recorded 154,935 visitors in March, 79,256 visitors in February, and 77,193 visitors in January.
In recent history, this is a higher total than 2023, which had 297,267 visitors for January through March, but less than record-breaking 2021.
2021, (which was during the height of the pandemic), had the highest visitation ever recorded, and was also the first time that CHNS visitation surpassed the 3 million mark.
In 2023, the CHNS received a total of 2,826,169 visitors, which made it the fourth busiest year at the National Seashore on record, behind only 2021, 2002, and 2022.
Visitor totals for the past five years, per the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau’s statistics, are listed below.
Seashore visitation estimates are collected by counting southbound vehicles just north of the Marc Basnight Bridge and using a multiplier to estimate the total number of passengers heading south. Those estimates are added to the number of passengers going to Ocracoke Island from Cedar Island and Swan Quarter.
