Onslow Beach for a few days...

[racerzeke]

Hello all! I'm from Maryland and after discovering a few sites in Southern Maryland earlier this year I am hooked on fossil hunting! With the summer rolling around paired with the crazy rains we've been getting I honestly am excited for winter again! I stumbled across Onslow Beach last year accidentally and also was able to pull out some teeth... but with much more experience and more beach time I'm hoping this trip will yield much more sweet finds! I was curious if anyone had any must see spots along the way or in general around Camp Lejeune? Public spots are okay, I know how guarded some of the more lesser known spots need to be!

 

I've seen quite a bit about the Aurora Fossil Museum and a few other places as well. Unfortunately (kinda kidding but not) I'll have our puppy with us... but if anyone wants to meet up and check out Onslow or anywhere near by let me know! The beach is amazing in itself with how relatively private it is.

 

I'll be headed out next week and staying for 4 days (I think).

 

Thanks!

[Wolf89]

Hi, Onslow beach is on the base, so you need base access to get to it, so I've never been and can't tell you much. Also there is an island in Cedarpoint/Swansboro that's full of small shark teeth, the rare meg and jammed pack with coral; PM for location if you want, you need a kayak, but there is a kayak rental right across from the island. The kayrak ride would be 5 minutes tops. Your right, I'm not going to share the best spot that I know of, sorry!

[racerzeke]

I do have my own kayak but I get uncomfortable transporting it more than an hour or so (strapped on top of my little Kia Forte) but I'll definitely consider, thank you!

 

Yeah, luckily I do have access to base which is unfortunate for most collectors but it keeps the traffic down on the beach so even if nothing fossily is found the less than normal crowded beach is a bonus!

[racerzeke]

Hey all! 

 

First off I want to apologize for the delay between post and report... just got home and it's been extremely busy! Second, I want to apologize for the quick and dirty report since I'm out of town for the next two weeks and I really wanted to share my findings and express how great Onslow is for everyone! Third, frags galore!!

 

 

We spent 4 fulls days on a lodge that was seconds away from the beach, we had our little puppy in tow so it was a little difficult to hunt as often as I would have liked but I can not complain! My finds progressively got better and better up until the last day when I found a majority of my Meg pieces... I like to think I was figuring out the terrain and good spots but it also could be because there was a fairly large storm that night and it was a weekday so the beach was basically a ghost town. 

 

Onslow Beach is on a military installation so you do need DoD privileges to access the beach but if that's something that isn't possible there are several public beaches that are adjacent that I'm sure will yield the same finds. I love Onslow so much because it's fairly private, being from Maryland I know what Ocean City looks like in the heat of the summer and Onslow had about a tenth of a percentage of the people, and it's clean, pet friendly, and just overall a beautiful beach and place to visit.

 

As you can see above a vast majority of the teeth and incredibly worn or broken, I spoke to a few of the local hunters who claim to have found complete or more complete teeth than I have and I definitely believe it. I have to say, these pieces are bigger than any other teeth that I've been able to pull out of my local spots so again I am incredibly happy! There is also a large variety as you can see from Megs, Great Whites, Rays, I think I have a Croc Tooth up there, and many many more. The amount of large chunks of bone was incredible as well. You may also find the occasional shell casing from when the Marines train on the beach!  I found clam shells the size of my head and there were several sand dollars laying around too. The picking was pretty difficult especially with the ocean waves crashing back and forth and it seemed most of the teeth were in the surf... I'm used to the fairly calm waves of the bay or rivers. I did find quite a few smaller teeth but I donated those to the installation because they are having a childrens fossil hunt on the 25th I believe.

 

Thanks for reading and hopefully y'all enjoy! With the 'off' months rolling around I can't wait to get back out to some of the Maryland spots around town!

[SharkTooth28]

Awesome finds! I am stationed here and I have been visiting Onslow a couple times a month for 2 years now. Let me know if you'd like to see any of my finds.